There’s a growing body of evidence that supports the theory of social contagion - that is, your own feelings and emotions are profoundly influenced by the emotions and moods of those around you. For most people this occurs at a totally subconcious level, but it definitely happens - just think of the person who “lights up the room” upon arrival. Conversely, hanging around negative people will make you more negative. Jump into a conversation with unhappy coworkers and you’ll probably be complaining about most everything, even if you are actually fairly happy with your job.
I thought this issue was worth mentioning now because we’re seeing some high-profile bloggers speak and act on this theory. Most recently Robert Scoble decided to start moderating his comments section to weed out those that were purely negative and added no value to the discussions, for the sake of keeping himself more positive and sane. Bravo! My personal view is that you can’t please everyone all the time. Time is valuable and it’s better to be thoughtful about whom you choose to deal with, especially as it could be more detrimental than just wasting your time.
As you would expect, there was a ton of feedback, both positive and negative, towards Scoble’s recent decision. Two opinions that I found to be enlightening were David Heinemeier Hansson’s post about being a Shiny Happy Person and Kathy Sierra’s post on the science behind how angry/negative people affect you. They’re both facinating reads if you have the time. 
Other Two-Bit Posts
0 Comments on “Happy people make you happier”
Leave a Comment