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Smile and be happier, the Misattribution of Arousal
zombiegirl
beating the drum of the lifelessin a dry wasteland Veteran
One of my favorite blogs recently did an article on the Misattribution of Arousal. While the whole article is rather interesting, I found the most interesting part to be about 3/4 of the way through it in which it says:
"Psychologist Fritz Strack devised a simple experiment in 1988 in which he had subjects hold a pen straight out between their incisors and bare their teeth as they read cartoon strips. The subjects tended to find the cartoons funnier than when they held the pen between their lips instead. Between the teeth, some of the muscles used for smiling were contracted, and between the lips they contracted some of the muscles used for frowning. He concluded the subjects felt themselves smiling and decided somewhere deep in their minds they must be enjoying the comics. When they felt themselves frowning, they assumed they thought the comics were dull."
A few years ago, I read about a meditation technique that involves meditating on the smile of the Buddha. The idea was to picture the Buddha's famous (slight) smile in your mind as you meditated. You then attempted to mimic his smile and you know what, it does make you feel a little more cheerful. Gosh our brains are easy to manipulate.
For those interested, here is a link to the article: http://youarenotsosmart.com/2011/07/07/misattribution-of-arousal/
The premise: "The Misconception: You always know why you feel the way you feel.
The Truth: You can experience emotional states without knowing why, even if you believe you can pinpoint the source."
"Psychologist Fritz Strack devised a simple experiment in 1988 in which he had subjects hold a pen straight out between their incisors and bare their teeth as they read cartoon strips. The subjects tended to find the cartoons funnier than when they held the pen between their lips instead. Between the teeth, some of the muscles used for smiling were contracted, and between the lips they contracted some of the muscles used for frowning. He concluded the subjects felt themselves smiling and decided somewhere deep in their minds they must be enjoying the comics. When they felt themselves frowning, they assumed they thought the comics were dull."
A few years ago, I read about a meditation technique that involves meditating on the smile of the Buddha. The idea was to picture the Buddha's famous (slight) smile in your mind as you meditated. You then attempted to mimic his smile and you know what, it does make you feel a little more cheerful. Gosh our brains are easy to manipulate.
For those interested, here is a link to the article: http://youarenotsosmart.com/2011/07/07/misattribution-of-arousal/
The premise: "The Misconception: You always know why you feel the way you feel.
The Truth: You can experience emotional states without knowing why, even if you believe you can pinpoint the source."
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Comments
I may have some of this incorrect, but I wanted to give a reference to these ideas of great thinkers with the epitaph that perhaps this is an example of you and other great minds thinking alike.
i find this concept rather interesting and the article does seem to parallel the ideas of William James. from the link you provided:
"When affected by an outside stimulus, you are not likely to evaluate the stimulus coolly and rationally and then formulate a physical reaction. Rather, you are an audience to your emotional/physical reactions. You watch them happen."
it's a rather interesting theory on the inner workings of our minds.
but as we progress and do more meditation this neutral object brings us great joy.
so the neutral becomes positive, when we get out of the way.
but we can also actively engage an create these blissful states of mind.
the power of the mind!