Are ‘Blue Mondays’ a Myth?

Look at your co-workers on any given Monday morning. Do they seem sad or listless? Maybe, but according to a new study, their mood on Monday is no different than it is on many other weekdays.

To find out if so-called “Blue Mondays” actually exist, three psychologists examined Gallup data in which 340,000 Americans were asked to describe their mood on various days of the week, choosing from words like “enjoyment,” “happiness,” “worry” and “sadness.”

Turns out that while moods did improve on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, moods on Monday were no different than those reported on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday — and that held true between both men and women.

“Despite our global beliefs about lousy Mondays, we conclude that this belief should, in general, be abandoned,” the researchers said. “The perception of Blue Mondays is likely prevalent due to the extreme contrast in mood from Sunday to Monday, even though there is no real difference in mood with [most other weekdays].”

[Research Digest]