Yes, that is a line from a notable Christmas tune; however, I am not going to be talking much about the winter season in this blog post! This time it's about the other three seasons in the year here in Canada; fall, summer, and especially spring. Just about two weeks ago now the spring season, sprung and although the first week wasn't the warmest, it was still the start of spring and I know that almost every person in the country was pleased with the idea of that! At least, I know I was... You see, that's my question here; why is it that as soon as spring hits we humans seem to become jollier? I had to find out, so I did some research on it and found a few ideas why we love this time of the year. First, I thought I would see if we are psychologically happier in the warmth, then from there I stumbled on another idea that we are happier when we are busy, and lastly I decided I would give my own personal opinion on the idea.
Alright, so the very first thing I did when the idea of spring popped into my mind was I googled, "does spring make us happier?" A broad question because it could have come up with a billion and one answers! Yet, it didn't, the first article that came up was from a psychologist who had written an article on the BBC website, she spoke about the idea of sunshine and warm weather making us happier. You would think that it does, for a number of reasons, but really it has almost no affect on us. Really, the connection between our mood and weather has been put to the bottom of a long list of things that do actually affect the way that we feel. There has been a handful of studies done on this topic, specifically one performed at the University of Leicester, surveyed 80'000 people across the globe on well-being and satisfaction; ironically, they came up with the four "happiest" countries in the world being, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland and Iceland, some of the chilliest places on Earth! So, clearly, based on the research that has recently been found, there is no connection between our mood and the warmth. Another thing that I found information on was SAD (seasonal affective disorder), this disease causes minor depression in people during certain seasons, and although there has been more cases in countries that have colder weather, seasonally and all year round, it has been found to occur in places like California that are always warm.
While I was on those first couple psychology articles I happened to stumble upon another idea, I had found another article about something that may seem off topic from the idea of spring, but it really is not. I had found another article written by a scientist supporting a theory; we are more content when we are busy. Once I discovered this I needed to look deeper, I found a few more articles and they all had the same basic idea. Each one spoke of the same theory that was discovered a few years ago, the theory states that humans, when told to do whatever they want, will normally choose to do nothing; they will be lazy, because they think that it will make them happy. Really, we want to be doing something, so, if we had been asked to do something, we would do it, we just need a little motivation. A test scientists conducted to test the theory was they took a number of teenagers, they gave them all a piece of candy, then they told them that they could have a second piece, however, they would have to wait fifteen minutes for it, they asked them all one question, they told them that they could sit and wait the rest of the time or they could go for a fifteen minute walk. Initially not many chose to take the walk; they then told the children that if they took the walk instead of sitting around, they would get a better candy; after the motivation, many more of them chose to walk. You see, we want to be doing something, it doesn't matter what, all we need is some sort of motivation.
Okay so, I think I'm going to have to disagree with at least the first article, I really do not think that winter could possibly make somebody happy! Unless you're a professional skier or something... I personally do love the snow and winter, but I hate the cold, it doesn't make me happy one bit, I feel lazy, like I can't do anything because if I want to go outside I need to bundle up in a billion layers or I'll freeze, and I just have no motivation to do anything. Whereas, in the fall, the spring and the summer I am free to go out and be active, I can do whatever I please, the sun and the warmth just make me feel better; more alive. I do though, have to agree with the other articles that I read, I must say that if I'm given a choice of doing something or not doing something, I will always do the thing that allows me to be more active, physically or mentally, but it makes it that much better when somebody offers me something to do that same activity.
Therefore, I do believe that the weather has an affect on our moods, the way we act and all other aspects of our life, and I can also conclude that one of the reasons we love the three warmer seasons of the year is because we can get out and do things! I love spring and I am so very happy that it has finally come around again! What's your favourite season? Why? ^^
Alright, so the very first thing I did when the idea of spring popped into my mind was I googled, "does spring make us happier?" A broad question because it could have come up with a billion and one answers! Yet, it didn't, the first article that came up was from a psychologist who had written an article on the BBC website, she spoke about the idea of sunshine and warm weather making us happier. You would think that it does, for a number of reasons, but really it has almost no affect on us. Really, the connection between our mood and weather has been put to the bottom of a long list of things that do actually affect the way that we feel. There has been a handful of studies done on this topic, specifically one performed at the University of Leicester, surveyed 80'000 people across the globe on well-being and satisfaction; ironically, they came up with the four "happiest" countries in the world being, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland and Iceland, some of the chilliest places on Earth! So, clearly, based on the research that has recently been found, there is no connection between our mood and the warmth. Another thing that I found information on was SAD (seasonal affective disorder), this disease causes minor depression in people during certain seasons, and although there has been more cases in countries that have colder weather, seasonally and all year round, it has been found to occur in places like California that are always warm.
While I was on those first couple psychology articles I happened to stumble upon another idea, I had found another article about something that may seem off topic from the idea of spring, but it really is not. I had found another article written by a scientist supporting a theory; we are more content when we are busy. Once I discovered this I needed to look deeper, I found a few more articles and they all had the same basic idea. Each one spoke of the same theory that was discovered a few years ago, the theory states that humans, when told to do whatever they want, will normally choose to do nothing; they will be lazy, because they think that it will make them happy. Really, we want to be doing something, so, if we had been asked to do something, we would do it, we just need a little motivation. A test scientists conducted to test the theory was they took a number of teenagers, they gave them all a piece of candy, then they told them that they could have a second piece, however, they would have to wait fifteen minutes for it, they asked them all one question, they told them that they could sit and wait the rest of the time or they could go for a fifteen minute walk. Initially not many chose to take the walk; they then told the children that if they took the walk instead of sitting around, they would get a better candy; after the motivation, many more of them chose to walk. You see, we want to be doing something, it doesn't matter what, all we need is some sort of motivation.
Okay so, I think I'm going to have to disagree with at least the first article, I really do not think that winter could possibly make somebody happy! Unless you're a professional skier or something... I personally do love the snow and winter, but I hate the cold, it doesn't make me happy one bit, I feel lazy, like I can't do anything because if I want to go outside I need to bundle up in a billion layers or I'll freeze, and I just have no motivation to do anything. Whereas, in the fall, the spring and the summer I am free to go out and be active, I can do whatever I please, the sun and the warmth just make me feel better; more alive. I do though, have to agree with the other articles that I read, I must say that if I'm given a choice of doing something or not doing something, I will always do the thing that allows me to be more active, physically or mentally, but it makes it that much better when somebody offers me something to do that same activity.
Therefore, I do believe that the weather has an affect on our moods, the way we act and all other aspects of our life, and I can also conclude that one of the reasons we love the three warmer seasons of the year is because we can get out and do things! I love spring and I am so very happy that it has finally come around again! What's your favourite season? Why? ^^