Research shows that we are naturally more optimistic. Or maybe it is worth getting upset? Scientists argue that a worse mood can pay off at times. When is it most helpful?
- Being optimistic can lead to greater credulity
- As Australian psychologists point out, mood can have a predictable effect on your ability to detect deception
- However, this study found that what my mood is does not make much of my ability to recognize the truth accurately
- More information can be found on the TvoiLokony home page
According to neuroscientist Tali Sharot, “we like to think of ourselves as rational beings.” However, science suggests that we are more optimistic than realistic. The 2007 study cited in the book by Sharot (“The Optimism Bias”) shows that while 70 percent. respondents believed that their families in general are less successful than in their parents’ times, 76 percent. and so was optimistic about the future of his own family. Another study cited by the research site «The Conversation» indicates that as much as 80 percent. people in Western countries tend to be optimistic.
As Sharot points out, optimism inspires and drives us forward. But «zBeing positive assumptions can lead to catastrophic errors — they make us less likely to undergo medical examinations and apply cream with filter, whether we open a savings account, and more often we bet on a bad investment«. Being optimistic can also lead to greater credulity.
- When it blows strongly, body and soul suffer. Who is most bothered by strong winds?
Worse mood – more caution
As psychologists at the Australian University of New South Wales in Sydney point out, mood can affect your ability to detect cheating.
«We assume that people are generally truthful, which may prevent us from actively seeking clues about fraud and thus reduce the accuracy of their detection» — scientists explain, while emphasizing that a negative mood should increase a skeptical attitude.
Joseph P. Forgas and Rebekah East decided to test their hypothesis and to this end they invited 117 students (42 men and 75 women) to the laboratory. One of the tasks prepared for them was to watch four short interviews with students who were accused of stealing a movie ticket. Some of them denied theft. The respondents, also referred to as judges, assessed the truthfulness of students on an eight-point scale after each questioning. lie-true. Judges were also informed that there was more than one cinema ticket, so all students could potentially be guilty of theft.
A negative mood can have beneficial effects
However, before the respondents watched the students’ auditions, they were divided into three groups. Each of them was appropriately introduced in positive mood, neutral or negative. The “positive” group watched an excerpt from a British comedy series for 10 minutes. People from the “neutral” group at that time saw a fragment of a nature documentary. In turn, people from the negative mood group watched an edited fragment of a fictional film about dying of cancer.
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After analyzing the obtained results, the researchers found that as expected, people put into a negative mood were able to detect deception to a much greater degree than people with a happy and neutral mood.
Mood had little effect on the participants’ ability to recognize the truth accurately.
However, the authors of the study published in 2008 explain that this pattern is consistent with their predicted “double effect of negative mood in increasing sensitivity to discrimination and detection, as well as increasing general skepticism and creating a stricter criterion for accepting news as true”.
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