Study links outside, mood

Extreme weather alters mood

By: DANIEL O'CONNOR

Posted: 8/24/07

Ever felt depressed on a rainy day? One University professor is pursuing research to discover why.

Alan Stewart, an associate professor of counseling and human development in the University's College of Education, developed the term behavioral climatology to describe the interdisciplinary field of study involving psychology and meteorology.

"As far as I can determine, I am currently one of a few people in the fields of economics, sociology and psychology who is doing this kind of work," Stewart said.

"I have been interested in weather, climate and psychology for about as long as I can remember.

"As a child I remember being sensitive to how different weather phenomena such as overcast skies, rain and thunderstorms really changed the appearance of the outside environment. I noticed that these changes also affected my moods and thinking as well."

Technology like air conditioning has enabled people to live independently of their environment, Stewart said.

"However, when widespread damage to infrastructure occurs, as it did in New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina, people again realize the power of the weather and how dependent upon it they may be," he said.

Extreme weather like hurricanes, flooding and severe thunderstorms can cause psychological trauma and a "storm phobia," Stewart said.

Outside of extreme weather, studying behavioral climatology is important because of climate change, he said.

"Because most people enjoy sunny, warm weather with little or no rain, the climate of Athens, outside of this current heatwave, is fairly agreeable to people," Stewart said.

Keely Kight, a freshman from McRae, agrees.

"Yeah, I'm naturally more happy on a sunny day," Kight said.

However, Stewart said, "There is a significant proportion of people who report that their favored weather to experience includes cooler weather, cloudy, overcast skies and rain."

He also concluded that weather affects genders differently.

"Women report that they are significantly more affected by weather than do men," Stewart said.

Stewart was invited to present his research to the American Meteorological Society in January, and he returned Wednesday from the American Psychological Association's convention in San Francisco where he presented some of his work on behavioral climatology.

Stewart has been studying the psychology of weather and climate for four years.