Teens can 'catch' moods from friends, study

[Still Waters]

Teenagers can “catch” moods from their friends and negative moods appear to be more contagious than positive, a study has found.

The study by Oxford and Birmingham universities investigates “emotional contagion” among teenagers, to see the impact of individuals’ moods within a shared social network.

It found that moods become similar to those of the people they spend time with, but there is a tolerance of different moods, and grumpy teenagers are no less popular with their peers than those with a more sunny disposition.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jan/20/teenagers-can-catch-moods-from-friends-study-finds

[Crazy Horse]

Its not just teenagers..

One time I was cycling through France and this one morning I got lost. I ended-up going around in one giant circle, and around lunchtime I passed by the campsite that I had left early that morning, and I was so mad. Wasting time and energy, I was fuming.

Sitting in a bus shelter, feeling sorry for myself, I noticed an oldish guy riding a tandem bike, (by himself) dressed in orange and with orange flags draped everywhere, playing a tiny musical instrument in his mouth. My face must have been a picture as my mouth hit the floor. He passed by at the slowest pace possible, all the while playing as merry tune that seemed to be made-up as he went along.

The up-shot of this spectacle was that my dark, filthy mood, was replaced in an instant by something much more pleasant.

I have also noticed that I cannot stay in a bad mood if I am with someone who is happy and positive.

 

[White-Coyote]

yeah, everyone can catch a mood.

Be around some p***ed off people for a minute and you'll be p***ed off too. 

Facts. 

[littlebrowndragon]

On 1/21/2021 at 1:01 PM, Still Waters said:

Teenagers can “catch” moods from their friends and negative moods appear to be more contagious than positive, a study has found.

The study by Oxford and Birmingham universities investigates “emotional contagion” among teenagers, to see the impact of individuals’ moods within a shared social network.

 

It really beggars belief the amount of money that is poured into scientific research, in this case to establish “mood contagion”, something that anyone with any sense knows to exist anyway.  But then, that is science for you.  It disempowers people.  Unless something is “scientifically proven”, then even if common sense tells a person that something is true, one cannot possibly be right unless science confirms it.

As to mood contagion, what about, for example, crowd hysteria?  However, my main point is that people are all too easily manipulated.  Governments manipulate people all the time, specifically their emotional state e.g. by the use of fear.  As Tyrion Lannister says to someone in Game of Thrones, it is easy to confuse what is with what ought to be.  Therefore, I think that mood contagion is a symptom of an unhealthy mind.  A healthy person ought to be immune to such contagion.  A healthy mental immune system would ensure this.

Edited February 1, 2021 by littlebrowndragon

[openozy]

17 hours ago, littlebrowndragon said:

It really beggars belief the amount of money that is poured into scientific research, in this case to establish “mood contagion”, something that anyone with any sense knows to exist anyway.  But then, that is science for you.  It disempowers people.  Unless something is “scientifically proven”, then even if common sense tells a person that something is true, one cannot possibly be right unless science confirms it

One of the best posts I've seen on here.

[KNash]

On 2/1/2021 at 1:07 PM, littlebrowndragon said:

 

It really beggars belief the amount of money that is poured into scientific research, in this case to establish “mood contagion”, something that anyone with any sense knows to exist anyway.  But then, that is science for you.  It disempowers people.  Unless something is “scientifically proven”, then even if common sense tells a person that something is true, one cannot possibly be right unless science confirms it.

As to mood contagion, what about, for example, crowd hysteria?  However, my main point is that people are all too easily manipulated.  Governments manipulate people all the time, specifically their emotional state e.g. by the use of fear.  As Tyrion Lannister says to someone in Game of Thrones, it is easy to confuse what is with what ought to be.  Therefore, I think that mood contagion is a symptom of an unhealthy mind.  A healthy person ought to be immune to such contagion.  A healthy mental immune system would ensure this.

I see what you're saying, but there are a couple of things. Science doesn't "prove." If you see or read that anywhere, the source doesn't know what they're talking about (i.e., it's not a credible source). As for studying things that seem like common sense, there's a reason for that. We know that certain things just are, but the reason to study them is to figure out how we know that. For example, if I were to ask you, "how do you know what color this apple is?" Your answer would probably be that you can see the color. Makes sense. From a scientific perspective, asking a question like that would allow someone to then ask questions about how we see color. Follow up questions could then be asked about the visual system, neural pathways, etc. A good scientific question is thought of by looking at the information available then asking the question that makes the most sense. It should be a, "no duh, it has to be that!" response. That's usually a good indication that a person is on the right track.

As for the mood contagion thing, without looking at the link, there could be a lot of social implications from that work. For example, matching the mood of the larger group could make someone fit in and gain access to resources. Alternatively, it could be a safety mechanism, such that if others are in a low mood, there could be a good reason. It could also be good ol' empathy which is healthy to experience. Because this study had to do with teenagers, I'm not surprised that they match the mood of people around them. That's what kids do when they're trying to navigate social environments and find their place.