Does your personality change depending on the weather?
Elisha Crona
2025-06-17 09:08:30
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: 12
We know, in short, that cold weather affects our mood in the short term, but does exposure to icy conditions have more lasting effects on your personality as well. Actually yes, a new study published in Nature this week finds. All other things being equal, a child growing up in sunny California, for instance, will be more open, agreeable, and even keeled than one growing up in snowy Buffalo, the researchers demonstrated. Less warm thermometers, less warm people. People who grew up in places where the average temperature was closer to a comfortable 74 degrees were, on average, more agreeable, more open, and less neurotic, they found. Growing up in temperatures that are close to the psychophysiological comfort optimum encourages individuals to explore the outside environment, thereby influencing their personalities.
So don’t let your stereotypes run wild, but on a broader level, it’s fun to know that whether you grew up among palm trees or blizzards probably left it’s mark on your personality. The essential point here is that these results deal in averages across populations and shouldn’t be seen to reflect any one particular individual or subset of people. Plus, in an additional complicating factor, other research has shown that our attitude towards the weather also affects how it impacts us.
Arnoldo Reilly
2025-06-12 08:08:53
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: 10
Heat also makes people mean. And violent. At least, that is what a 45-year longitudinal study found. Between 1950–1995, crime increased during warm years and seasons. Extreme heat and humidity do more than boil your organs.
Liliane Bode
2025-05-29 22:04:29
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: 7
The poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said some days must be dark and dreary… but does our mood have to match. It’s very normal to feel a touch of 'winter blues' in the colder seasons. About 2 million people (just under 3%) in the UK are diagnosed with SAD, but its suspected to be a lot more common in its milder forms. However, if you find you’re consistently down at the same time of year and it affects your daily life, then it might be worth investigating SAD and visiting your GP. Those already diagnosed with mood disorders might find themselves more sensitive to these changes. Overall the Sun seems to have the greatest effect: spending time outdoors in pleasant weather has been shown to improve mental health, energy and focus. However, hotter temperatures in summer tend to make us more aggravated and impatient, so a nice sunny day might not always guarantee happiness - in fact, you might welcome a dark and stormy night to cool off. That isn’t to say witnessing grey skies may not affect you personally - in fact, our attitudes towards the weather might have more of an effect on us than the weather itself.
Read also
- How does weather affect people's behavior?
- How do different types of weather affect your emotions?
- Can weather change a person's mood?
- Why do I feel weird when the weather changes?
- Does climate affect temperament?
- Are my emotions tied to the weather?
- Am I a warm or cold personality?
- What is it called when the weather affects your mood?
- Why are my emotions so affected by the weather?