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I was writing the other day about how I was getting angry and frustrated because I couldn’t find a piece of expensive equipment that was small enough to end up heavens knows where. I still haven’t found it, by the way. I’ll keep searching…
My frustration put me into a bad mood. My bad mood, however, was temporary. Most of the time, I find myself to be on the more upbeat and positive side, and for the most part, I would venture to guess I exhibit a more positive demeanor. Have you noticed that some people seem to be generally more positive than others? I am sure you can think of several people who seem to always have a complaint about something, and I am sure you can think of several people whom you simply admire because they always seem to have such a cheery disposition and seem to always be upbeat and positive, no matter what happens to them.
In his book The Emotional Life of Your Brain, Dr. Richard Davidson discusses the rationale behind this phenomenon. He discusses the difference between “emotional states,” “moods,” “emotional traits,” and “emotional styles.” Emotional “states” are “spikes” of emotion we feel when triggered by an experience. An example of this would be the feeling of joy when you get an unexpected check in the mail.
“Moods” are a bit longer in duration, lasting a few minutes to a few days, while emotional “traits” are feelings that last for years. An example of this would be someone who seems to always be grumbling about something going on in their life, and generally seems dissatisfied every time you see them. The reason why people who are always grumbling seem to get angry more often, Davidson suggests, is because an emotional trait “increases the likelihood that you will experience a particular emotional state (fury) becuase it lowers the threshold needed to feel such an emotional state.”
Underlying all of these, however, is “emotional style.” These are “identifiable brain circuits” which can be “measured using objective laboratory methods.” This is what I absolutely love about Dr. Davidson’s work. He uses laboratory research to substantiate his claims, so when he offers recommendations for changing the way we think and use our brains, it is backed by scientific data. Davidson writes, “Emotional Style influences the likelihood of feeling particular emotional states, traits, and moods.” Basically, our genetics and how our brains are wired determine how likely we are to exhibit particular emotions.
Dr. Davidson arrived at six emotional dimensions, reflected by the findings of his research. They are:
“Resilience: how slowly or quickly you recover from adversity.
Outlook: how long you are able to sustain positive emotion.
Social Intuition: how adept you are at picking up social signals from the people around you.
Self-Awareness: how well you perceive bodily feelings that reflect emotions.
Sensitivity to Context: how good you are at regulating your emotional responses to take into account the context you find yourself in.
Attention: how sharp and clear your focus is.”
People will find themselves on one side or another on the spectrum of each of these dimensions. The unique combination of where we stand on each spectrum of each dimension makes us who we are emotionally. We are all different, which is why it’s hard to prescribe a “one size fits all” approach to addressing how we think or use our minds.
I encourage you to take a look at the dimensions above and determine what you think your emotional style is. Are you good at picking up social signals from people around you (social intuition), or do you seem blind to these visual cues? Are you more resilient, or do you struggle when facing adversity?
If I were to do my own profile, here’s what I think it would look like:
I am pretty high on resilience — not much seems to flap me, whether it’s because of my genetic makeup or what I have experienced in my life. Either way, I am pretty resilient and bounce back quickly.
I am pretty high on outlook as well — I stay pretty positive most of the time.
Social intuition — I am pretty low here. I don’t always pick up visual cues from other people. In the past I have just thought it was “trying to stay objective” or “maintaining an even demeanor,” but I am not so sure that’s the case. Maybe I’m a little “blind” to social signals. Sometimes, to be honest, I don’t want to pick up on the visual cues. I don’t want the drama! 🙂
Self awareness — I am pretty high here; I am in touch with my emotions and how I perceive them.
Sensitivity to context — I feel I am pretty high here too. I usually am pretty good at considering the situation and feelings of the people involved in a potentially tense situation and work to reach a resolution that works for most.
Attention — I am pretty high here too. I can remain focused for a long time on one thing. Sometimes I feel I get too focused!
Remember that there are no “bad” sides of the spectrum of these dimensions. It’s not “bad,” for example, that my social intuition is low. It does come in handy in some situations, believe me. People who find they are strong in the social intuition area may tell you it’s a curse. We are who we are.
However, if you view one of the dimensions of your emotional style as “undesirable,” can you “change” your dimensions? Davidson suggests that yes, this can be done, and he offers recommendations in his book on how to do so. The good news is that his recommendations are rooted in scientific research, so they are sound recommendations. If you are interested in finding out how to make a change based on your individual dimensions, the quickest way to do so would probably be to pick up his book. I am still working through his book as I write this, so as I find out more I will be happy to share as well!
Take time to determine your “emotional style.” If you care to share what you discovered, I’d love to hear from you!
Photo source: freedigitalphotos.net
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