Current:Home > NewsTaylor Swift, Travis Kelce and finding happiness and hatred all at once -WealthRoots Academy
Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce and finding happiness and hatred all at once
View
Date:2025-04-12 10:04:18
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are adorable – or they're cringey? They're beautiful – or they're repulsive? They're giving you hope – or they're making you feel lonelier than ever?
When happy couples hold hands, share a smooch, make heart hands and more, people on the sidelines form opinions about their interactions. Some are positive and supportive. But often people pass judgement and have negative thoughts while watching a happy couple be, well, happy. Why?
"She’s a woman supporting her boyfriend, just as he’s supported her," one mom of a Swiftie wrote in a public Facebook post. "Maybe it’s love that will last, maybe it won’t, but can’t we be hopeful and happy for someone else’s happiness?"
Experts say your take on happy pairs, like Swift and Kelce, may reveal way more about you than the couple in question.
"Our tendency to be happy for others or experience jealousy is strongly related to how we are experiencing our lives and relationships in the present," says Miranda Nadeau, a licensed psychologist.
Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce and finding joy in 'Swelce'
Maybe you're one of those people who can't stop gushing over Swelce or a couple more close to home.
"How people react to seeing other's joy and happiness is very telling," says Maryanne Fisher, a psychology professor at St. Mary's University in Canada. "Some people are genuinely happy at seeing other's (including celebrities) happiness." You might be feeling "freudenfreude," or "a vicarious experience of another's joy – think opposite to schadenfreude, where one gets pleasure from another person's misfortunes," Fisher adds.
If you are a Swiftie, you may feel this more pronounced. "It is likely that the effect is increased when we feel a connection with the person involved, which fans may certainly experience with celebrities," Fisher says. "This sharing of joy has all sorts of positive effects; it makes us believe things are positive and good, and relatedly decreases stress and the associated cortisol hormone."
Are you 'unconsciously projecting?'
On the flip-side: Finding yourself feeling bitter?
"It could stem from displeasure in one's own life – for example, secretly thinking that one's own relationship is unsatisfying may lead to them feeling deep-seated envy toward those who express affection, and this envy may be presented as low-grade anger, or displeasure," Fisher says. You may also experience fear of never finding love of your own, or fear of betrayal from a now-distracted friend.
Dig deeper:The Taylor Swift jokes have turned crude. Have we learned nothing?
It's easy to see yourself in other people – especially when they're as famous as Swift and Kelce, who likely have no connection in your life beyond the parasocial. Maybe you're a Swiftie, but in one of your sad girl eras.
"A lot of people may be unconsciously projecting," says Cecille Ahrens, a licensed clinical social worker. "We often project our fears and desires out into the world. We also tend to displace our feelings, our unmeet needs, our grievances onto the wrong people. (Swift and Kelce) are great targets for these defense mechanisms."
These reactions, too, could mean you're living with a scarcity or abundance mindset. "With a scarcity mindset, we may believe on some level that happiness or love are finite and limited, and that someone else being happy means we're that much more unlikely to experience similar joy ourselves," Nadeau says. Social or financial circumstances might affect how you look at the world and prompt this attitude.
As for an abundance mindset: "We're more likely to be happy for others in their contentment," Nadeau adds. "There's no threat to us or our attainment of love and satisfaction. And it's a lot easier to be happy for others when we're in loving, generous, exciting relationships ourselves."
Cuffing season has arrived.Don't jump into a relationship just because it's here.
Or maybe it's not that serious
It's possible to oscillate between feelings – to begin accepting others' love stories even when you are jealous – though it's easier said than done to adjust your mindset. "Still, we can deepen our sense of what we do have in our lives and grow our abundance mindset by practicing gratitude," Nadeau says. "Feeling deep appreciation for what we already have helps us to want the best for others too."
Your feelings may not signal any kind of deeper trauma to work through, either.
"Someone who does not really care about someone could just think it's sweet to see happy people and leave it at that," Fisher says. "Also, we need to remember that it can also mean that they really did not like the person to start with, and the change of events has just simply given them a way to express this dislike. It's hard to believe, but not everyone is a Swiftie."
Seriously:The Taylor Swift jokes have turned crude. Have we learned nothing?
veryGood! (827)
Related
- Tom Holland's New Venture Revealed
- SEC conference preview: Georgia has company with Alabama, LSU Tennessee in chase
- Prosecutors say witness in Trump’s classified documents case retracted false testimony
- Can dehydration cause nausea? Get to know the condition's symptoms, causes.
- 'Malcolm in the Middle’ to return with new episodes featuring Frankie Muniz
- Ex-Florida congresswoman to challenge Republican Sen. Rick Scott in a test for the state’s Democrats
- Poland’s leader says Russia’s moving tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, shifting regional security
- US Coast Guard rescues man who was stranded on an island in the Bahamas for 3 days
- SFO's new sensory room helps neurodivergent travelers fight flying jitters
- Vanessa Bryant Keeps Kobe and Daughter Natalia’s First Day of School Tradition Going With Flower Delivery
Ranking
- See you latte: Starbucks plans to cut 30% of its menu
- Spotless arrival: Rare giraffe without coat pattern is born at Tennessee zoo
- At March on Washington’s 60th anniversary, leaders seek energy of original movement for civil rights
- Heidi Klum Reveals She Eats 900 Calories a Day, Including This Daily Breakfast Habit
- Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
- San Francisco Archdiocese files for bankruptcy in the face of sexual abuse lawsuits
- Georgia sheriff resigns after pleading guilty to groping TV's Judge Hatchett
- Pennsylvania agrees to start publicly reporting problems with voting machines
Recommendation
US wholesale inflation accelerated in November in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
Flood-ravaged Vermont waits for action from a gridlocked Congress
Books We Love: Book Club Ideas
Man drowns trying to rescue wife, her son in fast-moving New Hampshire river
Could your smelly farts help science?
US Coast Guard rescues man who was stranded on an island in the Bahamas for 3 days
Lawyers win access to files in New Hampshire youth detention center abuse case
Trump co-defendants in Fulton County case begin surrendering ahead of Friday deadline