What Facebook Can Tell You About Your Emotions
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The title of this article probably sounds a bit like click-bait. But the social media giant and its massive user base provided a very unique opportunity for researchers a few years ago.
In 2012, Facebook, while working with researchers from Cornell University and the University of California, manipulated the news feed of 689,003 users for psychological research.
So, what did they do?
Kramer et al., 2014 had Facebook adjust the types of stories that appear in people’s news feeds. Some people saw content that was slightly more emotionally negative, while others saw content that was slightly more emotionally positive.
People were then monitored to see what kind of status updates were posted afterwards.
The result?
People, who had positive content reduced on their news feed, used more negative words in their status updates.
On the other hand, when people had negative content reduced in their news feed, they used more positive words to describe their status updates.
So, what does it all mean? Positive and negative emotions are contagious.
Take Home Message
Clearly, it benefits us all to put more positive out into the world than negative, particularly online, where social media appears to be coming an increasingly negative place.
But, should we be positive just because it is a nicer way to be?
For anyone needing a little added motivation to be positive, recent research from Dr. Christopher Jacobi shows that being positive can help you live a longer life!
So, with that in mind, let’s explore 4 different ways you can create a little more positivity!
4 Tips For Becoming More Positive
- Challenge Negative Thoughts
We all experience automatic negative thoughts. These are thoughts that automatically pop into your mind that don’t have the nicest things to say (e.g., “That was stupid”, “What were you thinking?”, “That looks terrible on me”, “I should have known better”… you get the idea!).
If you aren’t challenging these thoughts, essentially, you are accepting them. Over time, this will likely lead to you becoming a more negative and possibly, depressed person.
Here’s a 4 step-protocol for challenging negative thoughts.
- Define the negative thought.
For instance, if the negative thought you are challenging is “That was stupid”, does it really fall under the definition of stupid, or is it something different, perhaps just a silly mistake.
- What is the evidence for the thought being true?
Often, when people challenge negative thoughts, they’ll find at best, there is very little evidence that the thought is true.
For instance, if the negative thought was “This doesn’t look good on me”, there could be some truth to it… let’s say, it seems a bit too tight. But chances are, it doesn’t look hideous and isn’t so tight that the fabric is straining with every breath you take!
Remember, if a negative thought has some truth to it, it is important to make this truth the correct size – no bigger, no smaller.
In the rare instances, where the negative thought is entirely true – no problem. There is something to learn here. We can make change wherever possible and work to accept the things we cannot change.
- What is the evidence for the thought being false?
Let’s go back to the clothing example. Chances are there is plenty of evidence that the thought, “This doesn’t look good on me” is false or you wouldn’t have bought it in the first place (provided it wasn’t a gift, of course)! For instance, the colour could look great on you and the pattern could conform with your natural lines.
- Replace the negative thought with the more accurate positive thought.
Generally, this will be the final step. As I mentioned above, there will be the rare occasion where you will go “Wow, this negative thought is totally true”…. and we have a plan for that.
However, the majority of the time, you want to ensure that you correct the negative thought so you can start to wire that circuit to your brain properly!
- Prioritize Time Everyday To Focus On What is Going Well
Generally speaking, people spend little time focusing on what is going well. Rather, we often focus on the task at hand, what else needs to be done and what’s not going well.
When I see clients in psychotherapy and ask this question, I often inquire about big areas in life such as the following:
Physical health Freedom School or Work
Mental health Family Hobbies or Interests
Cognitive ability Friends Upcoming Enjoyable Activities
Typically, people respond by saying that most of these areas are going pretty well. Now, if we insert those categories into a pie graph, chances are, 80 – 85% of your life is going quite well and 15 – 20% is difficult or just falling short of expectations.
Yet, most of us don’t walk around feeling fairly positive and upbeat about life. Rather, the smaller portion that is negative tends to be blown up to a much bigger size and is focused on far too much.
So, what is the solution?
Prioritize a minimum of 10 minutes each day to focus on what is going well in your life. Admittedly, some days will be more difficult than others, but there are often many things we can feel good about, even if it takes a little digging sometimes.
- Be Grateful
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Yes, simply being grateful can help you to become more positive and even happier.
Let’s take a look at a quick study. Emmons and McCullough, 2003 had study participants write down 5 things they were grateful for each week, for 10 consecutive weeks. This included statements such as: enjoying the sunset through the clouds, the chance to be alive, the generosity of friends, etc.
The result?
The study participants were found to be 25% happier than they were at the beginning of the study.
To further support this finding, Seligman et al, 2005 also found similar results. Gratitude works!
- Beware Of Who You Spend Time With
“Who you hang out with is who you become.”
I suspect you have probably heard of this saying at one time or another in life, I’ve generally found it to be true. Whenever I’ve consistently spent time with people who are negative, I tend to become more negative myself. I’ve noticed this same pattern with clients.
With positive people, there is often energy being exuded that makes these people enjoyable to be around. It also becomes easier to begin downplaying small irritants and focus on things that are going well in life.
I would dare say that positivity is contagious, just like the Facebook study found out.
Do you find emotions to be contagious? Is social media a positive or negative place for you? What do you find helps with positivity? Please share in the comments section below.