- A new study has shed light on the surprising benefits of having a moan
- Ranting to your friends can make you happier, researchers say
From Marlin from Finding Nemo to Moaning Myrtle from Harry Potter, many movie characters are known for their constant whining.
This is generally considered an undesirable trait.
However, a new study has shed light on the surprising benefits of moaning.
Researchers at Southwest University say ranting to your friends can make you happier.
“Our research highlights the important role of strong friendships, which can mitigate these negative emotions and strengthen interpersonal relationships by seeking social support,” said Xuemei Li, lead author of the study.
Researchers at Southwest University say ranting with your friends can make you happier (file image)
In their study, the team set out to understand the effects of co-rumination – the excessive discussion of negative issues.
“Co-rumination is considered a type of communication with compensatory effects and has attracted the attention of many researchers,” the team wrote in their study, published in Personality and individual differences.
In the first part of their study, the researchers surveyed 2,614 high school students about their friendship qualities, life satisfaction, and depression.
Next, the team examined the relationship between life satisfaction and co-rumination, which was divided into two categories: supportive arguing and obsessive whining.
From Marlin from Finding Nemo to Moaning Myrtle from Harry Potter, many movie characters are known for their constant whining.
Results revealed that joint reflections, particularly supportive discussions, were positively associated with life satisfaction.
“Co-rumination was positively correlated with life satisfaction, suggesting that ‘the more we co-ruminate, the happier we are,'” the researchers wrote.
Meanwhile, obsessive whining was only observed in girls and not boys, and was found to be negatively associated with life satisfaction.
Interestingly, the researchers found that friendship quality mitigated the negative effect of obsessive complaining.
‘[This] indirectly suggested that “the more we reflect, the happier we are,” the researchers added.
The researchers hope the findings can help shape specific intervention methods.
“Future studies will be able to explore the root causes of these differences and develop precise intervention strategies,” they concluded.