Feeling grumpy 'is good for you'

[DearAbby]

In a bad mood? Don't worry - according to research, it's good for you.

An Australian psychology expert who has been studying emotions has found being grumpy makes us think more clearly.

In contrast to those annoying happy types, miserable people are better at decision-making and less gullible, his experiments showed.

While cheerfulness fosters creativity, gloominess breeds attentiveness and careful thinking, Professor Joe Forgas told Australian Science Magazine.

'Eeyore days'

The University of New South Wales researcher says a grumpy person can cope with more demanding situations than a happy one because of the way the brain "promotes information processing strategies".

<snip>

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8339647.stm

[DearAbby]

1. Public Service announcment for the Grumpys on DU?

IT'S GOOD FOR YOU!!!

[Richardo]

2. Fuckin' A right.

/geezer

[Yunomi]

3. Perfect!

I've been fired from two jobs for "not smiling enough". It would be nice if this study could actually make a difference.

[Kitty Herder]

4. That's good news to this grump. nt

[pitohui]

5. i've often noticed that power of positive thinking is actually downright delusional

i've seen happy, positive people go on and truly fuck up their lives because they have no ability to look into the future and understand that good times don't last forever, they are the ones who are the spend-oholics and the people who have a bit of good fortune and immediately splash on a mcmansion they can't afford

i've seen SO many of my friends sick and bankrupted because "do what you love and the money will follow," which has to be one of the most evil lies out there -- sure it pays off if you're a sports star or britney spears but for the other 300 million people who love music and games it just leads to a broken heart, poverty, and chasing after drugs/alcohol when you realize guess what there just isn't room at the top for a nation of pro football players and pop singers

i may have a pessimistic turn of mind but i think, at the end of the day, i am much happier overall because i don't have all these sudden shocks -- you know, all the "boo hoo i never thought it could EVER happen to me, only OTHER PEOPLE get sick or hurt in accidents, only OTHER PEOPLE lose someone they love" -- i don't think being an overly optimistic person serves you very well in a life that goes much beyond age 13

amazed it took science so long to realize that pessimism and cynicism do serve a purpose, considering that some of our greatest minds indulged in these supposed "vices"

[Wind Dancer]

8. Exactly...

Barbara Ehrenreich has just written a book on this very subject called, "Bright-Sided" and it sounds like a must read.

"A sharp-witted knockdown of America’s love affair with positive thinking and an urgent call for a new commitment to realism

Americans are a “positive” people—cheerful, optimistic, and upbeat: this is our reputation as well as our self-image. But more than a temperament, being positive, we are told, is the key to success and prosperity.

In this utterly original take on the American frame of mind, Barbara Ehrenreich traces the strange career of our sunny outlook from its origins as a marginal nineteenth-century healing technique to its enshrinement as a dominant, almost mandatory, cultural attitude. Evangelical mega-churches preach the good news that you only have to want something to get it, because God wants to “prosper” you. The medical profession prescribes positive thinking for its presumed health benefits. Academia has made room for new departments of “positive psychology” and the “science of happiness.” Nowhere, though, has bright-siding taken firmer root than within the business community, where, as Ehrenreich shows, the refusal even to consider negative outcomes—like mortgage defaults—contributed directly to the current economic crisis.

With the mythbusting powers for which she is acclaimed, Ehrenreich exposes the downside of America’s penchant for positive thinking: On a personal level, it leads to self-blame and a morbid preoccupation with stamping out “negative” thoughts. On a national level, it’s brought us an era of irrational optimism resulting in disaster. This is Ehrenreich at her provocative best—poking holes in conventional wisdom and faux science, and ending with a call for existential clarity and courage."

...........and from Thomas Frank:

“We're always being told that looking on the bright side is good for us, but now we see that it's a great way to brush off poverty, disease, and unemployment, to rationalize an order where all the rewards go to those on top. The people who are sick or jobless—why, they just aren't thinking positively. They have no one to blame but themselves. Barbara Ehrenreich has put the menace of positive thinking under the microscope. Anyone who's ever been told to brighten up needs to read this book.”—Thomas Frank, author of The Wrecking Crew and What's the Matter with Kansas?

http://ehrenreich.blogs.com/

[Blue_In_AK]

6. Expect the worst

and you won't be disappointed.

[frylock]

7. so true

[DearAbby]

9. lol

[G_j]

10. I'm so sick of this crap!

:argh: :mad: :banghead: :argh: :banghead: :mad:

[Solly Mack]

11. The banana and I knew this already

Grump Trumps

[TxRider]

12. ROFL I think he has it backwards

Smarter intelligent educated people who can make better decisions tend to be grumpy and gloomy because of it..

Cause and effect...

Stupid uneducated people unaware of reality and not able to make intelligent decisions tend to be more cheerful...

Cue cheerful dumb blond stereotype in 3, 2, 1...

[BootinUp]

13. Intuitively, that makes sense to my grumpy mind. nt

[applegrove]

14. Happy people are slightly delusional. Depressed people are not so delusional.

[MisterP]

15. that's why McCain's in such good shape for his age nt

[populistdriven]

16. wow dog! so i must be always at the top of my game!