Open your mind to let happiness in

Yes, the Os have it. Open-mindedness and optimism are healthy traits to have. Everyone has them, but some folks have more than others, and those folks are typically healthier as well.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, most people consider themselves to be open-minded. There are probably lots of reasons for this. For instance, it may be due to one’s upbringing, or it may be a strategy that’s proven valuable time and again based on one’s unique experiences in life and so it becomes accepted and adopted. It may also be because the concept seems positive and harmless, and so we naturally think it describes us. I suppose it could also be because we’re uncomfortable and often defensive when we’re associated with its opposite, closed-mindedness. There may be a heritable component to open-mindedness as well. That is, we may simply be born that way. Indeed, there’s some interesting research on potential biological bases of opinions and attitudes. Who knows? I suspect there are lots of factors associated with our feelings regarding open-mindedness. It probably doesn’t matter how we got there, but make no mistake about it, getting there is generally good for one’s health.

Open-mindedness is the willingness to actively search against one’s favored beliefs and to weigh evidence fairly when it’s available. It’s our willingness to consider whether we could be wrong. I’m pretty sure sometimes we are. Its opposite is called “myside bias,” which is our inclination to think in ways that support our current views and beliefs. It’s probably human nature to gravitate toward ideas we’re familiar with or that we like. People often maintain their beliefs by exposing themselves to information they already know is likely to support what they want to believe. We all know liberal or conservative folks who only read liberal or conservative magazines or watch MSNBC or FOX News. But is such selective exposure intellectually healthy?

There’s clearly a subjective aspect to open-mindedness. You may consider me as being so open-minded that I’ve lost my brain, for instance, or vice-versa. And that’s okay. People who hold that everyone’s opinion is equally valid have no incentive to learn about standards of good, valid arguments, after all. The question is whether we often or occasionally willingly and actively try to counteract in some sensible manner our tendency to favor ideas that make us feel good.

The research on open-mindedness — and yes, it’s difficult to measure and there are several indicators that have been used and probably several more that will be developed and tested in the future — generally suggests that it’s associated with other positive psychological and social outcomes. For instance, it’s been positively associated with innovation, creativity, general intelligence and optimism. It’s been linked to cognitive complexity and a better understanding of relationships between people and events. Open-minded folks appear to search for alternatives and reach out and consider the views of others more, and may thus be less susceptible to be manipulated or swayed by single events. Perhaps because of all of this, researchers have found that open-minded folks are typically happier and less depressed than their less open-minded counterparts. They can accommodate to stress better and are generally healthier physically as well as psychologically and socially.

So open-mindedness is healthy trait to have. But can it be learned, fostered, or promoted? Evaluating and justifying our ideas and thoughts might be a start. These are systematic processes that should be able to be taught to some extent. We just need to be sure those doing the teaching are somewhat open-minded. Next week we’ll look at the relationship between optimism and health.

This story was originally published March 1, 2017 at 4:38 PM with the headline "Open your mind to let happiness in."