• You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community, you will have access to additional post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), view blogs, respond to polls, upload content, and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so please join our community today! Just click here to register. You should turn your Ad Blocker off for this site or certain features may not work properly. If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us by clicking here.

Negativity boosts memory

Halla74

Artisan Conquerer
Joined
Jan 20, 2009
Messages
6,898
MBTI Type
ESTP
Enneagram
7w8
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
Interesting.

REF:
"Our research suggests that sadness ... promotes information processing strategies best suited to dealing with more demanding situations."

I wonder how sadness compares to anger/resentment as a catalyst for increased information processing?

Who would pay more attention to a situation, a sad person, or a person desiring justice/revenge?

This reminds me of a video recommended to me:
YouTube - FDA Approves Depressant Drug For The Annoyingly Cheerful

:happy2:
 

Synarch

Once Was
Joined
Oct 14, 2008
Messages
8,445
MBTI Type
ENTP
Angry people definitely have a certain intensity absent in happy people.
 

Halla74

Artisan Conquerer
Joined
Jan 20, 2009
Messages
6,898
MBTI Type
ESTP
Enneagram
7w8
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
Angry people definitely have a certain intensity absent in happy people.

Would it be fair to say anger is "active sadness" and sadness is "passive anger?"

The two are not mutually exclusive, I think. Both are negative. A main difference between them is that a sad person lacks drive, while an angry person lacks reflection, but both are upset. Right?
 

Synarch

Once Was
Joined
Oct 14, 2008
Messages
8,445
MBTI Type
ENTP
Would it be fair to say anger is "active sadness" and sadness is "passive anger?"

The two are not mutually exclusive, I think. Both are negative. A main difference between them is that a sad person lacks drive, while an angry person lacks reflection, but both are upset. Right?

I think that is very perceptive actually. I think you could conceptualize anger as "active" sadness. Sadness externalized. Normal sadness could be the same feeling internalized. It is often said that women are conditioned to internalize their negative feelings, hence sadness, whereas men are conditioned to externalize their negative feelings and subject them to other people.
 

Halla74

Artisan Conquerer
Joined
Jan 20, 2009
Messages
6,898
MBTI Type
ESTP
Enneagram
7w8
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
I think that is very perceptive actually. I think you could conceptualize anger as "active" sadness. Sadness externalized. Normal sadness could be the same feeling internalized. It is often said that women are conditioned to internalize their negative feelings, hence sadness, whereas men are conditioned to externalize their negative feelings and subject them to other people.

Tis' better to give than receive.
 

Halla74

Artisan Conquerer
Joined
Jan 20, 2009
Messages
6,898
MBTI Type
ESTP
Enneagram
7w8
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
We all have a dual nature. One part receptive, one part active.

You make a good point. Most of the time I can predict when I will be prone to being receptive/active. Sometimes I cannot. It really depends on the severity of a given event, and if it came as a surprise or not, and who it was delivered by that determine if I will be saddened or become wrathful.
 

Lady_X

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 27, 2008
Messages
18,235
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
784
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
interesting...and my memory sucks. i will say i'm more prone to actively show anger than sadness but i think you're right that it most likely stems from sadness.
 

Risen

Permabanned
Joined
Mar 19, 2008
Messages
3,185
MBTI Type
ISTP
Enneagram
9w8
Angry people definitely have a certain intensity absent in happy people.

Once again I am proven right ;). Cynicism is beneficial, particularly to the analytical process within the mind.
 

Synarch

Once Was
Joined
Oct 14, 2008
Messages
8,445
MBTI Type
ENTP
Once again I am proven right ;). Cynicism is beneficial, particularly to the analytical process within the mind.

I think it's more that skepticism is a direct result of analysis. In other words, the more one ruminates, the more one comes to negative conclusions. Whereas happiness seems to stem from a distinct lack of analysis. No one really goes, "I've thought long and hard about it and have decided I am happy." Happiness is more like a decision NOT to think about things too deeply.
 
G

Ginkgo

Guest
Is it really so surprising? Our brains are hard-wired to avoid negative consequences. Thus, we emphasize negative outcomes on the individual, interpersonal, and societal levels so that we may avoid future reoccurrances. Unfortunately, many of us may become so interwoven within the cloud that we can never find the silver lining.
 

Synarch

Once Was
Joined
Oct 14, 2008
Messages
8,445
MBTI Type
ENTP
Is it really so surprising? Our brains are hard-wired to avoid negative consequences. Thus, we emphasize negative outcomes on the individual, interpersonal, and societal levels so that we may avoid future reoccurred. Unfortunately, many of us may become so interwoven within the cloud that we can never find the silver lining.

Doesn't surprise me.

I also think many depressive types adhere to logic and analysis as a means to control negative experiences or, in the more spiritual parlance of a bygone era, suffering.
 

Synarch

Once Was
Joined
Oct 14, 2008
Messages
8,445
MBTI Type
ENTP
I can agree with this.

... It's also especially interesting that we are most honest about someone 'when' we are angry.

I always say that anger is the most honest emotion. I probably stole that from somewhere. Hard to lie when you're really angry.
 

AOA

♣️♦️♠️♥️
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
4,821
MBTI Type
ENTJ
Enneagram
8
Instinctual Variant
sx
I always say that anger is the most honest emotion. I probably stole that from somewhere. Hard to lie when you're really angry.

True that.
 

Risen

Permabanned
Joined
Mar 19, 2008
Messages
3,185
MBTI Type
ISTP
Enneagram
9w8
I think it's more that skepticism is a direct result of analysis. In other words, the more one ruminates, the more one comes to negative conclusions. Whereas happiness seems to stem from a distinct lack of analysis. No one really goes, "I've thought long and hard about it and have decided I am happy." Happiness is more like a decision NOT to think about things too deeply.

I'd agree with you and tater. Cynicism is, generally, birthed from deeper analysis (I can only speak for myself though). Cynicism often ignores the many inherit patterns of thinking ingrained within the human psyche that lead us to veer toward believing in a just world, believing in the good as oppose to the bad, as we appraise it. We naturally want to avoid dealing with uncomfortable or painful realities. Blasting through that need and tendency leads one towards a greater mental capacity to handle all manners of information despite how negative it may seem. And at the same time, "negative/bad" is nothing but a subjective appraisal. There are many things others would call negative that I would just say is a natural part of reality, as in realism vs. pessimism.

But, if the onset of negative emotions (one is subjectively appraising the situation as being negative either consciously or subconsciously) is what yields greater memory and cognitive ability, that also dovetails with the known fact that stronger emotions tend to create stronger associated memories anyway. However, I don't know how they are defining or measuring "negativity" in this study, so it's hard for me to comment intelligently without a lot of conjecture. If it's negativity as in a different overall thought pattern that people would tend to agree is "negative", then it does indicate that those thought patterns yield greater memory formation and JUDGMENT. Emphasis on judgment because I can't count how often you come across Feelers who would condemn Thinkers for their realistic cynicism, though I would often argue that way of thinking is far far far better for making sound judgments. Since we all need to make judgments to SURVIVE, it seems to me it's hard to knock the supreme utility of that form of thinking.

If I weren't so cynical, I'd never be able to maintain the same level of mental clarity and understanding of the real world in all of its workings. I don't care what the positive is, I only care what the reality is, even if it means perpetual sadness for my understanding of that reality.
 
Top