According to the information posted in the UCSB Scienceline, a site where students ask science questions and research scientists at UC Santa Barbara answer them the weather, alongside the changes that occur within a day, clearly affect people’s lives in more ways than one. Taking a very simple example, during rainy or cold days, people don’t have the desire to go jogging or just take a leisure stroll, which could make them feel relaxed. Instead, they rush back to their homes, offices, schools or any other place they need to be. As a result, they lead a rather stressed life that urges them to finish whatever obligations they might have outdoors and return to their premises as soon as possible, leaving them no time to relax and relieve daily stress .
It is widely accepted that rainy weather is rather depressing and as such one can describe the weather in Britain. At least that is what most people think when asked about the possible correlation between psychological effects of the weather on people. What is astonishing though is the fact that there is research proving that there is no real connection between people’s mood and the weather. Many think that the sun’s warmth and brightness elevates their mood, while a rainy weather brings depression along.
A new study that was conducted by Klimstra et. Al. in 2011, actually concludes that there are four types of people that are differently affected by the weather. Indicatively, the four groups of people are divided as followed: unaffected, summer lovers and haters and finally rain haters. About half of the participants of the study admitted that they did not care much about what was going on around them, regarding the weather conditions. To them, it made no difference if it rained and everything was wet and cold or if there was hot and sunny. The summer lovers on the other hand, agreed that their mood was definitely uplifted whenever temperatures climbed higher and rains begun to extinct from their daily lives. However, at this point, it is interesting to note that those that feel under this group were mainly mothers and not adolescents, as one might expect. When it comes to summer haters, certainly a group of people one doesn’t hear of frequently, it seemed that rainy weather and colder days made them feel much happier than summer, hot days. Another interesting fact that came out when analyzing this group was that adolescents were a great portion of those that fell under this particular group. Finally, rain haters were the ones that showed no differentiation towards temperatures or any climate changes, but specifically resent rain. That being said, it makes sense that studies come up with results that cause awe, based on what we have been thinking about the effect of weather on our mood as of now .
Another study that took initiative from the Klimstra research as described before, was that conducted by Jaap Denissen from Humoboldt University. Jaap and his colleagues also reached a surprising conclusion that weather does not affect us that much as we though. In order to reach a safe conclusion that would allow them to speak with solid evidence, they asked more than 1,000 people to answer a questionnaire over the internet. The study lasted from July 2005 and ended in February 2007 and those that participated in the study had to answer questionnaires on a daily basis so that results would be valid and support a string case. In detail, participants had to state their emotions and how they have been feeling each day. Their responses were then analyzed and compared with the information Jaap and his colleagues were getting from the German Weather Institute that indicated any variables of the weather, such as wind, temperature on an average basis as well as the total amount of sunlight in the areas the participants lived. Surprisingly enough, the results that derived from their extended study showed that the weather had no serious effect on people’s moods, either they were positive or negative, which means that people didn’t need the sun of high temperatures to feel happy. However, the study showed that the weather DID have an effect on people’s bad moods. Moreover, analyzing the data they had Jaap and his colleagues came to the conclusion that less sunshine potentially made people feel tired, which in turns would most likely made them feel bad; however the effects were insignificant to even be taken into more serious consideration, which means that bad weather, low temperatures and rain might spoil our spirits but not to the extend we thought they would .
Of course, we wouldn’t be referring to just isolated studies and researches. Watson, in 2000, has also found similar results from studies he had conducted and concluded that the weather has minor effects on people’s moods. Denissen, among others, also suggests that this concept that people are deeply affected by the weather and feel depressed each time the sun hides or the temperatures drop is just an idea that is passed on from one another, leading to actually believing we do feel sad when it rains, just because we are told so .
Of course, there is a small portion among the human population that are experiencing Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and admit that their moods are directly linked with the weather changes. What is surprising, though, is that all people that have SAD do not follow the usual norm that you feel happier when the sun is up and bright and you feel sad and depressed when it is cold, rainy and foggy. On the contrary, Derissen supports that there is an equal amount of people that the weather have effects on them that are vice versa with the afore mentioned ones, meaning, they feel less happy during summer and less sad in winter .
If one could point a finger at one of the parameters that weren’t actually measured, then it would be wise to mention that none of the aforementioned studies took into consideration the time people spend outside, which definitely affects everybody’s spirits. Usually, people living in industrialized countries spend practically the biggest part of their lives indoors, so the weather does not really have any profound effect on them, since they are not outside much .
In conclusion, it is good news to find out that the weather does not really affect people that much as they initially though it did, as this gives them the chance to take control of their lives and not allow any cloud or rain bring them down. Being able to allow sunlight enter one’s life even in the middle of the coldest days is definitely a great accomplishment.
Works Cited
Denissen, Jaap, et al. "The Effects of Weather on Daily Mood: A Multilevel Approach." Emotion (2008): 662-667. Journal.
PsyBlog. "Does the Weather Affect Your Mood." 5 January 2012. PsyBlog. Website. 29 May 2013.
—. "Weather Has Little Effect on Mood." 4 November 2008. PsyBlog. Website. 29 May 2013.
UCSB. "How Does Weather Affect the Way We Live?" n.d. ScienceLine. Website. 29 May 2013.
