The Student News Site of Black River Falls High School

BRFHS Paw Print

The Student News Site of Black River Falls High School

BRFHS Paw Print

The Student News Site of Black River Falls High School

BRFHS Paw Print

Why You React The Way You Do

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Everyone processes things differently, which also means that people react differently, too. But have you ever asked yourself why they react differently from others?

There are many different types of people in the world. The calm, the angry, the sad, the energetic, and more. These examples may be a part of one’s personality, or it could just be a part of how they would typically react in certain situations. Either way, it prevents everyone from reacting the same way. It allows people to be themselves in a way.

“I often react to certain conversations negatively if I am having a bad day, or if I even just had a bad start to my morning. Then my friends would look at me like I‘m crazy cause I seem super upset or mad. I feel really bad about it later, but I just didn’t think through things at that time,” said sophomore Mackenzie Bedell.

If one were to react it down scientifically, then they would learn that everything comes down to the brain. Every reaction is different for every person because everyone’s brain is wired differently. According to psychology counselor Carol Roach, psychologists tend to categorize people’s reactions by their current emotional state. If they are angry, they are obviously going to tend to lash out at others. If they are sad, then they are going to try to avoid many different situations to try and not draw attention to themselves.

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“ For example, a man might get his new suit splashed by a car driving by and he might be angry, indifferent, run home and change, or continue on his journey wet and dirty. It really depends on what his current emotion was,” said Roach.

Every human response is controlled by our emotions, or so as the cognitive theory states. Cognitive theory is believed to entirely base our choices by our emotions, rather than the logical response. However, there are also theories that state our reactions could also be controlled by the genetic coding that we gained from our parents, or perhaps just from what we had been taught growing up. It’s scientifically possible to have certain emotions run through someone’s family. The most common ones being depression, anger, fear, happiness, and disgust.

“The man in this situation could have been so depressed after dirtying his suit that he just goes home and stays home, too emotionally distraught to go to work or go to that important meeting.  Or, he may feel that the meeting was not worth the bother of going home and changing and then going back out,” said Roach.

If nothing else is to blame for someone’s action, blame their routine. The more that you do something, the more it plays into your schedule. The same exact thing applies to feelings. If you are feeling bored or perhaps annoyed while riding your bus every morning, then after some time you’re going to almost always feel that emotion when riding the bus. When someone is talking to you and you just want them to be quiet, then you’re going to feel that emotion often whenever you are speaking with someone. It’s just a small part of your daily routine.

“If I’m talking so someone that I really don’t like, I’m going to feel annoyed or something along the lines of that. The more that I talk to that person, the more common it is for me to have that feeling, so I guess going by routine does kind of make sense,” said Bedell.

Your emotions can be affected by many different things, which will, therefore, change your reaction to any possible event too.  Everything that you do or anything that you are about to do is affected by your mind, your emotions, and your current state of thought. It’s not like there is some little voice inside your head telling you to go from being super happy to criticizing everyone that is within your path. If you do have a sudden mood change, it’s because you are allowing yourself to feel an entirely different emotion.

“This is just one example of how our belief system, which is shaped by our experiences, can create feelings,” said psychology Dr. Shailagh Clarke.

A person is in charge of their own emotions, so by not having the same reaction as everyone else, they are simply just allowing their emotions to take over, that is unless they are thinking logically. So why may we not act the same as everyone else around us? The answer is simple. Because we are being ourselves, not anyone else.

“I mean, It’s better than being like everyone else. I never thought of it like that before, but it is what it is,” said sophomore Taylor Skar.

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Why You React The Way You Do