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Tragic stories, like Titanic, help us appreciate our own relationships. Human existence being what it is, it would seem logical that people would seek out happy stories to help them escape from life’s harsh realities. Yet people who experience the everyday tragedies, disappointments and losses that all human beings experience actively seek out movies, television shows and books that depict tragedy. It now appears that the reason people take pleasure in watching tragedies is that tragedies actually make them feel happier. A new research study from Ohio State University has found that when people watch tragic movies they tend to dwell upon their own relationships with loved ones. The act of thinking about their own relationships makes them feel happier. As a result, watching heart-wrenching things happen to a fictional character actually makes people focus on what is good in their own lives, leading to increased feelings of happiness and, perhaps, gratitude. According to Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, associate professor of communication at OSU and lead author of the study, her findings may help to explain why certain tragic themes appear over and over again throughout history. She points out that tragedies often center around the theme of undying love. Viewers identify with the tragic figures in such stories and reflect upon their own loved ones, feeling renewed appreciation and thankfulness for them. Knobloch-Westerwick found that viewers who thought the most about their own close relationships during a movie felt the most happiness. Movie-watchers who compared their own lives favorably to the lives of the tragic figures in the movies did not have a sense of increased happiness. Although philosophers have debated for millennia about the reasons behind the popularity of tragedies, Knobloch-Westerwick said that there had been little scientific research into the topic prior to her study. The results of her research were published in the journal Communication Research. Knobloch-Westerwick and her colleagues asked 361 college students questions designed to measure their levels of happiness. Then the participants were shown a Hollywood movie about lovers who are forced apart, only to die separately as casualties of war. After the movie ended, the students’ happiness levels were once again measured. They were also asked to describe their feelings before the movie began, at intervals during the movie and after the movie ended. At the end of the movie, participants were asked to rate their enjoyment of the movie then to write about the reflections the movie inspired in them. Specifically, they were asked how the movie affected their reflections upon themselves, their lives, their goals and the people in their lives. The participants’ responses helped to explain why people like watching movies that generate feelings of sadness within them, according to Knobloch-Westerwick. Those participants who felt the most sadness during the movies were the most likely to write about their own close relationships. As a result, these viewers felt happy and rated their movie-watching experience as more enjoyable than those who did not feel as sad during the movie. The investigators found no evidence that viewers who compared their own lives favorably to the lives of the movie’s characters felt any better as a result. People who reported feeling gratitude for their own relatively more fortunate lives did not receive the increase in happiness received by those who thought of the people they loved. According to Knobloch-Westerwick, thinking about themselves, even if they were feeling gratitude, did not make participants feel happier. At first glance, it might seem puzzling that people would have to enter a state of sadness in order to appreciate the good in their own relationships. However, Knobloch-Westerwick points out that research has shown that negative moods tend to make people think more, since they often signal the need to pay attention to what might be going wrong in a person’s life. Previous research has shown that depressed people actually see things more realistically than non-depressed people do. This phenomenon, often called depressive realism, allows the individual experiencing it to see more clearly their own limitations and to erase any illusions that they are loved because they are exceptionally deserving of love. As a result, the random nature of love and the awareness that a slightly different set of circumstances might have prevented key relationships from ever forming may make an individual feel more thankful for the people in their lives. Earlier studies have also demonstrated that relationships are the most important sources of happiness in most people’s lives. It should come as no surprise that looking at those relationships without the interference of obfuscating self-delusions would result in feelings of joy and happiness. “But negative emotions, like sadness, make you think more critically about your situation. So seeing a tragic movie about star-crossed lovers may make you sad, but that will cause you to think more about your own close relationships and appreciate them more,” Knobloch-Westerwick wrote. “Tragedies bring to mind close relationships, which makes us happy.”

