Bad moods can be good for memory

Bad moods can actually be good for you, according to an Australian study. Being sad makes people less gullible, improves their ability to judge others and also boosts memory.

The study, which was authored by psychology professor Joseph Forgas at the University of New South Wales, found people who were in a poor mood were more critical of, and therefore paid more attention to, their surroundings than happier people, who were more likely to believe anything they were told. "Whereas positive mood seems to promote creativity, flexibility, cooperation, and reliance on mental shortcuts, negative moods trigger more attentive, careful thinking paying greater attention to the external world," Forgas wrote. "Our research suggests that sadness ... promotes information processing strategies best suited to dealing with more demanding situations." For the study, Forgas and his team went about inducing happy or sad moods from the participants by having them watch particular movies or t.v. shows, as well as remembering personal happy or sad events in their lives. They then reported various urban legends, and found that those in a negative mood were less likely to believe them, while the happy people proved far more gullible. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, people is a bad mood were found to make less snap judgments based on race or religious preconceptions, and when asked to recall an event they witnessed were less likely to make a mistake. "Positive mood is not universally desirable: people in negative mood are less prone to judgmental errors, are more resistant to eyewitness distortions and are better at producing high-quality, effective persuasive messages," Forgas wrote.