Studies have shown that human beings are much happier being approached on sunny days than on cloudy winter days. From our brain patterns to our warmed hearts, we are more willing and open to possibilities and ideas when the sun’s rays find us, and research has revealed there might just be some science behind “summer love.” Read ahead to better understand why taking advantage of these happy fair-weather moods can help you get ahead in life.

People Want To Help Each Other Out

Recent studies indicate that in the warmer months, people are more helpful to each other. An experiment was conducted with hitchhikers in France to ascertain if the weather affected choices such as this. Hitchhikers posed on overcast days and then on sunny days, and the difference was enormous! Perhaps it was a feeling of safety, or perhaps drivers were just in a more relaxed and happy mood, but the sun shining allowed many more people to stop and give strangers assistance.

People Are More Open To Romance

Studies also showed that people are more open to love when the sun is shining. It is similar to the feeling we have in regards to S.A.D. — when we are in the throes of spring, we feel fine, but when winter comes, we tend to get a little blue. We have lost all the prettiness of spring, the visual stimuli that surrounds us and sends happy signals from our brains. We instinctively believe that the sun makes us happier, but we also feel it. The sun allows vitamin D to shoot into our skin via ultraviolet rays, and when we have high levels of vitamin D we have higher levels of serotonin, the neurotransmitter that is connected with our positive mood. So if you are looking for love, there are plenty of reasons that a sunny day will up your chances. You will be feeling more positive and hopeful, and the people you meet will also have higher levels of happiness, goodwill, laughter, and openness. They don’t call it a “spring fling” for nothing.

People Tend To Splash Their Cash

Studies report that during the summer months people are willing to spend their cash more freely. This goes for the spring too. When the sun is out, people want to leave their homes, they want to bring in the light, they want to be done with the grey and gloom of winter! Researchers investigated the idea of spending on warmer days compared to cooler ones. They took data from stores over a period of years and conducted separate tests to investigate people’s willingness to pay for different products in different environments (for example, an airplane ticket, a gym membership, tropical juice, a newspaper). The results all indicated that humans were more likely to spend during the warmer times of the year when they were not hibernating and bunkering down. When the summer months arrived, they wanted to get cracking on life, on fitness, on lending a hand to their neighbor – even on love! Featured photo credit: Picjumbo via picjumbo.com