The weather and your mood

Have you ever been in a “stormy relationship” with someone?

Interesting, the phrase ascribing a weather condition to human relationships might be less of a metaphor and more of a literal description than many of us would think. Indeed, research shows that the weather can have a significant effect on our mood and consequently affect how we interact with others – positively and negatively.

As early as the 1980’s, two studies conducted among a group of university students found that weather conditions such as humidity, temperature and hours of sunshine were factors in determining a person’s mood. High levels of humidity lowered scores on concentration while increasing sleepiness. Warmer temperatures lowered feelings of anxiousness and decreased skepticism.

The students’ sense of optimism was linked proportionately to the number of hours of sunshine they were exposed to; as the hours increased so too did their positive feelings.

While in temperate climates, a mental condition appropriately known as SAD, or Seasonal Affective Disorder, affects people during winter when there is a lack of sunlight, by making them feel depressed and listless, over here in the tropics, an excess of sunlight and heat may result in an equally undesirable outcome – crime. Several police departments have statistics showing a relationship between heat waves and crime waves. This is a result of people feeling bothered, frustrated and even angry when they literally get hot under the collar.

And this leads us to the undeniable effect of global warming on our mood by way of the temperature. Especially in sunny Singapore, which lies near the equator, statistics show that it has been getting steadily warmer since the 1940’s. The plotted mean yearly temperature for Singapore for the period 1948 – 2008 shows an increase of 0.25 degrees Celsius per decade. (For once the graph doesn’t show the market indices, but rather the rise in temperature in Singapore over the years.)

Adding to this, our rapid urbanization also contributes to the increasing temperature, as densely built-up areas tend to absorb and retain more heat than vegetated rural ones.

This increase in heat, as has already been demonstrated, will probably affect our mood – and consequently, perhaps even our relationships with others - in a negative manner if we unconsciously allow it to. But now that we know about it, we can take steps to effectively mitigate its undesirable impact. Whenever you sense yourself turning listless, tired, melancholy, frustrated or even angry, see if the weather has anything to do with it. While you can’t change the weather, you can be aware of how it’s making you feel and consciously take steps or behave in a manner