Our tempers are being tested by the stress of recent weather events, the cost of living crisis, and post-pandemic blues.
And now, it’s got plenty of people wondering - are New Zealanders becoming meaner?
We've all been there, starting the day feeling good about ourselves, and then someone says something that feels a little mean.
Most of the time, the person doesn’t even realise they've said something mean.
Saying things like: "Oh, you're printing. I don't use the printer as I care about the environment."
These kinds of insensitive statements, questions, or assumptions are called “micro-aggressions”.
So how micro are these micro-aggressive remarks?
Clinical Psychologist Dougal Sutherland joined Seven Sharp and said he'd noticed our society was becoming a bit mean.
“I wonder if we are a little, I’ve noticed in the past year or two that we seem to be shorter or snappier and less tolerant of each other.”
He believes that it’s because our modern society has created an intense environment for the human brain, which tricks people into making “careless mistakes”.
“I often think about the brain as being like a phone that has heaps of apps open and the more apps you have open and the less power that you have across your phone."
He said that when there are lots going on in your head, it becomes easier to “not think before you speak”.
Sutherland said it's starting to become an “accepted practice”.
“It becomes part of just how we generally do things, and people just kind of forget about it,” he said.
So, to stop society from becoming a mean one, we need to be “on our guard”, Sutherland said
Watch the video above to find out more.
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