Recession
Have hard economic times got you feeling mad? Sad? Good, say psychologists. For one thing, sadness is unavoidable, so acknowledge it. What's more, a sad population is one that's more inclined to spend money — just the boost the economy needs. A study published in the journal Psychological Science reported what happened when one group of subjects watched a few minutes of a tearjerker movie and others watched a nature clip: the folks who saw the weepie spent more money later. Just stay well within your budget. Anger, by contrast, prods people to take risks, as repeated studies have shown. Moderation is key: don't sink your life savings into a diamond mine somewhere. But you may be ticked off enough now to make that job switch you were too timid to make before.