At our last K&K meeting, we discussed how quickly bad moods can spread from individual colleagues and how important it is to consciously deal with your moods.
But why is this the case? Psychologists call this phenomenon emotional contagion. We imitate the gestures and facial expressions of the person opposite us. A pulled-down corner of the mouth or a frown line are unconsciously transmitted in no time at all. The emotional contagion happens without us realizing it. We can easily observe this phenomenon when yawning, for example, which is also a special form of automatic imitation. Our brain does not know the difference between whether the corners of our mouth pointing downwards or our smile are conscious or the result of automatic imitation.
Neuropsychologists have discovered that there is a strong connection in the brain between the areas that map sensations from the facial muscles and areas that are responsible for emotions. Imitated or artificially created facial expressions can therefore generate real feelings.
Back in the 1980s, the Würzburg psychologist Fritz Strack and his team proved that test participants find a cartoon film funnier if they hold a pencil between their teeth while watching it, thus activating their smile muscles. When we force ourselves to laugh, our mood automatically lifts.
The good mood effect is even stronger when not only the muscles of the cheeks are involved, but also those around the eyes. A genuine smile like this makes jokes seem even funnier than the "tooth posture" in the pen experiment.
So if a colleague is having a bad day at work, we automatically adopt their attitude and let it spoil our mood. Conversely, we can also be infected by a cheerful colleague's good mood. Of course, we are also constantly the trigger for emotional contagion. Remember, the next time you're in a bad mood, your behavior is highly contagious!
As I said, you can also spread a good mood. Use this knowledge and try to spread more good vibes and fun in the future and observe what happens. In this way, you actively contribute to increasing happiness in your environment.
We look forward to your feedback and if you find it difficult to be in a good mood, we have a special tip for you.
DREAMWORK Tip:
In a situation where you are in a bad mood or angry with someone, try to smile really hard for 60 seconds. The right way to do this is to pull up the corners of your mouth and feel the muscles around your eyes. You'll see it works wonders. I first heard about this from the amazing Vera F. Birkenbiehl, one of Germany's greatest trainers, who knew how to convey valuable content in an incredibly amusing way.
What is DREAMWORK
With our DREAMWORK project, we want to encourage reflection and discussion on how we can improve our working conditions at Saalbacher Hof and in our entire industry.
We want to bring more happiness into our lives now and not just at some point when it might be too late.
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We look forward to your comments and a lively exchange of ideas. What do you think about happiness in the workplace? What would you like to change, or what works particularly well for you?
You are welcome to post your comments below.
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