![]() ![]() They found that pleasant weather (a higher temperature or barometric pressure) was related to higher mood, better memory, and “broadened” cognitive style during the spring as subjects spent more time outside. The finding on humidity was the most interesting to me. “High levels of humidity lowered scores on concentration while increasing reports of sleepiness,” the researchers wrote.įinally, in a study published in Psychological Science in 2005, researchers followed 605 participants in three separate studies to determine the connection between mood and weather. It was determined that humidity, temperature, and hours of sunshine had the greatest effect on their mood. In a small study published in 1984 in the British Journal of Psychology, a group of 24 men were studied over 11 days. In the study, 18 percent of the boys, and 29 percent of the girls, responded negatively to certain weather conditions, exhibiting symptoms of fatigue, dysphoric moods, irritability, and headaches. The largest, published in 1974 in the journal Acta Paedopsychiatrica, involved 16,000 students in Basel City, Switzerland. Here are some of the studies Grohol presents. There is research that says weather has little to do with mood, he notes, but “the overall preponderance of evidence suggests that weather can have more than just ‘a little effect’ on you mood.” John Grohol, PsyD, founder and CEO of Psych Central, offers a great overview of the studies that exist on weather and mood. And I know other people who are, too, so I thought I’d study why the extra precipitation alters the limbic system (emotional center) of the brain and review the research regarding mood and weather. I am clearly affected by rain - especially when it rains consistently for weeks as it has this spring. In one of the wettest, coldest Mays in Maryland’s history, highly sensitive types like myself are having difficulty not getting pulled into a depressive mood that often accompanies bad weather. I’m considering building an ark, because it feels as if it’s been raining for 40 days and 40 nights. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |