People with a difficult character tend to be smarter, according to a study
Are you in a bad mood all day and nobody can stand you? Quiet. According to a recent study, being in a bad mood makes you smarter .
Many people think that the happiness lasts a lifetime, you have to dress with the smile, optimism and the good roll every day. It is forbidden to get angry or complain, because if you do you are a loser. It is a postmodern maxim that draws from the rise of self-help books and the philosophy of entrepreneurship.
In the world of these people there are no layoffs but transition stages and there are no pay cuts but settings. In today's world it is not allowed to feel worry, fear or rejection, because you have to surf the wave of goodness constantly.
The problems of false optimism
Regarding this common behavior, the psychologist Juan Cruz warns: "False positivism does the same harm as excess negativity. It is the opposite extreme and prevents the individual from connecting with their emotions and problems, which prevents change and overcoming ". Therefore, putting a good face on everything is not good, and now, in addition, a study has confirmed that the bad-tempered and sad people possess a more acute intelligence .
It seems that being constantly happy allows one to live life superficially without fully examining what happens. What may seem ideal at first may have a negative effect on intelligence and our ability to analyze and understand reality.
The relationship between bad humor and intelligence
The study was published in Australasian Science and was held at the University of New South Wales in Australia. It was carried out by Joseph Forgas , psychology professor and emotion expert, and this one consisted of a series of experiments in which the mood of the participants was manipulated through films and positive or negative memories .
Professor Forgas found that being in a bad mood helps us think more clearly. Contrary to what happens with people with excessive optimism, angry people make better decisions and are more unbelievers.
"Bad mood improves the ability to judge others and also increases the memory” says Forgas. The article explains that while a positive mood facilitates creativity, flexibility and cooperation, bad humor improves attention and facilitates a more prudent thought. In addition, he adds: "Moody people have a better ability to cope with complicated situations because their brain promotes more adaptive information processing strategies".
The negative state also improves intelligence
Forgas explains that people with a more dejected mood have a greater ability to argue their opinions in writing . Furthermore, it is in the states of seriousness that our mind processes better reasoning and common sense. The same study concludes that a moderately negative state of mind has a positive effect on communication style.
On the other hand, a previous investigation by Forgas himself concluded that time has an impact similar to that of emotional states in intelligence. According to your results, humid and sad days improve memory, while sunny days favor forgetfulness.
Urban myths and racial and religious prejudice
For this study, Forgas and his team carried out several experiments that began by inducing emotional states to the participants through the viewing of films. In one of the experiments the subjects were asked to judge the truth of urban myths and rumors and found that participants with negative moods believed less in these affirmations .
On the other hand, people with a bad mood were less likely to make decisions based on racial or religious bias, and made fewer mistakes when asked to remember events they had witnessed. Finally, people with negative emotional states produce more effective persuasive messages.
