Dimensie

Winter is coming. That is a fact that most of us are agreeing on. Accompanying that cold environment of winter are the winter blues, formally known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Although SAD is quite well-known within the world of psychology, other effects of the seasons, more specifically the weather, are not. Now you might be wondering, how can it influence my behaviour more besides making me sad. Well, the weather also influences aggressive, sexual, and eating behaviours. But when and how does it influence us?

Before continuing the topic, a little focus on seasonal affective disorder might be handy. SAD is a type of depression that comes forth due to seasonal changes. The most common form of SAD is the variant where an increase of symptoms are found around fall and winter and resolve around spring and summer. However, a summer-pattern version of SAD is also occurring within some individuals. In this version, symptoms start around spring and summer, and decrease in fall and spring. Reasons for SAD occurring are found in a decreased level of serotonin, a vitamin D deficiency, and altered levels of melatonin. A difference of melatonin levels is found between the summer and winter version of SAD. Individuals with the winter-version of SAD have higher levels of melatonin, individuals with the summer-version of SAD have lower levels of melatonin. However, this last part has not been systematically tested yet. Although it is quite easy to write about, SAD is able to impact an individual quite substantially. Thus, if you are or know someone who is experiencing this talk about it. There are many individuals at the UT who are able to help, like Dimensie’s CCP.

Back to the topic on hand, starting off with aggressive behaviour. Studies have shown that an increase of heat also increases irritability. This aggressive behaviour can also be found in an increase of domestic violence and prisoner misbehaviour during hotter months. This increase of aggression is very important to keep in mind, especially with the topic of global warming. A recent US analysis shows that an increase of 1 degrees celsius in average daily temperatures could lead to 25.000 more assaults in the US each year.

Opposite of aggressive behaviour, individuals also become quite loving of each other due to changes of weather. This shows an increase of sexual activity within humans around the colder times of the year, specifically during the Holidays. Although Christmas is the perfect time to get to know each other a bit better, it is not only then when a peak of sexual activity can be found in humans. Another peak can be found during the early summer. These peaks are more found within students. Although partying can be fun, keep in mind that birth rate peaks are also linked with the increase in sexual activity.

Eating behaviour is also linked to the seasons. During the colder times of the year, individuals consume more calories compared to the hotter periods. However, this is not only because of the Holidays. One study found that individuals felt fuller after eating outside on a warm day, compared to a cooler day. Thus, this means that it is either the weather that influences our eating habits, or individuals just pick the wrong spots to eat outside during the colder months.

Besides these influences, there are still more ways the weather is able to affect us. Some examples being prosocial behaviour, colour preferences, cognitive performance, etc. Keeping these influences in mind is something that is able to keep yourself grounded. Ate too much during the Holidays? Just blame your brain, it is the easiest thing to do.

Article Reading Tips

On September 15, we had our first Article Reading 101 event. It was a success, and helped our members to get familiar with article reading! If you missed out, here is a quick recap of the tips and tricks that were covered. Further, the article that was discussed is also detailed below!

Practical Tips

• Active reading is key – read with purpose by answering questions for each section. For example: What do the authors want to know? (motivation) What did the authors do and how did they do it? (Approach/methods) Why did the authors do it this way? (added context) What do the results show? (figures and tables)How did the authors interpret their results? (discussion)
• Do not read the article from beginning to end – instead, read these for a quick comprehensive overview – Abstract, Conclusion & Results.
• To find keywords in an article, use ctrl + F, or windows key +F.
• Before reading – review the research question: What were the authors trying to test or find out? Break the results section down into smaller bits.
• Focus on figures and tables – these are a visual summary of key findings. Look at the overall trend or difference shown. Look for patterns: direction and magnitude of effects (small/big differences, positive/negative correlation).

Article reading can be overwhelming at first and takes good habits, setting a purpose, using active reading. There is no need to read back to front in one go, remember to read the abstract, conclusion and results for a comprehensive overview. Breaking each section down into smaller bits can help!

If you want to practice using these tips, try with the article we covered during the Article Reading 101 - https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.949446/full .

Committee of the Month - November

Our committee of the month is CondiCie, for their wonderful ice skating event. We can't wait to see what CondiCie organises next!