14 DAY TRIAL // Most sane people consider being in a bad mood as, well, a bad thing, and try to get out of it, by any means at their disposal. But, according to a group of scientists from Australia, that may not be necessarily the best idea possible. In a new study they conducted, they showed the fact that people who were sad, or generally in the worst mood possible, were also more keen in their judgment of others, were more likely to experience memory boosts, and were also less gullible.
The University of New South Wales (UNSW) team, which was led by Psychology Professor Joseph Forgas, also showed another interesting thing. When people were in a bad mood, they were inclined to pay much more attention to their environment than usual, and also to be more critical of a person or event than usual, Reuters reports. Conversely, in the case of happy test subjects, the participants to the new experiments were far more likely to believe a number of statements the scientists made, even though they weren't necessarily true.
“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. Our research suggests that sadness promotes information processing strategies best suited to dealing with more demanding situations,” Forgas says of the team's discoveries. Further details of the investigation appear in the November/December issue of the journal Australian Science.
In the scientific setup of the UNSW lab, the experts induced happy or sad moods in their test subjects, by making them watch themed movies, or by asking them to recall happy or sad events from their past. After this was achieved, both groups were asked to judge things like myths and urban legends. The experts determined that those in the worst state of mind seemed to be the most critical of unproven ideas, whereas happy people were more gullible and trusting.
“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 adds. The investigation also demonstrated that a “mildly negative mood may actually promote a more concrete, accommodative and ultimately more successful communication style,” the expert concludes.