El Clima Afecta Tu Estado De Animo

“HOW MOOD IS AFFECTED BY WEATHER”

Diego Sebastián Bastidas Briones

Instituto Particular Abdón Calderón

Sixth Fima “W”

2012 - 2013

HOW MOOD IS AFFECTED BY WEATHER

Thesis Statement: According to some studies it is considered that depending on the weather your mood can be affected by the weather and may change either positive or negative, depending in the season or even your personality.

I. Introduction

A. Background.

B. Thesis Statement.

II. Weather changes our mood.

A. Myth or reality.

B. What people think?

III. Weather can affect positively and negatively

A. Keller’s Research.

B. Howard and Hoofman Research.

IV. How are you feeling today?

A. The S.A.D (Seasonal Affective Disorder).

B. Klimstra et al. Research

V. Conclusion

HOW MOOD IS AFFECTED BY WEATHER

Your mood can be affected by weather but it is myth or it is a reality? According to several studies, the say that weather can change your mood, but depending on the person it affects a lot or less. Some people think it is not true and it’s something crazy but other people actually think your mood change a lot, like in summer you always feel happy and when it is winter you are sad the whole day. Many studies were made of this situation. Keller Research examined 605 participants’ responses in three separate studies to examine the connection between mood states, a person thinking and the weather. They found that:

Pleasant weather was related to higher mood, better memory and that person wanted to spend more time outside. The results were related with findings on the seasonal affective disorder, and suggested the pleasant weather improves mood and that winter made people sadder and also said that in summer they are better because in winter they are deprived of such weather.

So while Denissen’s Research found that our mood can be affected not just positively, mood can be affected negatively. It confirms the same effect in a multitude of other studies like some that we are going to mention above. Another way t proves it is that Denissen and colleagues highly confirmed the research that people’s mood and emotions can definitely be affected by the weather. The strength of that variation is different from person to person. But a study’s design has a lot to do with trying to find relationships in the data. And while Denison’s design was good, it was not foolproof.

Problems included the over representation of women in the sample (89%) , suggesting a skewed sample, and response rate, with participants submitting on average half the numbers of surveys needed y the study’s design. In other words, the data may not be the most robust in the world. So according to the results weather appear to impact our moods. And that the effect may become serious.

And these conditions are called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). SAD is characterized by feelings of sadness and depression that occur in the winter months when the temperatures drops and the days are shorter. The characteristics of depression are usually excessively eating or sleeping ad gaining weight. Women are twice to three times more likely to suffer from winter blues than men. If SAD merely a “cultural transmitted idea”, then so is every mental disorder to one extent or another. So what Denissen’s study really shows is that more research is needed to better determine the strength of the link, and whether it affects people in different geographical regions and countries.

So no, you are not crazy if you think your mood is affected by the weather. Nearly 40 years of research suggests there’s a strong link and that, in some people, can lead to significant seasonal problems.

But according to most researches on the connection between weather and mood, it should not happen. Most of us intuitively think weather has quite a strong effect on our mood. Many assume that the rain and the cold weather depress us and the sun warms us. So why do not we see this

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