Who do you go to when you are down and need a shoulder to cry? We all definitely go for our bestie but researchers think we are wrong. This is definitely a surprise.
The study published in the journal PLOS One found that people who are in a good mood gave themselves higher marks for their empathetic skills than people who were feeling down did. However, when researchers evaluated their ability to empathize, the data told a different story.
The researchers believe you shouldn’t turn to your happily married friends for their wisdom when you are single and struggling but instead you should turn to your equally frustrated single friend.
So why do they really think your happily married bestie isn’t the best option? The authors believe that people who are in a good place might be less able to able to shift out of that state. “It perhaps takes more sacrifice to ‘drop down’ and focus on another person’s high-intensity negative emotions,” they said.
“This is of note because people who are experiencing intense negative emotions may often be those who need support and empathy the most,” said the authors of the study.
So do you really think we should stop going to our married bestie when we need a shoulder to cry?
Phil