Is Someone’s Mood Contagious? Who Influences Your Mood?
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Have you ever noticed that certain people are a pleasure to be around? Spending time with them is guaranteed to be enjoyable.
You are never put in a stressful situation; whatever you do together isn’t stressful either.
And then other people seem to be able to ruin a fun time without even making an effort to do so?
As soon as you see their number pop up on your phone, you just know there is a problem. You probably question why you continue to have this person in your life.
Even if the circumstances aren’t particularly unsettling, the people around you can affect your state of mind.
Even the most insignificant of exchanges can have a significant impact. Consider the implications.
Your day can be improved by something as simple as someone smiling at you as they pass by.
How can something so insignificant and fleeting have such an effect on your state of mind and feelings?
How Other People’s Moods Can Affect You
Researchers, doctors, and philosophers have taken an interest in how someone else’s mood can affect your own.
The majority of the great classical philosophers, such as Plato, Aristotle, and Descartes, all agreed that your mood and emotions were merely fleeting feelings, regarded as being primitive and lacking in depth.
Since that time, that way of thinking has undergone a shift.
It has garnered significant attention, and because of how involved it is, people have even given it the label “emotional contagion.”
They use it to illustrate how positive emotions such as excitement and joy, as well as negative ones such as grief, fear, and anger, can readily be conveyed from one person to another.
This is often done without either person realizing it is happening.
It has been demonstrated that the process takes place in milliseconds, and its origins may be traced back to a highly primal inclination.
