I was browsing a blog the other day and saw an undated (recent?) entry suggesting that research shows that “weather has little effect on our mood.” The entry relied heavily on a recent study (Denissen et al., 2008) that shows that although a correlation between mood and weather does exist, it’s a small one (not nearly as large as conventional wisdom might suggest). The entry quotes almost exclusively and entirely from the one study.
I’m familiar with this area of research, so I found the entry’s conclusions a little simplistic and not really doing justice to this topic. There’s a fair amount of research in this area (more than the 3 or 4 studies mentioned in the blog), and I think the overall preponderance of evidence suggests that weather can have more than just a “little effect” on your mood.
Some previous research confirms the blog entry’s conclusion that weather may have little effect on our moods. For instance, Hardt & Gerbershagen (1999) looked at 3,000 chronic pain patients who came to a hospital over a 5-year period. The researchers had patients fill out a depression questionnaire, and then analyzed the results. They found no correlation between depression and the time of the year, nor the amount of daily hours of sunshine. But the researchers only examined depression, and didn’t measure how much time subjects spent outside (a factor that some have suggested might influence how much the weather impacts us).
Other research paints a very different picture.
Howard and Hoffman (1984) had 24 college students keep track of their mood (by filling out a mood questionnaire) over 11 consecutive days. They found a significant effect on mood correlated with the weather, especially with regards to humidity (a component of weather not always measured):
Humidity, temperature, and hours of sunshine had the greatest effect on mood. High levels of humidity lowered scores on concentration while increasing reports of sleepiness. Rising temperatures lowered anxiety and skepticism mood scores. [...]
The number of hours of sunshine was found to predict optimism scores significantly. As the number of hours of sunshine increased, optimism scores also increased. [...]
Mood scores on the depression and anxiety scales were not predicted by any weather variable.
Another study by Sanders and Brizzolara (1982) on 30 college students also found similar findings — that high humidity was a predictor for lack of vigor, elation, and affection.
But you may dismiss these studies as small, or on unrepresentative samples (college students). You’d have a harder time making that argument against Faust et al.’s (1974) study on 16,000 students in Basle City, Switzerland. Although not the most robust study designed, the researchers nonetheless found that nearly one-third of the girls and one fifth of the boys responded negatively to certain weather conditions. Symptoms reported included poor sleep, irritability, and dysphoric (depressed) mood.
If you noticed that higher humidity is associated with certain mood states, you won’t be surprised to hear there is also a good body of research that has investigated the link between heat and different types of human behavior, especially aggression (see, for example, Rotton & Cohn, 2004; Cohn & Rotton, 2005; Anderson, 1987; etc.). While there’s some debate as to how strong a relationship exists between heat and violence, this is a relationship that been undergoing research since the 1970s. At this point, it’s not in question whether a link exists, just how strong and what the relationship exactly looks like (and whether it’s mediated by other factors, like time of day).
The Weather Can Affect You Negatively and Positively
Keller and his colleagues (2005) examined 605 participants responses in three separate studies to examine the connection between mood states, a person’s thinking and the weather. They found that:
[...P]leasant weather (higher temperature or barometric pressure) was related to higher mood, better memory, and ‘‘broadened’’ cognitive style during the spring as time spent outside increased. The same relationships between mood and weather were not observed during other times of year, and indeed hotter weather was associated with lower mood in the summer.
These results are consistent with findings on seasonal affective disorder, and suggest that pleasant weather improves mood and broadens cognition in the spring because people have been deprived of such weather during the winter.
So while Denissen et al. (2008) found no general ability for the weather itself to lift us into a more positive mood (contrary to both Howard & Hoffman and Keller’s findings above), the researchers did find that the weather can impact our moods negatively. And while that effect in the present study was small, it confirms the same effect found in a multitude of other studies (some of which are mentioned above).
Another way to look at it is that Denissen and colleagues confirmed prior research that showed that people’s moods and emotions can definitely be affected by the weather. The strength of that relationship varies from person to person. But a study’s design has a lot to do with trying to find this relationship in the data. And while Denissen’s design was good, it wasn’t foolproof. Its problems include the over-representation of women in the sample (89%), suggesting a skewed and biased sample, and the response rate, with participants submitting on average half the number of surveys needed by the study’s design. In other words, the data may not be the most robust in the world either (despite the large sample size).
So, sorry, yes, weather does appear to impact our moods. And that effect may become serious. Look no further for evidence of this than the very real condition called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). SAD is characterized by feelings of sadness and depression that occur in the winter months when the temperatures drop and the days grow short. This specific form of depression is often associated with excessive eating or sleeping and weight gain. Women are twice to three times more likely to suffer from the winter blues than men. If SAD is merely a “culturally transmitted idea” (as the blog quotes the researchers as suggesting), then so is every mental disorder to one extent or another.
The new research provides some contradictory data to previous findings. And when such discrepancies arise, the answer is not to conclude the matter settled, but to go and conduct more research. So what Denissen’s study really shows is that more research is needed to better determine the strength of the link, and whether it affects people in different geographical regions (and countries).
So no, you’re not crazy if you think your mood is affected by the weather. Nearly 40 years of research suggests there’s a strong link. And one that, in some people, can lead to significant seasonal problems.
Read the blog entry: Weather Has Little Effect on Mood
References:
Anderson, C.A. (1987). Temperature and aggression: Effects on quarterly, yearly, and city rates of violent and nonviolent crime. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(6), 1161-1173.
