"Grumpy" People Are Better Thinkers

It looks like there may be some hope for us grumpy people after all. Most people tend to think happy carefree people have all the advantages in life, but an Australian psychologist has shown that may not be true at all.

Professor Joe Forgas (University of New South Wales) has done some experiments, and he believes that while happy people do possess more creativity, grumpy people are less gullible and better critical thinkers. Forgas says this is because of the way the brain "promotes information processing strategies."

According to the BBC, Forgas "asked volunteers to watch different films and dwell on positive or negative events in their lives, designed to put them in either a good or bad mood. Next he asked them to take part in a series of tasks, including judging the truth of urban myths and providing eyewitness accounts of events. Those in a bad mood outperformed those who were jolly -- they made fewer mistakes and were better communicators."

Forgas said, "Whereas positive mood seems to promote creativity, flexibility, co-operation and reliance on mental short-cuts, negative moods trigger more attentive, careful thinking, paying greater attention to the external world." He went on to say a "mildly negative mood may actually promote a more concrete, accommodative and ultimately more successful communication style."

So before you make fun of us grumpy people in the future, remember that we're probably out-thinking you. In fact, it may be the critical thinking that's feeding our grumpiness.

P.S. -- You ornery kids get off my lawn!!