Our memory performs better when the weather is gloomy, rather than bright and sunny, suggests a new study.
Researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) made the surprise finding.
The results point to a growing body of evidence that the way people think, the quality of their judgments and the accuracy of their memory are all significantly influenced by positive and negative moods.
"It seems counter-intuitive but a little bit of sadness turns out to be a good thing," said team leader Joe Forgas.
"People performed much better on our memory test when the weather was unpleasant and they were in a slightly negative mood. On bright sunny days, when they were more likely to be happy and carefree, they flunked it."
The findings were published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology.
