Don’t Bring Me Down
Negative moods are highly infectious, but you can protect yourself
Story from the Kansas City Star
By ERIC ADLER, December 26, 2005
Psychologists call it “emotional contagion.†But you can think of it as Scroogeology or Grinchonomics.
Better yet, think of it as the woeful friend, the crabby boss, the depressed party guest whose moods are so melancholy that, despite your good cheer, they suck the joy from the season.
The effect is far from imaginary. In the last five years, a growing body of psychological research — much of it focused on the emotionally negative or positive boss — is bearing out the power one individual’s mood can have on others.
“It is one of the most robust phenomena I have ever seen,†said University of New Hampshire researcher Richard Saavedra. “And it’s all unconscious.â€
Fortunately, he said, just as Bob Cratchit and Cindy Lou Who refused to let Scrooge or the Grinch dampen their spirits, modern and age-old strategies can combat the draw of your own Debbie Downer.
As University of Michigan psychologist Christopher Peterson said, “That’s why we have eggnog.â€
Recent evidence is consistent.
In the March issue of The Journal of Applied Psychology, Saavedra and colleague Thomas Sy at California State University at Long Beach examined the effects of a leader’s mood on a group.
They took 189 volunteer undergraduates, divided them into 63 groups of three and told them they were going to take part in a team-building exercise: putting up a tent.
Before the exercise, a “leader†chosen from each team was shown one of two video clips — “Saturday Night Live†skits or a vignette on torture — designed to induce a positive or negative mood. All team members’ moods were measured before and after the task.
January 12th, 2007 at 6:30 am
I had never thought about this concept that much! but it is so true. Terry