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The Key to Happiness is Tragedy? [Study]

In spite of the doomsday warnings of those who bemoan the disappearance of a generation into the gaping maw of the Internet, a new study has shown that Internet usage does not replace traditional media in the lives of young people. Researchers from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden studied Swedish young people between the ages of nine and 24. They discovered that this group almost universally used the Internet. However, the investigators found no evidence that the study participants abandoned traditional media for the sake of the Internet. According to lead author Professor Olle Findahl, study participants did spend less time than their predecessors watching television, listening to recorded or broadcast music and reading traditional print publications. They still spent more time engaged in these pastimes than they spent on the Internet, though. In the 1950s, the advent of television had naysayers predicting the end of radio and print. What actually happened was that people added television to the list of ways in which they accessed information. A similar trend appears to be occurring today with the Internet. The areas in which the Internet seems to actually supplant traditional media rather than complement it include the delivery of both films and music. However, many uses of the Internet have no counterpart in traditional media. For example, social networks allow people to develop contacts with like-minded people who share their interests. Until recently, long-distance communication between people who shared beliefs, hobbies or passions was usually only possible between two individuals at a time. Even then, usually the two individuals had originally encountered each other in person either socially or during the course of business. The researchers found that more young people are reached by Facebook than by newspapers, and Facebook reaches nearly as many of them as television does. Spotify, a digital music delivery service, reaches almost as many young people as broadcast radio does. Simply being available through the Internet is no guarantee that a service will appeal to today’s youth, however. Tablets, eBooks and Twitter are popular mostly with older users and have little appeal to young people. On the other hand, smartphone use among children and young adults has rapidly expanded in recent years. Previous studies have shown that when people begin using the Internet there is no corresponding drop in their use of traditional media. In fact, research has consistently shown that those who use the Internet most heavily are also heavy users of older types of media.

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Internet Usage Does Not Replace Traditional Media [Study]

Written by Dr. Michelle Mazur This guy is lost. Your audience shouldn’t be. Have you ever been hiking and the trail suddenly disappears? All of the sudden, you don’t know where you are going. You are lost! You have to struggle to find the trail to push forward or you have to turn back. Have you ever sat through a presentation where you are utterly lost? You have no idea where the speaker is going. No idea where he has been and you are struggling to make sense of it all. Like hiking, when speaking the last thing you want is to get lost. Luckily by following some good hiking advice, your speech can keep the audience engaged and on the same happy trail as you. Be prepared Before venturing out on a hiking outing, you need to be prepared – food, water, proper clothes, and good boots. Before giving a presentation, you need to take the time to thoroughly prepare and rehearse your speech. Do your research. Craft a speech and then practice the speech. Not sure how to approach practicing a speech – check out 8 Steps to Practicing a Presentation for practical practice tips. Decide how to pack your speech backpack You’ve prepped for your hike – now you have to decide how to pack your backpack. For speakers, this means deciding on the structure of your speech. Deciding on what structure to use depends on your topic. For example, recounting a historical event – it’s best to use chronological order. Exploring two opposing viewpoints try a compare and contrast approach. Always bring a map Just a like hiker needs to know where they are going; your audience wants to know where they are following you. Provide them with a road map. Be sure in the introduction to preview your main points. Watch the transition to new terrain When I hike, I spend a lot of time looking at my feet. I’m always watching out for where the terrain might change. If only there were signposts that let me know when my smooth trail turns rocky. In presenting, there should always be signposts throughout the speech. When you transition from one point to the next, tell your audience. It can be something as simple as “My second point is” or you can summarize your previous point before introducing the next. Whatever your approach, you should take great care in how you transition to new terrain. End strong A few years ago after a long hike, I was off the trail, walking back to the car, fell, down and hurt myself. Why? Because I wasn’t paying attention to the end of the hike! I didn’t end strong. Speakers often make the mistake of just saying “thank you” or “that’s all I’ve got” before scurrying back to their seats. End your presentation strong. Summarize your main points. Leave your audience with a statement that you want them to remember! By being prepared, packing your speech backpack, having a map, watching your transitions and ending strong, you won’t lose your audience! More importantly, you won’t lose yourself out on the hiking trail. Do you have any tips on not losing your audience when you speak? Share ideas below. I’d love to hear them.

