Holiday Haters Rejoice: Being a Grinch Might Be Good for You

TIME:

We all know that Thanksgiving is a time for giving thanks. It’s right there in the name, you can’t miss it. However, the holidays can also mean spending a lot of time with your family, which, if you’re like most people, can be stressful. If your mom is constantly telling you to stop being a Grinch, now you can tell her that being negative can actually be a positive for your health.

Two studies out this week indicate that negative comments can have health benefits. As MSNBC reports, complaining can help inspire people to change a bad situation.“In order to actually change the system, you’ve got to know what’s wrong with it,” says India Johnson, a graduate student at Ohio State University who helped lead the study, which is headed to the journal Psychological Science. So if your father insists on deep-frying the turkey every Thanksgiving, despite the fire hazard and health risks, complaining about it could cause him to flip the bird and tell you to stuff it, but he may hand over turkey baking duty to you.