The Emotional Connection
November 27, 2007
Contagious Emotions.pdf
Did you know? If your students want a surefire way to bog themselves down and never turn their dreams into reality, they should surround themselves with people like these guys. Students may not realize how quickly they can catch the emotional states of those around them. Emotions – both negative ones like sadness and anger and upbeat ones like enthusiasm and joy are easily passed from person to person. One of the best ways to help your students stay positive and productive is to encourage them to spend time with optimistic people and be involved in constructive activities. Try this activity to increase your students’ awareness about emotional connections.
- Do this:
- Ask students some questions:
- How does it make you feel when you are around a person with a upbeat attitude?
- Which person in your family wakes up with a sunny disposition?
- What is the last movie or television show you watched that made you laugh?
- Explain that research has shown that emotions are contagious and whether we know it or not, we spread our emotions to those around us.
- Distribute Contagious Emotions and do the first experience together.
- Have students complete the rest of the exercise and then discuss their responses.
- Get more input from students by asking:
- What is one thing you will do today to spread positive emotions to others?
- What can you do to be less susceptible to others’ bad moods?
Want More: Take a look at the work of Martin Seligman, author of Learned Optimism, and the Times article on the Science of Happiness.
