The attitudes and the frames of mind are contagious, especially when we exhibit ourselves to them for the long time. Big part of the fault is had by the neurons mirror, fundamental for empathy and so that we are capable of putting ourselves in the place of other. This capacity is positive, but also it has a negative part since we can be contagious easily of the negative attitude of those who surround us.
The negative attitude generates more negative attitude
Although not always we are ready to admit it, a study realized in the University of Indiana revealed that the opinions about the others affect us and influence our behavior. These psychologists discovered that the negative opinions cause a major impact and attitude change, that the prints.
In the experiment, the participants evaluated different products. Then they revealed to them the evaluations of the others, they were already positive or negative. The investigators appreciated that the negative evaluations were affecting in the attitude of the participants towards the products, doing that they were considering them to be as an even more negative way. And what is even worse, who earlier had a positive attitude were the most capable to the influence of the negative opinions about the others.
Also, when the persons had the possibility of interacting face to face with those who had these negative opinions, they were more inclined to reinforce its negative attitude and an even major polarization was appreciated. This experiment makes us clear: the negative attitude generates more negative attitude.
The sadness is contagious like a virus
Psychologists of the University of Harvard analyzed the tie between the emotional states and the bosses of relations. They did not bear in mind these spontaneous or shared emotions that we usually experience when we live through the same experiences with other persons but they centred on the impact of the emotional changes that there provoke the affective states of the most nearby persons.
They discovered that there exists a “boss of spread”, as it happens with the viruses, and that the contagion foci were major in case of the sadness than for the happiness. In other words, every happy friend increases our possibilities of being happy in 11 % but only we need a sad friend to duplicate the probability of feeling unhappy.
These psychologists conclude that negative emotions there are like the flu: more friendly all that have the flu, more probabilities you have of being contagious, and the same costs for the sadness and the despair.
The hostility and the bad mood also propagate
We receive quickly the fractiousness and the hostility, and scarcely we do something it changes in our brain, changes our way of perceiving the world. We will interpret the interactions like more boors, which will do that we assume the same attitude, which will end up by propagating.
This way it was demonstrated by psychologists of the University of Florida, who asked a group of persons to interfere in negotiation meetings with a couple that was assigned to them at random. They discovered that those who had been exposed to rude and rough attitudes, then were more inclined to be rough with the next partner. And the most interesting thing is that this attitude could last up to one week.
In the second moment they asked the participants to identify words in a letters soup. They appreciated that those who had been exposed to a rough attitude were more inclined to discover words related to the negative emotions. This demonstrates that the interactions that we maintain act like filters, therefore if we are exposed to negative interactions, we will have the tendency to analyze everything from a more negative prism and it will be exactly that what we find, turns into a prediction that is autofulfilled.
Surround with those who extract to the light your best version
Even if we don't want it, the moods of the people around us may end up having a big impact on our Emotions attitudes. That is why it is important to be very careful when choosing those who allow them to enter our innermost circle.
Being continually exposed to moodiness and negativity will end up taking its toll on us, so it's essential to surround ourselves with people who bring out the best version of us. Of course, we too must make sure that we become people with whom others want to be.
The good news is that when we are Aware that there is an emotional contagion, we can act as a counterbalance and encourage other people to focus on the brighter side of things. It's true that positive emotions get much less, but it's the best gift we can give someone when they're going through a bad time.
-Jennifer Delgado-