Weather and Mood

aaaaaaaaI don’t know about everyone else, but as it starts to get colder, I find myself becoming increasingly lazy and tired. The thought of going out on a Friday night is no longer as appealing as laying in my bed and binge watching a season of Grey’s Anatomy. Now obviously most people do not prefer to spend their time walking a few miles to their destination in the freezing cold, but I’m wondering, does the change in seasons actually effect your mood? 

Let’s take a look.

According to World of Psychology, weather does effect people’s mood. This is not due to positive mood effects, but rather due to an effect in a person’s negative mood. That With that being said, wind can actually make a depressed person feel even worse, while warm weather can improve someone feeling down in the dumps. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a depressive disorder where a persons depression is connected to a specific season.

Sun

The exact reason why someone suffers from SAD is unknown, but there is a correlation between the amount of light a person receives and their mood. Light can trigger reactions in our brains, which will automatically make us happier and more aware of our surroundings. With that being said, it’s not always the cold that makes a person depression, but rather the lack of sunlight that is seen in the winter time. Believe it or not, fertility problems, cancers, bad health, and depression have all been linked to lack of sun. People have been reported to experience sadness, fatigue, and hopelessness all from not getting enough sunlight.

Heat/excessive rain epa-tempgraph2

According to a study, correlation between human aggression and heat was found in 2013. In an observational study done, researchers found that 14% more problems and 4% more of interpersonal violence occurred between the group of people being tested when the temperature rose. Rain also caused similar behavior. Aggression grew in people in areas where it rained more. While this does show a correlation, as I stated it before, it does not mean that rain causes the higher aggression levels, but it sure is an interesting theory. While testing students in three different temperature rooms, it was found that students did a lot better in a room that was average temperature instead of hot. Based off of Marie Connolly’s interviews with women on days hot and rainy days, it was reported that “with more rain and higher temperatures statistically and substantively decreasing life satisfaction, consistent with the affect results.” But when it was the temperature decreased and it wasn’t raining, the same people said there life was better.

Suicides in spring/summer

A lot of people like the spring time for many reasons. With sunny skies and increasing temperatures, some people have a more hopeful, positive mood. For others, the exact opposite happens. Researchers found that a lot of outdoor employers committed suicide in the spring rather than the winter time, while indoor workers commit the highest number of suicides in the summer. “Studies from both the Norther and Southern hemisphere report a seasonal pattern for suicides. Thus, it seems that seasonality is observed with an increase in suicides for spring and early summer anseasonsd an analogous decrease during autumn and winter months, that is a constant, if not a universal behavior that affects both the Norther and Southern hemisphere.” This was finding of a meta-analysis studying the link between seasons and suicide in 2012. In another study in Sweden, from 1992-2003 the same pattern was discovered. A peak for suicides was found in the spring and summer months.

Connections to personality and weather

A study was done with a group 415 adults. Of those 415, half were said to not have been impacted by the change in weather. The rest of the participants concluded this according to psychcentral.com:

  • “Love Summer (17%) – “Happier, less fearful, and less angry on days with more sunshine and higher temperatures. More hours of precipitation was associated with less happiness and more anxiety and anger.”
  • Hate summer (27%) – “Less happy and more fearful and angry when the temperature and the percentage of sunshine were higher. With more hours of precipitation they tended to be happier and less fearful and angry.”
  • Hate rain (9%) – “Angrier and less happy on days with more precipitation. By comparison, they were more happy and fearful, but less angry, on days with more sunshine and higher temperatures.”
  • Unaffected by weather (48 percent) – Largely unimpacted by changes in the weather.”

To critique this study, it seems to me that those who have a more positive attitude in general (ie. “love summer” are automatically happier, while those who “hate” seasons seemed to be naturally angrier people. This study was conducted on teenagers as well, which means the results could vary on other age groups. While there is a correlation between weather and mood, the results of the study could change based on the person’s own personal preferences. Just because one person hates the rain, does not mean everyone has to.

Don’t let the weather effect your mood!

In a study done on just men, the response to a change in weather is a change in plans. If the plain was to go on a boat ride but it started raining, they decide to watch a movie or hang in the house for the day. When looking at women, they did not change their plans. Instead they dealt with the weather, therefore, their mood worsened. It seems like weather can have the ability to effects peoples’ mood, but varies throughout personality types and genders. So next time you are planing on going on a day trip to the beach and wake up to thunderstorms, maybe try changing your plans to something else like a trip to the museum. You may end up having an unexpected great day!

 

One thought on “Weather and Mood

  1. pjt5135

    Morgan, this is something that I and many others have thought about ourselves before. State College is the epitome of dealing with this problem too, considering we won’t see the sun until March. The part about the suicides was incredibly fascinating; why do outdoor workers commit more suicide in the springtime?

    I would have liked to hear more about the chemicals released during the different types of weather and whether that has correlation to chemicals released during depression. Also, do you think there is a medium where one can be effected by weather change but not be depressed?

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