How To Avoid Anger On Sunny Days
Christopher Philip
According to research led by Daniele Marzoli, University of Chieti-Pescara, the best way to keep a positive mood during bright sunny conditions, is to dawn your shades.
The study was simple enough. The researchers approached random strangers walking up and down a beach on a sunny day and asked them how they felt.
The results showed that people who were wearing sunglasses reported less anger than those who were not wearing sunglasses. Interestingly, when rated for “bitterness” no difference was found between those wearing sunglasses and walking into the sun and those without. This suggests that only anger was driving people’s poor moods and this was due to bright light shinning into their eyes.
The findings are explained through two facets of psychology. The first is the
“facial feedback hypothesis” which says that how we feel, our emotions, are partially the construct of how our facial muscles are arranged. If we’re smiling, regardless of whether it is forced or due to true happiness, influences our cognition – our faces smile – and this feeds-back into our mental state.
However, when the sun is bright and focused into our eyes, we squint, and this is not unlike the facial expression of anger. As it turns out, squinting due to bright light uses much of the same muscles in the facial expression of anger.
The second important psychological factor at play is embodied cognition. This deals more with the state of our bodies which play a pivotal role in how our minds sense the world. Here, it is the body that feeds back into our mental perceptions. When people face the sun, they may bow their head in conjunction with a frowning expression. This only compounds negative moods.
The researchers also note that the bright sun directed into the eyes had a quick acting effect – even moderate sun exposure was enough to irritate people’s moods.
When asked about their conscious awareness of the sun, however, most said that the sun wasn’t bothering them at all. This just goes to show how a seemingly insignificant factor can really put a damper on an otherwise pleasant day.
Applying The Findings
I’m a habitual sunglass wearer (even on cloudy and raining days) and I don’t cheap out – I get a good pair which allows me to keep my eyes fully relaxed even in the brightest conditions. Until this research, I didn’t really understand why, but was conscious of the ease with which I could tackle the brightest days without having to squint.
Sunglasses also help add mystery to the face, can protect you from unwanted invasion of privacy by shielding the eyes from view, and even improve your looks by creating the illusion of symmetry (shades hide some of the natural differences between the left and right side of the face making it more pleasant to look at). Also, sunglasses, can allow you to look in whichever direction you choose without being subjected to scrutiny.
That sunglasses on bright days protect you from bad moods it just one more good reason to dawn your shades.
Image Credit: Sebastian Peleato
Resources
Marzoli, Daniele; Mariagrazia Custodero; Alessandra Pagliara and Luca Tommasi. Sun-Induced Frowning Fosters Aggressive Feelings. Cognition And Emotion. 2019; 27 (8): 1513-1521.