Belief in humanity: 10 studies that can help us revive hope for the future

Original author: bakadesuyo
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Reading the scientific literature on human behavior can make you cynical, although sometimes it is justified. The world is not always fair. Evil does not always bear the deserved punishment, and good does not always conquer evil . But there are many scientifically based reasons to maintain hope and a positive outlook on the future.

Let's try to step aside from harsh reality and consider some studies that can help revive faith in humanity
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1) You recover better after serious problems


From a study by Harvard's “expert on happiness,” Daniel Hilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness: Doubts of Happiness:
People find a reasonable explanation for divorces, demotion and illness, but not for slow elevators and low-quality wine. It’s a paradox, but people sometimes recover more from tragic events than from something less serious. (Aronson & Mills, 1958; Gerard & Mathewson, 1966; Zimbardo, 1966)

2) Sadness is not so scary


We expect that sadness will be much more painful than it actually is. Studies show that we tend to overestimate the influence of feelings such as sadness and regret.
Here's another excerpt from Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Hilbert.
... Losses can affect our emotional experiences, and studies show that although losses affect us, this effect is not as strong as we expect.

3) "Everything that does not kill makes us stronger." This statement is absolutely true.


People who have experienced terrible events are becoming stronger than those who have never encountered problems and troubles.
From Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being:
Every month, approximately 1,700 people informed us about difficult events in their lives, and all of them were tested for well-being. To our surprise, it turned out that people who experienced one terrible event had significant advantages (and, consequently, a higher level of well-being) over those who had never encountered troubles. And those who went through two tragic events became stronger than those whose tragedy happened only once in life or did not happen at all. People who survived three such events: were raped, tortured, held forcibly, for example, were held captive, were more enduring than those who had to face this twice.

4) There is the opposite effect of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder): sometimes terrible events make us better


Tragedy can not only make us stronger, it can also make us better.

From the book The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work (The Benefits of Happiness: Seven Principles of Positive Psychology that Improves Success and Productivity):
Based on the data from this study, today we can say for sure that severe suffering or serious injury can lead to significant positive personality changes., thanks to a wide range of experienced feelings. After the events of March 11, 2004, namely the bombing of a train in Madrid, psychologists revealed that many residents experienced positive psychological changes. The same thing happens with most women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. What positive changes are we talking about? Improving spirituality, compassion for others, openness and even, ultimately, absolute satisfaction with life. After experiencing trauma, people also report strengthening personal strength and self-confidence, as well as a sense of gratitude and the emergence of emotional contact in relationships with others.

5) In fact, we are rarely limited by our genes


How often does innate talent limit your ability to do something?
In ~ 95% of cases there is no such connection.
From the book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success:
Benjamin Bloom, an outstanding research teacher, studied 120 successful students. Among them were pianists giving concerts, sculptors, swimmers participating in the Olympic Games, world-class tennis and mathematicians. Most of the study participants were not remarkable in childhood and did not show obvious talents until they began to seriously engage in their own education. Bloom says: “After forty years of intensive research on school education, both in the United States and abroad, I have come to the main conclusion: what can be taught to one individual, that can be taught to almost all the other people in the world. Almost all people are trained if they are provided with appropriate conditions. ” The researcher does not take into account 2 - 3% of children who have serious health problems, as well as 1 - 2% of children with other extreme (extreme) characteristics. It comes from the general mass of people.

6) You do not need to win the lottery to become happy


Happy people do not have more happy events in their lives than less happy ones.

From the book 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology: Shattering Widespread Misconceptions about Human Behavior (50 myths of popular psychology: the destruction of widespread false beliefs about human behavior):
Ed Diener and Martin Seligman tested more than 200 students for their level of happiness and compared participants with the highest rate (“extremely happy”) of 10% with the average and lower indicators, also 10% each. According to objective data, very happy students did not experience a greater number of positive life events, did not succeed in exams and did not go on "hot" dates more often than representatives of the other two groups (Diener & Seligman, 2002).

7) Helping others helps you yourself


Senior students who wrote letters of support to “high-risk” students urging them to continue to work hard and explaining that the mind “is not a gift, but rather an ability that can be developed” themselves became happier and more successful in their studies over the next few months.

True, in fact, there were no middle school students. Writing letters in and of themselves led to such results.
From Situations Matter: Understanding How Context Transforms Your World (Situations: Understanding How Context Transforms Your World):
Did these letters help middle school students to bounce back after a disaster? You can’t say - letters simply weren’t delivered to the addressees. But even the experience of writing letters had a lasting impact on college students themselves. A few months later, the authors of the letters still reported their satisfaction with attending school, unlike other Stanford undergraduates. Their average scores were a third higher on a scale of four.

8) “Both hope and despair are self-programming”


The bloody events experienced by soldiers in difficult combat conditions show that a person is more affected by how he perceives the situation than the situation itself.

From Maximum Brainpower: Challenging the Brain for Health and Wisdom: Maximum Brain Responsibility for Health and Wisdom:
... the brain does not allow the body to use up all its resources, if we do not have sufficient chances of success. Our physical strength is not subject to us in those cases when the brain does not believe in the result, because the worst thing for a person is to use up all his resources and fail. If we do not believe that we can cope in a specific situation, we will not receive the resources necessary for this. At that moment, when we begin to believe in ourselves, the gateways open, and energy flows in a river. Both hope and despair are self-programming.

9) Excess trust is better than lack of trust


Candidates were asked to rate their level of trust in other people on a scale of 1 to 10. In the course of the study, it turned out that those with a trust level of 8 have a maximum income.

Those whose trust exceeds this mark receive 7% less than those who are at level 8. Such people are more often used in their interests.

People with a low level of trust have an income of 14.5% lower than those who are at level 8. Such a gap occurs in people with higher education and its absence. Obviously, this category misses many opportunities, not trusting others.

10) Sometimes empathy is more important than objectivity


From my interview with Professor Wharton, Adam Grant, author of the book Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success (Come and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success):
A study conducted by Turner and his colleagues among radiologists showed that doctors who see a photograph of a patient whose x-ray they were about to see show more empathy than if they saw only the x-ray itself. As a result, they wrote longer and more detailed reports, with much greater diagnostic accuracy.

And further:

11) The greatest goal is not to be perfect, but to become better


The goal of becoming better increases motivation and energy, makes the tasks more interesting. This effect is even transferred to subsequent goals.

From the book Nine Things Successful People Do Differently (Nine things that successful people do differently than everyone else):
Such goals, on the other hand, are extremely viable. When we think about what we are doing, from the point of view of studying and mastering, recognizing that we can make some mistakes in the process of achieving our goal, we maintain motivation, despite the failures . Research shows that striving to become better also has a positive effect on how we feel at work; we naturally consider our occupation more interesting and enjoyable when we think about it in the light of our own progress, and not perfection.

PS. We recommend another article on the topic - What is in common between managing a company and a racing car .

The author of the translation is Vyacheslav Davidenko, founder of MBA Consult .

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