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New research says the more intense the lighting in a room is, the more intense your emotions
are- and not just the positive ones.
Anthony Carboni here for DNews and to a certain extent this seems obvious- we hear all the
time about sunnier days making us happy and darker, grayer, dimmer winters making people
sad. A team from the University of Toronto Scarborough found kind of an interesting paradox,
though. Depressed people didn't get happier on sunny days. They got more depressed.
So the team ran some studies and found that all emotions are more intense under bright
lights. We just FEEL more when it's brighter. The team asked people to rate certain things
in a brightly or dimly lit room - the spiciness of some chicken wings, how attractive someone
was, how aggressive a fictional character seemed.
In the brighter room, people thought the chicken wings were spicier, the woman was more attractive
and that the character more aggressive. The theory the team lead put forward is that ambient
brightness makes people feel warmer. Light is perceived as heat by our emotional system,
and heat can trigger emotional responses in us. I guess spiciness, sexiness, and anger
could be considered 'hot' emotions, but then what's a "cold" emotion?
There are a few other takeaways from the team that I found much more interesting: the first
is that bright light could be intensifying our initial emotional response to things that
happen to us throughout the day. So turning down lights before an argument or emotional
conversation might help people think about it more rationally.
The other is that stores could design their lighting based on what they're selling: engagement
rings? Flowers? Those are emotional decisions- crank up the lights and let the love come
in. More sensible products? Lower the lights and let logic take over.
I know I tend to be more productive and motivated in a bright room- I've never really paid attention
to whether I FEEL any different. What about you? Are you more intense in brighter environments?
Let me know down below.
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