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chaloobi
SFN Regular
1620 Posts |
 Posted - 11/02/2009 : 06:57:58
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This is an interesting study. Not sure if it should go in health or what...
http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE5A10ZP20091102
Thinking negatively can boost your memory, study finds
SYDNEY (Reuters Life!) - Bad moods can actually be good for you, with an Australian study finding that being sad makes people less gullible, improves their ability to judge others and also boosts memory.
The study, authored by psychology professor Joseph Forgas at the University of New South Wales, showed that people in a negative mood were more critical of, and paid more attention to, their surroundings than happier people, who were more likely to believe anything they were told.
"Whereas positive mood seems to promote creativity, flexibility, cooperation, and reliance on mental shortcuts, negative moods trigger more attentive, careful thinking paying greater attention to the external world," Forgas wrote.
"Our research suggests that sadness ... promotes information processing strategies best suited to dealing with more demanding situations."
For the study, Forgas and his team conducted several experiments that started with inducing happy or sad moods in their subjects through watching films and recalling positive or negative events.
In one of the experiments, happy and sad participants were asked to judge the truth of urban myths and rumors and found that people in a negative mood were less likely to believe these statements.
People in a bad mood were also less likely to make snap decisions based on racial or religious prejudices, and they were less likely to make mistakes when asked to recall an event that they witnessed.
The study also found that sad people were better at stating their case through written arguments, which Forgas said showed that a "mildly negative mood may actually promote a more concrete, accommodative and ultimately more successful communication style."
"Positive mood is not universally desirable: people in negative mood are less prone to judgmental errors, are more resistant to eyewitness distortions and are better at producing high-quality, effective persuasive messages," Forgas wrote.
The study was published in the November/December edition of the Australian Science journal. |
[Moved to the General Skepticism folder - Dave W.]
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-Chaloobi
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26034 Posts |
Posted - 11/02/2009 : 07:33:14 [Permalink]
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Other studies have shown that being actively religious makes people happier. This study suggests that that makes them more gullible.
Go figure. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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chaloobi
SFN Regular
1620 Posts |
Posted - 11/02/2009 : 07:38:56 [Permalink]
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| Feedback loop. |
-Chaloobi
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Hawks
SFN Regular
Canada
1383 Posts |
Posted - 11/02/2009 : 09:08:19 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by chaloobi
Feedback loop.
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A positive one that is really negative. |
METHINKS IT IS LIKE A WEASEL
It's a small, off-duty czechoslovakian traffic warden! |
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chaloobi
SFN Regular
1620 Posts |
Posted - 11/02/2009 : 09:42:17 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Hawks
Originally posted by chaloobi
Feedback loop.
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A positive one that is really negative.
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Ironic or paradoxical? |
-Chaloobi
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pleco
SFN Addict
USA
2998 Posts |
Posted - 11/02/2009 : 14:16:05 [Permalink]
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| I'm in a negative mood, and that makes me happy. |
by Filthy
The neo-con methane machine will soon be running at full fart. |
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The Rat
SFN Regular
Canada
1370 Posts |
Posted - 11/02/2009 : 22:07:41 [Permalink]
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| I just LOVE being depressed! |
Bailey's second law; There is no relationship between the three virtues of intelligence, education, and wisdom.
You fiend! Never have I encountered such corrupt and foul-minded perversity! Have you ever considered a career in the Church? - The Bishop of Bath and Wells, Blackadder II
Baculum's page: http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=3947338590 |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 11/02/2009 : 23:13:10 [Permalink]
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| Meh. Who needs happiness? Understanding is much more rewarding. |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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bngbuck
SFN Addict
USA
2437 Posts |
Posted - 11/03/2009 : 12:26:23 [Permalink]
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| Happiness is such an ephemeral and indefinable condition of mind, that the term should be banned. The antimode, sadness, is no better. Any attempt to link such elusive generalities to measurable performance is pretty damn questionable. |
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R.Wreck
SFN Regular
USA
1191 Posts |
Posted - 11/03/2009 : 15:28:43 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by bngbuck
Happiness is such an ephemeral and indefinable condition of mind, that the term should be banned. The antimode, sadness, is no better. Any attempt to link such elusive generalities to measurable performance is pretty damn questionable.
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Got up on the wrong side of bed today, eh? |
The foundation of morality is to . . . give up pretending to believe that for which there is no evidence, and repeating unintelligible propositions about things beyond the possibliities of knowledge.
T. H. Huxley
The Cattle Prod of Enlightened Compassion
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Skeptics are sad people?