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How NOT to Lose your Audience in your Presentation

At some point in your life, you may have found yourself unable to get a point across to another person. This frustrating experience may have been a result of basic differences in the way individual humans perceive and process information. Two Types of Perception Carl Jung, one of psychology’s most influential pioneers, was the first to write about the different ways humans assimilate information. He split people into two categories: sensors and intuitives. According to Jung, everyone uses both ways to process information but most people rely more heavily on one or the other. The basic difference between sensors and intuitives is that sensors perceive information and create meaning from the information they sense around them and intuitives do the same thing from conclusions drawn after raw information is pondered. Sensors Sensors pay attention to the things they can directly perceive around them. They like facts and concrete data. They tend to be very practical and are apt to live life on life’s terms. Sensors are very fond of logic and like order and schedules. They experience life as a sequence of immediate events and view things very specifically, without attaching symbolism or deeper meaning to events and sensations. Sensors have been characterized as relying only on their conscious perception. Although their approach to life and living makes sense in light of their nature, they often frustrate their intuitive friends, relatives and coworkers, who think them superficial and shortsighted. A sensor may not be able to offer any insight into the personality of a neighbor but can tell you that he says he is a butcher, drives a luxury car and wears designer suits when he leaves for work every afternoon. Intuitives Intuitives, on the other hand, barely notice details because their minds are busy looking for patterns, considering possibilities and interpreting what the information they are sensing means. Intuitives often focus on the long term, and like using strategy to pursue goals. For them, information has little meaning until it can be placed into a larger framework. Intuitives have been characterized as relying on their unconscious perceptions. Again, their approach to life and living is entirely reasonable, considering their natural abilities, but the sensors who know and love them may consider them impractical, fanciful and lacking in resolve. An intuitive may be able to tell you that the man next door is not trustworthy, but be unable to tell you exactly how they know this. Communication People often make the mistake of assuming that everyone thinks the way they do. It is natural to attempt to communicate with someone by expressing arguments that seem valid to you in ways that make sense to you. If you are a sensor talking to an intuitive, however, or an intuitive trying to talk to a sensor, you may feel as though you are speaking gibberish to an alien. Remembering a few basic concepts can make communicating across types much easier. Communicating with Sensors It is important to remember that sensors need and appreciate clarity. In order to get through to them, it helps to provide clear evidence, especially in the form of concrete presentations. Have plenty of details to share, and keep your plans down-to-earth and realistic, but do have a specific, step-by-step plan. Abstract concepts and long-term strategies are just words to sensors, so minimize them. They respond much better to being shown what you have in mind. When making a presentation to a sensor, use pictures, details, schedules, specific examples and set practical, realistic goals. Pictures that evoke different senses are helpful. PowerPoint presentations, prototypes and sales data make good props. Communicating with Intuitives If you are attempting to communicate with an intuitive, begin with the big picture and then add details, getting gradually more specific until you notice their attention beginning to wane. Be prepared to answer questions about fine details, but do not offer them until you are asked. Intuitives do not have to have everything spelled out for them. Instead, intuitives will form a mental picture to match your ideas if you provide them with metaphors and analogies. Intuitives will want to participate in the dialogue, so be prepared for broad ideas and vague suggestions from them and realize that they do not have any details worked out at this point. When making a presentation to an intuitive, express big ideas, long-term strategies and lofty goals. Use charts, testimonials and mission statements to illustrate your points and incorporate strategy sessions and question and answer opportunities into your presentation. Perceiving the World from Another Perspective It may be more comfortable to work with others who perceive in ways similar to your own. It is easy for sensors to dismiss intuitives and for intuitives to look down on sensors, but both types are effective at processing information and understanding situations. In the case of the dishonest neighbor, the sensor knows enough details about his life to know the man is not what he claims to be. The intuitive, on the other hand, has put together seemingly unnoticed details into a pattern and come to the same conclusion. Fortunately, most people use a combination of both types of perception, and although individuals tend to rely more heavily on one than the other, most people have at least limited familiarity with both ways of experiencing the world. Recognizing the way others communicate can help you to harness the unique strengths of both types of perceivers to accomplish your communication goals. No related posts.

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Are You a Sensor or an Intuitive? How Does That Affect Your Communication?