Why Going On A Guilt Trip Is A Good Thing

Feeling guilty has a positive effect on our behaviour and leads to better cooperation,according to a new study that could help people better manage everything from energy bills to climate change. The study found that guilt encourages people to repair a situation and helps to support cooperation,while anger creates retaliation and a breakdown in cooperation.

With the help of volunteers,researchers at the University of Nottingham in the UK looked into the role of emotions.Using a scenario based around shared energy use in the home,they found that when energy use was made visible with smart meters and usage is unequal,as is common,the group reacted angrily and retaliated by using more energy.However,if the person using more energy felt guilty and moderated their usage the situation would be repaired and cooperation restored.

"We all know the term 'guilt trip' and understand how it feels,"said Anya Skatova,who led the study while she was at Nottingham. "Our study shows that rather than being wholly negative,feelings of guilt can actually be positive and lead to positive behaviour and improve cooperation," said Skatova,who is now at the Warwick Business School in the UK.

The research showed that while everybody feels angry if others are uncooperative causing retaliation,some people just do not feel guilt and remain uncooperative."If we understand that guilt leads to cooperation we can begin to recognise this and moderate our engagement activities accordingly," said Alexa Spence,from the University of Nottingham. 

Categories: Good Thoughts moral values Motivation

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Are You Aware That Pollution Is Killing Your Sense Of Smell?

A disrupted sense of smell puts you at higher risk of depression and anxiety and modern life is killing our sense of smell,a top scientist has warned.Traffic pollution,uncollected rubbish and messy homes are all having a harmful effect on the nose,Dr.Kara Hoover,an expert in olfactory evolution,announced at the world's biggest science conference,which was held in Boston.

"Our sense of smell evolved in a very rich landscape in which we are interacting regularly with the environment,"she said. "Today we're not interacting with the environment and pollution is disrupting our sense of smell.That put you at greater risk for things like mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety,and it also puts you at greater risk for physical health problems such as obesity and social health problems like not being able to pick up on social cues from other human beings."She explained:"People who have suffered from a loss of smell have increased anxiety over their own body order because they don't know if they smell bad or not.They are anxious about not being able to smell danger like gas leaks or smoke.They suffer from poor quality of life and depression because they're no longer engaging with food or even with loved ones in terms of their sense of smell."Studies also show a link between smell loss and obesity. Dr.Hoover said,"If you have an impaired sense of smell you're getting sated more from taste and seeking richer tastes-salty and fatty food."

One study of adults with a very strong sense pf smell found that they tended to have low body weight.People from disadvantaged backgrounds are more at risk because of their greater exposure to pollution.Dr Hoover believes, bus passengers were eight times more exposed to traffic pollution than car drivers. Similarly,people forced to live in dirty and polluted areas,or whose rubbish was not collected regularly,were likely to suffer more smell impairment.

Dr Hoover has also conducted a new research comparing the smelling ability of Homo sapiens and two other now-extinct human subspecies: Neanderthals and Denisovans. She discovered that the Denisovans had a "less functional"sense of smell compared with early modern humans and Neanderthals. "Our sense of smell seems to be very slimier to Neanderthals."They couldn't smell grass,so this suggests that they had a different adaptation," said Dr Hoover.

Categories: Good Health health Human Organs Nature

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