Have you ever wondered why you choose the friends you choose, like the people you like, marry the people you marry?
Instinctively, we’d probably answer by thinking about all the good things we see in those we hold closest – personality, values, interests but what about the bad stuff? Can negative feelings or experiences bond us?
- New research suggests that pain may actually bring people together and act as “social glue” for groups of people who have suffered the pain together. And this conclusion actually makes sense—think about the relational bonds soldiers create from common experience.
- 54 study participants were assigned either a painful or non-painful group task, like submerging their hands in cold ice water to locate and deposit medal balls into underwater containers (painful) or doing the same task in room temperature water (no big deal).
- Post task, the participants were asked to rank how close they felt to the others in their group. And while the two groups didn’t show a difference in positive or negative emotion, they did show significant difference in feelings of group bonding.
- A continuation of the study showed that the groups that went through pain together were much more motivated to cooperate, as a group, during other subsequent challenges as well.
Can’t wait to hear how you feel about this topic…
What do you think?
Is your job painful enough as is?
Source: http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/shared-pain-brings-people-together.html?utm_source=pressrelease&utm_medium=eureka&utm_campaign=sharedpaincohesion
