Did you know that moodiness can be transmitted as if it were a contagious disease?This has been studied in some recent studies. A team led by Dr. Nicholas Christakis, a sociologist at Harvard Medical School, studied 5124 people and found it easier to convey a mood in a same-sex group.
In addition, the study found that having a happy friend increases the likelihood that the other person will feel happier. Even more surprisingly, the good humour transmitted to a second person can be transmitted to a third person and even to a fourth person.
- With some imaginary people in mind to demonstrate this effect.
- Let’s imagine the following scenario: if Mercedes is your friend and has a positive attitude.
- You’re 15% more likely to feel happy too.
- Now.
- After interacting with Monica.
- She’s a 10% more likely to feel happier.
- If Monica.
- In turn.
- Is a friend of Fatima’s.
- The likelihood that Fatima will feel happy increases by 6%.
This example serves to show that the atmosphere can actually disperse into a stream, as Dr. Christakis described it: “Similar to those little waves that spread around a rock when thrown into a lake. “
Therefore, moodiness is also contagious. In fact, according to Dr. Alex Lickerman, in his article “How to Handle Your Partner’s Bad Moods?(How to handle their partner’s bad mood, in Portuguese), medical students, when they see a depressed patient, generally feel depressed. “.
Basically, we went through a three-step process. Monmouth University professor of psychology Gary W. Lewandowski Jr. , explains the three-step process in his article, “Is Mood Contagious?”(Is bad mood contagious? In Portuguese).
First, there’s the so-called unconscious imitation. At this point, one person inadvertently copies the gestures of the other, like a yawn, then people can go through a feedback phase, for example, if you see someone frowning, without thinking about it, you can also frown.
Now you’re starting to feel irritated that you’ve frowned (second phase). Finally, in the third phase, you share your experiences until your emotions and behaviors are in sync.
Some people are more likely to transmit their mood; they can change everyone’s mood in the office or they can infect everyone in a meeting of friends. Some psychologists believe this is due to the fact that these people have particularly expressive faces and eye-catching gestures.
When someone treats you badly, is in a bad mood, or spoils your day, it’s more likely that the person will need to vent with someone to tell them what happened to them; However, perhaps without even realizing it, you can become one. one more link in the chain of humor.
Psychologist Dr. Alan Godwin suggests that instead of reacting in the same way when someone talks to you rudely, it’s best to respond with a carefully chosen previous sentence. For example, regardless of what Mr. Grumpy said, you may decide to say something. like, “Do you see how beautiful today is?”
Dr. Godwin also points out that we must be prepared not to satisfy optimism and, at the same time, be cautious, that is, to protect ourselves from the bad mood of others, must make a conscious effort, in order to separate. psychologically the negative message of this person and to remind you that it is their emotions, not yours.
In conclusion, remember that your mood is very contagious, so are you going to spread a wave of humor to the rest of the world, isn’t it better to be a wave of positive humor?
Image credits: Rafael Edwards