It’s possibly The Weather

Photo from: richters.tumblr.com

     Weather has always been and will always be and will always be a part of our daily lives. Thus, it is unlikely that it doesn’t affect us in one way or another.

     If we imagine the beginning of the civilizations, they all live nearby rivers and the water levels are affected by the amount and duration of rain and sunlight, aside from the changing tides. Whether children are let out to play may as well be determined by weather. How we plan our day to day activities is partly, if not largely, dependent on weather. It is common to hear the phrase “Basta hindi umulan (as long as it doesn’t rain” whenever we plan to do something. Also, some people even get sick due to the sudden change of the weather. Also, a part of our mood can be affected by the weather. Even our level of tiredness can somehow be affected by the amount of sunlight (Koots et al, 2011). But, did you know that weather has an impact on productivity as well?

    In a study by Lee, Gino, and Staats (2013), they have found that productivity is somehow affected by the weather. Specifically, there seems to be a higher level of productivity during bad weather such as rainy days.  The reason may be is that during sunny days, people get more distracted. For example, as in the said study, during sunny days, outdoor activities are more attractive. Or maybe it’s like spending more time planning our trips to the beach during summer than doing school work.

      But, the weather doesn’t exactly affect everyone in the same manner (Klimstra et al, 2011). The rain will affect people differently, depending on how a person perceives rain. Also, it was suggested that how we react to the weather may also be passed on to us by our parents. It looks like weather affects us so much it is carried in our genes. Therefore, the explanation of “depende sa panahon (depends on the weather” to how we feel or behave has some validity to it. We can even reason out our DNA. 

Blogpost by: Glessa Francesca Garibay

References:

Lee, J. J., Gino, F., & Staats, B. R. (2014, January 13). Rainmakers: Why Bad Weather Means

Good Productivity. Journal of Applied Psychology. Advance online publication. doi:

10.1037/a0035559

Klimstra, T. A., Frijns, T., Keijsers, L., Denissen, J. J., Raaijmakers, Q. A., van Aken, M. A., et al. (2011). Come Rain Or Come Shine: Individual Differences In How Weather Affects Mood.. Emotion,11(6), 1495-1499.

Kööts, L., Realo, A., & Allik, J. (2011). The Influence of the Weather on Affective Experience. Journal of Individual Differences, 32(2), 74-84.