196. What’s Wrong With Being a Little Neurotic?

Is there any upside to negative emotions? What can comedians teach us about dealing with pain? And why did Angela eat off of a stranger’s plate at a sushi bar?  SOURCES:Ludwig van Beethoven, 18th-19th century composer and pianist.Jen Christensen, reporter and producer at CNN.Lauren Eskreis-Winkler, professor of management & organizations at Northwestern University.Sigmund Freud, neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis.Shirley MacLaine, actor.George Vaillant, professor of psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital.Ali Wong, comedian. RESOURCES:"The Sad Clown: The Deep Emotions Behind Stand-Up Comedy," by Jen Christensen (CNN, 2018)."Neuroticism," by Jennifer L. Tackett and Benjamin B. Lahey (The Oxford handbook of the Five Factor Model, 2017)."Thinking Too Much: Self-Generated Thought as the Engine of Neuroticism," by Adam M. Perkins, Danilo Arnone, Jonathan Smallwood, and Dean Mobbs (Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2015)."Survivor Mission: Do Those Who Survive Have a Drive to Thrive at Work?" by Lauren Eskreis-Winkler, Elizabeth Shulman, and Angela Duckworth (The Journal of Positive Psychology, 2014)."Age Differences in Personality Traits From 10 to 65: Big Five Domains and Facets in a Large Cross-Sectional Sample," by Christopher J. Soto, Oliver P. John, Samuel D. Gosling, and Jeff Potter (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2011)."Adaptive Mental Mechanisms: Their Role in a Positive Psychology," by George Vaillant (American Psychologist, 2000).The Harvard Study of Adult Development. EXTRAS:Big Five Personality Inventory, by No Stupid Questions (2024).“Personality: The Big Five,” series by No Stupid Questions (2024).Terms of Endearment, film by James L. Brooks (1983)."Invictus," poem by William Ernest Henley (1888).