Monday, November 2, 2009

"Thinking negatively can boost your memory, study finds"

"SYDNEY, Nov 2 (Reuters Life!) - Bad moods can actually be good for you, with an Australian study finding that being sad make 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.'"

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSSP488505


Now I feel much more positive about being so negative:

"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."

10 comments:

Toad said...

WHAT a relief. Now I know WHY my memory is so good.

OrbsCorbs said...

I would even argue that the mental health industry in the US is irresponsible in its bias towards "happiness" for clients at the expense of the common welfare. I have often been urged by mental health professionals to ignore everyone and everything else in an effort to make myself "happy." I thought that's what I was doing when I drank gallons of booze every day?

I would argue that it is indicative of a great mental disturbance to be happy in a world that is absurd and destroys so many for the benefit of so few.

Lizardmom said...

happy people are here to annoy the crabby people, we're needed too :)

Lizardmom said...

(nothing annoys a pessimist like an optimist)

:)

Anonymous said...

So let me get this right. Every time I give someone the finger and tell them to go (AHHH-CHOO...sorry about the sneeze) themselves, I am delaying the onset on Altzheimer's?

OrbsCorbs said...

Exactly, logjam. Grumpy people are smarter than everyone else, too. I've known it for years....:P

Toad said...

At a local fast food restaurant recently (they serve custard) It took the damned kid longer to make the drinks than the food.

I told the order taker this fact, and stated "I'll bet your a half glass FULL person?" She said "He's new" like I give a shit. She ignored me after that.

Aside from that. I think the average age of the Trick or Treat KIDS was about 25 this year? One lady drove her (perhaps 10 year old) grand-daughter up and down the sidewalk on her electric scooter. THAT was a first.

I don't know how they are going to eat the gummy candy I gave them. Only about 25% had teeth. LOL

drewzepmeister said...

I guess I won't live too long then...

kkdither said...

A(frikin)men. Thank goodness for the news. My negativity finally pays off! I'll be fine in a minute when my blood pressure reaches a stable level....

jedwis said...

as the song goes.. Im livin on borrowed time