Facts

• The range of human emotions includes many more negative than positive feelings.
  • fear, anger, shame, disgust,
• Negative feelings can be helpful because they help us recognize, avoid and overcome threatening or dangerous situations.

Can a Bad Mood be Good? (This does not apply to clinical depression)

• Bad moods are
  • Normal and common
  • Can be a useful and adaptive part of being human
  • Can help us cope with many everyday situations and challenges.
• Mood affects your ability to do daily tasks
• Most people intuitively feel that a good mood helps with decision making and productivity and a bad mood has the opposite effect. It’s not so simple
• Bad moods/sadness can
  • Improve recall memory.
  • Improve assessments of others.
  • Improve recall of a situation.
  • People in a bad mood try harder (and perform better) at tough mental tasks.
  • Bad moods can make people more concerned with fairness.

It Doesn’t Work for Everyone

• People who have rapid, intense, and enduring emotional responses–high reactivity—can sometimes perform better in a bad mood.
  • Focus attention
  • Manage time
  • Prioritize tasks
• People who respond less strongly or more slowly to emotional triggers–low reactivity—can perform worse.
• Emotional reactivity differs from person to person starting at a very early age.

How Do You Know Who You Are

Emotional reactivity scales are tools used by psychologists but you can

• Ask friends and family
• Keep a log of your mood and activities
• Take a test: emotional reactivity scales on the internet to get a rough idea

Links

Perth Emotional Reactivity Scale (PERS):

https://www.sciencealert.com/bad-moods-could-give-brain-boosts-for-everyday-tasks

https://theconversation.com/why-bad-moods-are-good-for-you-the-surprising-benefits-of-sadness-75402