  |
|
|
|
Sad People Are More ProductiveHow Unhappy Children Learn Better & Sad Employees Work Harder
Not only do sad children learn better, but unhappy employees are more productive. Here's the latest psychological research about mood and performance.
Happy children don’t necessarily learn better, say psychologists at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and the University of Plymouth. In fact, happy children may be at a disadvantage when it comes to attention to detail and learning. Psychological Research Results about Sad Children & LearningThe researchers used music to induce sad or happy moods (Mozart and Mahler induced sad moods; selected clips from the Jungle Book and the Lion King induced happy moods). The kids then performed tasks that required attention to detail, such as to observe a detailed image such as a house and a simple shape such as a triangle, and then locate the shape within the larger picture. These research findings were conclusive: unhappy children, or kids in sad moods, performed the task better than happy children, or kids in happy moods. "Happiness indicates that things are going well, which leads to a global, top-down style of information processing. Sadness indicates that something is amiss, triggering detail-orientated, analytical processing," said lead researcher Simone Schnall, PhD, of the University of Plymouth. "However, it is important to emphasize that existing research shows there are contexts in which a positive mood is beneficial for a child, such as when a task calls for creative thinking. But this particular research demonstrates that when attention to detail is required, it may do more harm than good." Psychological Research Results About Unhappy Employees & ProductivityPsychologist Dr. Robert Sinclair’s research revealed whether happy or sad moods at work increase productivity. His research revealed that sad people are more productive. Similar psychological research shows that happy people might not devote as much energy to the task because they see the task as something that might detract from their present feelings (and turn their happy mood into a sad mood). On the other hand, sad people may devote themselves fully to the task at hand to distract themselves from their sad moods. "It is important to know that the moods were unrelated to the task," said Dr. Sinclair. “Unhappiness is coming from something else." In other words, the research participants weren’t sad because of the work they were doing. Their sad moods were caused by other things. Are unhappy employees more productive? Psychological research does show that sad moods lead to more contemplation and, often, more thoughtful or accurate judgments. So, maybe happy employees don’t make the same types of judgments that unhappy employees do. Dr. Sinclair also found that when people believed that the task would make them feel good, they devoted more energy to the job. So, if you’re an employer, your best bet is not to hire unhappy employees, but to show your employees that being productive and performing their jobs well will make them feel good. Then, their motivation and performance may increase – and then you’ll be the happy employer of employees in good moods. If you found Sad People Are More Productive interesting, you might like: Sources: “Sad Children Outperform Happy Children in Attention-to-Detail Tasks” (ScienceDaily, June 3, 2008) and “Sad Workers Make Better Workers” (ScienceDaily, June 14, 2001).
The copyright of the article Sad People Are More Productive in Cognitive Psychology is owned by Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen. Permission to republish Sad People Are More Productive in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
|
|
|
|