Cohn, E.G. & Rotton, J. (2005). The curve is still out there: A reply to Bushman, Wang, and Anderson’s (2005) ‘Is the curve relating temperature to aggression linear or curvilinear?’ Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89(1), 67-70.
Denissen, J.J.A.; Butalid, Ligaya; Penke, Lars; van Aken, Marcel A. G. (2008). The effects of weather on daily mood: A multilevel approach. Emotion, 8(5), 662-667.
Faust, V., Weidmann, M. & Wehner, W. (1974). The influence of meteorological factors on children and youths: A 10% random selection of 16,000 pupils and apprentices of Basle City (Switzerland). Acta Paedopsychiatrica: International Journal of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 40(4), 150-156.
Hardt, J. & Gerbershagen, H. U. (1999). No changes in mood with the seasons: Observations in 3000 chronic pain patients. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 100(4), 288-294.
Howarth, E. & Hoffman, M.S. (1984). A multidimensional approach to the relationship between mood and weather. British Journal of Psychology, 75(1), 15-23.
Keller, Matthew C.; Fredrickson, Barbara L.; Ybarra, Oscar; Côté, Stéphane; Johnson, Kareem; Mikels, Joe; Conway, Anne; Wager, Tor; (2005). A Warm Heart and a Clear Head: The Contingent Effects of Weather on Mood and Cognition. Psychological Science, 16(9),724-731.
Rotton, J. & Cohn, E.G. (2004). Outdoor Temperature, Climate Control and Criminal Assault: The Spatial and Temporal Ecology of Violence. Environment and Behavior, 36(2), 276-306.
Sanders, J.L. & Brizzolara, M.S. (1982). Relationships between weather and mood. Journal of General Psychology, 107(1), 155-156.
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9 Comments to
“Weather Can Change Your Mood”
Very interesting article!
The bottom-line from my perspective (based on years of research studying retail sales and weather) is that people’s behavior is fundamentally influenced by the weather and climate. Physical comfort and need — the foundation of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs — are driven to a very great extent by the weather and climate.
Layer on the influence of the weather on the mood of a consumer and it illustrates very strongly just how interconnected we all our to our environment — from a personal, emotional, and economic perspective.
Paul Walsh
G2 Weather Intelligence
I certainly feel changes in the weather. I can feel the days getting shorter by mid to late August, although that is only mild feelings of sadness and dread of weather to come. Cloudy days affect me the most. It feels like the clouds surround me, permeate me, and suffocate me. Abrupt changes (increases in cloudiness / temperature drops) are the most obvious.
I see it in others around me too. I have had several clients with seasonal patterns. I work with people with developmental disabilities, and on a cloudy day sometimes I no sooner walked into the building and immediately observed three or four people fighting, throwing things, and saying they wanted to be dead or hurt somebody.
At a staff meeting this morning (different setting - geriatric clients), we observed that a lot more patients than usual were talking about wanting to die last week (after the weather shifted from warm and clear to very cold and overcast or wet). I felt that one too.
weather does affect your mood, a lot. It would be useful to see more articles focusing on treatment/solution based response to this well studied affect.
As health care providers for patients affected by mood, how do you counteract the mood fluctuations? My strategy is I acknowledge the affect but ask the patient what THEY are going to do about it, because they cannot change the weather, and no matter what, “bad” weather happens everywhere.
I think that weather does effect moods. I also think it effects your body like if you have arthritis on a rainy day your bones be hurtin i would know, even a couple days before it rains your bones start aching. And mood wise ex: i love the snow its beautiful and just amazing site to see so i get excited and if it rains i dont particularly like it n i just wanna sleep and i do and if its a thunder storm im excited, adn if its hot n sunny out i get mad, now for everyone its different but i believe it does change alot!
I would be willing to go as far as saying it is almost common knowledge that weather has an effect on mood. Of course, this is merely opinion. But I believe that weather absolutely has an effect on mood. Howard and Hoffman found that the number of hours of sunshine was found to predict optimism scores, which I’m sure a lot of people would agree with. Keller’s study found results that were consistent with findings on seasonal affective disorder. I feel that these results are closest to the actual link between weather and mood. In my opinion, people are more greatly affected by weather if a significant change in weather has occurred. For example, if its been cold and raining for a week straight and then all of a sudden its 75 degrees and sunny outside, people are much more likely to be affected by this in a positive way.
commenting usually isnt my thing, but ive spent an hour on the site, so thanks for the info
Today i felt like the happiest ive been in quite a while. It was much sunnier than oter days and i just felt generally happy. I love the summer so signs of summer could of made me happy. im not sure
Interesting article.Common wisdom and observation of oneself indicate that weather has indeed a strong effect in mood. Of course, many other things may affect that, including personal attitudes.
However, I would like to know the severe psychological effects of weather. In certain regions, for example the extreme south of Chile, madness and even suicide is commonly associated to strong winds, which often blow for several days. Is there any scientific evidence of that?
Being bipolar, with mental illness in other family members, and having a child who commited suicide, I know weather affects the brain, causing anxiety, sadness, depression. I don’t know if any studies have been done with those having known mental illnesses to document the fact that weather changes are definitely when their moods escalate? I feel that studies with mostly college students would less than accurate. With hectic schedules and continual action, charting may be slack, and I know many characteristics of mental illness become more prevalent in later years.
Just a thought….testing and charting those who have times of great difficulty, to see what triggers those bouts???
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