Are you a miserable so and so?

[HelenM]

Luckiest people 'born in summer'
 
The month you were born in could be crucial ...

People born in summer have a sunnier outlook than those born in colder months, the results of a survey show.
More than 40,000 members of the public took part in the online survey.

Those who were born in May were the most likely to consider themselves lucky while those born in October had the most negative view of their lives.

Professor Richard Wiseman, who conducted the research, said people born in winter could improve their luck by being more optimistic.

People who took part in the survey gave their birthdates and rated the degree to which they saw themselves as lucky or unlucky.

 "People can improve their luck by being more optimistic" Professor Richard Wiseman  

The poll found there was a summer-winter divide between people born from March to August and those born from September to February.

Professor Wiseman, a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire, launched the research at the Edinburgh International Science Festival and presented the results at the end of the meeting.

They showed 50% of people born in May considered themselves lucky, while this figure dropped to 43% in October.

Professor Wiseman pointed out that those born in May see the whole of summer in their first six months, while the first experience of those born in October is the winter months.

Fellow researcher Professor Jayanti Chotai, of Umea University in Sweden, has previously shown people born in winter are less likely to seek out novel experiences.

He said: "The environmental factors around the birth period, like exposure to sunshine and temperature, could all influence the body's biological systems, with effects extending into adulthood."

Professor Wiseman said the effect may be due to a difference in the way parents interact with their babies during summer and winter.

He added: "The good news for winter-borns is that people can improve their luck by being more optimistic and making the most of the opportunities that come their way."

Summer-borns include rugby player Jonny Wilkinson, author J K Rowling, footballer David Beckham, and model Jordan.

Winter-borns include singer Peter Andre, presenter Vanessa Feltz, Prince Charles, and liberal democrat leader Charles Kennedy.

Diana Pidwell, a clinical psychologist in Blackpool, said there had been research showing a connection between the time of year a person is born and what they choose to do for a living.

She said: "It might also be feasible that your level of optimism or your likelihood of being depressed may be affected by the time of year you were born."

The connection might be due to summer babies being around happier people and being taken outside into sunlight while winter babies are kept indoors.

Ms Pidwell added that, except in case of clinical depression: "How happy you are is very much to do with how happy you decide to be."

But thinking you are lucky is not all good news, according to Dr Michael Wohl, assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Carleton University, Canada.

He has researched people's perception of their own luckiness.

Dr Wohl said: "Some people understand luck as a personal quality that can be used to maximize outcomes. Thus, lucky people might be prone to acting impulsively."

The more they believe they are lucky, the less they think they have to worry about negative outcomes.

He said this could lead to developing habits such as gambling.

[Reeve]

<font color='#000F22'>They got paid to write this twoddle?

It sounds like they were looking to justify their research grants.

[Dr Stevil]

Sounds like the kind of researchers that might end up asking for a grant to study if Astrology really works, when we all know it's a bunch of BS &nbsp; Of course we Sagittarians are the most skeptical of all the signs

[HelenM]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (FionaB @ April 14 2004,11:01)]No wonder I am feeling pissed off    born in December    way can't I win the lottery, find true love and not work again.

I think the man said by being more optimistic you can improve your luck (sounds like weird logic to me, but still!)... so your going to bed mantra for the next six months has to be...'love is on the way, and the millions won't be far behind'!!  You can be the YD case study... We'll look forward to a report back in October  

I was born at the end of April, and in keeping with the meteorological metaphor would describe myself as 'outlook generally warm and sunny, with very occasional light showers' &nbsp;So all his report is clearly very factual

HM

[Dr Stevil]

Speaking of lottery wins, did you here about the woman who won 16.7 million on the Euro lottery last week ? Where was she from? Read it and weep you Shandy drinkers  

Luckiest Town to buy your Lottery ticket!

[beanie]

<font color='#8D38C9'>bobbins

can i have that relative to money spent?

so being born in april is this summer or winter?

or does this explan the mode swings

[Snash]

not sure about all that guff,

but I do know that being a September baby, my folks obviously had a very good New Year's Eve &nbsp;

Simon

[peter k]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Steve W @ April 14 2004,11:08)]Of course we Sagittarians are the most skeptical of all the signs

Half-man, half-horse. Licensed to sh*t in the street! When is your birthday Steve?

Peter

[Ian@1904]

<font color='#736AFF'>Being a summer baby (June) and given that half my family reckon that if I fell down a sewer I would climb up smelling of roses and clutching a tenner. There could be something in this.

On the other hand I look for opportunities all the time.

Steve Davies, the snooker player, was once interviewed about his luck at winning so many trophies. His reply was to say that he worked about seven hours a days six days a week practising his luck.

I am known for finding money, and bank errors always seem to work in my favour. But then I check these things.

I am lucky to be married to a great lady. But then I saw the potential (no rude comments thank you!) and have been working on things for the past twenty two years, three months and two days, but who is counting.

I am lucky to have a great daughter-top of year, can play three musical instruments, acts, sings, dances. But then we have worked hard at raising her.

If you want some luck, work for it.

[MATTBIN]

Where do I fit in, I was born 10 wks premature in Feb so I was supposed to be a 'summer' baby. Plus my star sign is Aquarius the water bearer, which oddly is I'm told an Earth sign - huh?

Matt