I watch out for people complaining about things, but don't treat it as a negative. It shows that at least they care enough to complain. The situation is far worse if they give up complaining, because they no longer care. Complaining also implies there are improvements that could be made, so again a benefit.<p>This attitude surprised someone the other day complaining about their code. I was delighted, since it meant they cared!
Text of article ties pessimism, not bad temper, to higher earnings and longevity.<p>Ideally you have a full emotional toolbox. If you're always optimistic you'll blind yourself to risks. If you're always pessimistic you'll blind yourself to opportunities.
Just some thoughts:<p>High achievers are frequently perfectionists. Perfectionism is a good eye for details on the basis of very high standards. We know the downsides of perfectionism (e.g. black & white thinking, more difficulties to work towards 80/20 if necessary), but it is still an excellent basis for achieving great work.<p>There seems to be less cognitive load in keeping up perfectionism / high standards simply all the time; in comparison to deciding whether perfectionism is useful in each individual situation.<p>Therefore many high-achieving people will keep up their perfectionist attitude all day, for all things they encounter in life.<p>Unfortunately, few things in the world are perfect, or well enough under their control to become perfect.<p>Hypothesis: The bad temper of many good workers and high achievers comes from perceiving everything in life with the black & white pattern of perfectionism in a non-perfect world.<p>This both drains their energy and can make them appear a little dissatisfied.
The article is kind of all over the place.<p>I've long looked for a kind of "creative impatience" in people as an indicator of someone who will likely make a creative leap on a problem or simply bulldoze their way past a hurdle.<p>They can come off like a malcontent but if I see them start working on something with that certain body language of "I've had enough of this" I'm always secretly pleased and look forward to the outcome, letting whatever sparks may be, fly.<p>On the other hand if these same folks walk away from something it's likely they don't see any way of salvaging whatever the faults may be. Either way, their mindset or approach is a gift.
I got really annoyed at the poor science behind this study and wanted to compose a really good, original comment in response.<p>But I couldn't come up with one, proving the study wrong.<p>I just think that they have the causality reversed.<p>Care a lot -> Focus + Hard work + strong emotion<p>So the anger is a side effect of caring.<p>But that is a guess. I'd have to look at the study and I would flip directly to the page where they reveal the effect size and the significance first. That's what they should report.
From the 2009 study in the article:<p>"Half the students were asked to recall something which had irritated them and write a short essay about it. The other half of the group were made to feel sad."<p>So the "better" performing group was angry and did something about it. While the control group was made to feel <i>sad</i>. Not neutral. Not happy. Not optimistic. Hm.
Optimism means you assume a good outcome. Pessimism means you generally perceive risk as more likely. Anger is a reaction to a potential threat; you already see risk and think you can change it. Happiness is a state of contentment.<p>So.... Yeah, if you're happy, you generally perceive low risk and don't see a need to be defensive or change anything. But we don't live in the jungle. We don't have to be constantly on guard, because we are on top of the food chain, and generally speaking we don't need to compete to survive or even thrive.<p>So the premise that being angry will make you live longer is at best misguided. If anything, being angry will more likely help you assume a defensive posture; not many people want to attack someone who looks like they will attack back. But again, this assumes your livelihood depends on fending off attacks, or beating other people. Not all people live those kind of lives.<p>Finally, things like heart attack are probably more related to genetics and diet than how angry you are. But being angry also clouds your judgment, meaning you're less likely to take advice, like your doctor telling you to lay off the doughnuts and red meat.
Or, perhaps people become more bad-tempered as they age. The OP assumes that there are good-tempered and bad-tempered people and that we remain in our respective categories throughout out lives. That's plain wrong.<p>Money changes people. Getting old changes people. With age and money can come paranoia. Having a pile of cash can make you look at those without as potential enemies. In much the same way, the reduced mental and physical abilities of age can make old people fearful of the young and better-abled.<p>I'd say that long-term studies are needed that track angry people over decades, but that too is premised on the concept that angry people remain angry. Imho temper is a function of life circumstance, not vice versa.
Off on a tangent, I find myself wondering if I'd have a higher opinion of Hugh Grant's acting if he did roles closer to his real mood. He needs to consider following in the footsteps of another Hugh: Lawrie as Dr. House.
this basically contradicts to many other studies about the mind-body connections, such as hapiness-immunity connections.<p>that 2010 study of patients of CAD and their follow-ups of 5-10 years of 'angry' levels is kind of flawed as what should actually be studied should be the "anger" levels as the causal effects of the CAD 5-10 years <i>prior</i> to the onset of CAD. it's more likely beyond certain points of the progression of CAD the change of mood does not mean anything to the prognosis.
Anecdote: "This is a recorded "interactive" message."<p>"O.K. The others are gone übermorgen and, I told it before, that we have our own problems. We have fooled ourself the whole time - to... <i>Alas!</i> I think ye understand.<p>But at least i want to give you one pointer:<p>Mass as a description can be "trained"<p>around information-points of a reality.<p>(2nd "Art"-Law) ^^