Does Daily Sunshine Make You Happy? Subjective Measures of Well‐Being and the Weather

Buscha, Franz

doi:10.1111/manc.12126

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 16 publications

(31 reference statements)

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“…The concept of wintertime mindset may be particularly useful in explaining the contradictory findings surrounding the effect of weather and climate on emotions. While some studies suggest that the darkness that accompanies winter can lead to depressed mood and seasonal affective disorder (e.g., Connolly, 2013;Feddersen, Metcalfe, & Wooden, 2016;MacKerron & Mourato, 2013), other studies find no such outcomes (e.g., Buscha, 2016;Kämpfer & Mutz, 2013;Lucas & Lawless, 2013). Our results suggest that there may be a psychological variable -mindset -that influences the relationship between climate and wellbeing.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 56%

Winter is coming: Wintertime mindset and wellbeing in Norway

Leibowitz

Vittersø

2020

Intnl. J. Wellbeing

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Previous research of the effect of winter on wellbeing has yielded contradictory findings. While there is evidence that the lack of sunlight in wintertime can lead to seasonal depression and negative emotions, many individuals are able to thrive during the winter. What might determine whether the darkness of winter leads to poor psychological outcomes? To investigate whether or not mindset contributes to wintertime wellbeing, we assessed wintertime mindset via a Wintertime Mindset Scale measuring attitudes towards winter. A survey of 238 respondents from southern Norway, northern Norway, and the Arctic island of Svalbard identified correlations between positive wintertime mindset and measures of wellbeing, including life satisfaction and positive emotions. Latitude and wintertime mindset were also correlated, with more northern residents, who experience significantly more darkness and somewhat colder temperatures during the winter, holding more positive wintertime mindsets, and wintertime mindset statistically mediating the relationship between location and wellbeing. These results suggest that mindset is a previously overlooked factor of seasonal wellbeing, especially in places where the winter darkness is more extreme. Implications of these findings and suggestions for further research are discussed.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 56%

Winter is coming: Wintertime mindset and wellbeing in Norway

Leibowitz

Vittersø

2020

Intnl. J. Wellbeing

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“…For instance, individuals tend to feel better when the day is less cloudy [ 23 – 26 ], barometric pressure is higher [ 27 ], precipitation lower [ 24 , 28 ], and wind power stronger [ 23 ]. However, more recent large-scale studies have not replicated many previous findings regarding the link between weather and emotions [ 29 , 30 ]. For instance, contradictory effects have primarily been focused on temperature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Furthermore, the differences between the findings may also stem from differences in used methodologies. For instance, to measure participants’ mood studies used single-item questions [ 24 , 25 , 29 , 30 ], standardized questionnaires [ 23 , 27 ], and automatic mood detection from social media posts [ 16 , 31 ]. Some studies used a single report from participants [ 25 , 27 , 30 ], whereas other employed repeated measure design with daily diaries [ 2 , 20 , 23 , 24 , 29 , 35 ], and experience sampling methods [ 36 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, to measure participants’ mood studies used single-item questions [ 24 , 25 , 29 , 30 ], standardized questionnaires [ 23 , 27 ], and automatic mood detection from social media posts [ 16 , 31 ]. Some studies used a single report from participants [ 25 , 27 , 30 ], whereas other employed repeated measure design with daily diaries [ 2 , 20 , 23 , 24 , 29 , 35 ], and experience sampling methods [ 36 ]. Furthermore, the repeated measures lasted from reports over 11 days [ 24 ]; 14 days [ 36 ], 25 days [ 37 ], 30 day [ 35 ]; 90 days [ 2 , 20 ], to two-year period [ 23 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, we used precise weather conditions that occurred during the experiments rather than using weather variables for the day of self-reports [ 30 , 32 ]. Third, unlike other studies that examined the association between weather and affect during a single season [ 29 , 32 , 36 ], we investigated data collected during three seasons–winter, spring, and autumn.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How seasons, weather, and part of day influence baseline affective valence in laboratory research participants?

et al. 2021

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Many people believe that weather influences their emotional state. Along similar lines, some researchers in affective science are concerned whether testing individuals at a different time of year, a different part of the day, or in different weather conditions (e.g., in a cold and rainy morning vs. a hot evening) influences how research participants feel upon entering a study; thus inflating the measurement error. Few studies have investigated the link between baseline affective levels and the research context, such as seasonal and daily weather fluctuation in temperature, air pressure, and sunshine duration. We examined whether individuals felt more positive or negative upon entering a study by clustering data across seven laboratory experiments (total N = 1108), three seasons, and daily times ranging from 9 AM to 7 PM. We accounted for ambient temperature, air pressure, humidity, cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed, and sunshine duration. We found that only ambient temperature was a significant predictor of valence. Individuals felt more positive valence on days when it was cooler outside. However, the effect was psychologically negligible with differences between participants above c.a. 30 degrees Celsius in ambient temperature needed to generate a difference in affective valence surpassing one standard deviation. Our findings have methodological implications for studying emotions by suggesting that seasons and part of the day do not matter for baseline affective valence reported by participants, and the effects of ambient temperature are unlikely to influence most research.

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