Most depressing day of the year: Third Monday of January
“Not sure if this research passes the peer-review process. British psychologist Cliff Arnall claims that, according to a complicated equation he devised in 2005, the third Monday in January is the most depressing day of the year. He calls it Blue Monday. We’re so blue, Arnall says, because of the weather, the Christmas holidays being over, and already-failed New Year’s resolutions, among other things he takes into account. But Arnall’s formula was created as part of a publicity campaign for Sky Travel, a British TV channel that shut down in 2010. “The fact is that Cliff Arnall’s equations are stupid, and some fail even to make mathematical sense on their own terms,” psychiatrist Ben Goldacre wrote in his “Bad Science” column in The Guardian, and other scientists have dismissed the formula.” Read more…
(source: NY Daily News, via The Daily Beast)
Do nice guys finish last?
“Overall, across the first three studies, men who are one standard deviation below the mean on agreeableness earn an average of 18.31 percent ($9,772) more than men one standard deviation above the mean on agreeableness. Meanwhile, the “disagreeableness premium” for women was only 5.47 percent ($1,828). Thus, the income premium for disagreeableness is more than three times stronger for men than for women.” Read more…
(source: Wired)
The psychology of nakedness
“Do people’s mental capacities fundamentally change when they remove a sweater? This seems absurd: How could removing a piece of clothing change one’s capacity for acting or feeling? In six studies, however, we show that taking off a sweater—or otherwise revealing flesh—can significantly change the way a mind is perceived. In this article, we suggest that the kind of mind ascribed to another person depends on the relative salience of his or her body—that the perceived capacity for both pain and planned action depends on whether someone wears a sweater or tank-top.” Read more…
(source: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, via Wired)
Forget why you walked in a room? Doorways to blame, study finds
“Have you ever strolled into the kitchen to get something only to immediately forget why you’re even there? You’re not alone. Psychologists from the University of Notre Dame have discovered a link between walking through doorways and lapses in our short-term memory. Here’s what you should know:” Read more…
(source: Life’s Little Mysteries, via The Week)
The science of humor
“The sense of humor is a ubiquitous human trait, yet rare or non-existent in the rest of the animal kingdom. But why do humans have a sense of humor in the first place? Cognitive scientist (and former programmer) Matthew Hurley says humor (or mirth, in research-speak) is intimately linked to thinking and is a critical task in human cognition because a sense of humor keeps our brains alert for the gaps between our quick-fire assumptions and reality.” Read more…
(source: The Boston Globe, via Slashdot)
Why we procrastinate
“What better way to put off doing that thing you gotta do than watching this nifty book trailer about … procrastination (Why do you procrastinate? ‘The problem isn’t that you are a bad manager of your time. You’re a bad tactician in the war inside your brain.’” Read more…
(source: You Are Not So Smart, via Neatorama )
How much tech can children take?
“Today’s parents have more than one screen in the living room to worry about: PCs, smartphones, tablets and games consoles are all part of the fabric of daily life for today’s children. On the one hand, researchers warn of the potential dangers of too much “screen time”, pointing to alarming (some say scaremongering) research that suggests over-exposure leads to an increased risk of developing autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).” Read more…
Is empathy in our genes?
” A large part of how we relate to people emotionally may be hardwired into our DNA. A new study suggests that character traits such as being open, caring, and trusting are so strongly linked to a certain gene variation that a total stranger, simply by watching us listen to another person, may be able to guess whether we have the variation with a high degree of accuracy.” Read more…
(source: CNN Health)
How Earth's axis affects your sleep habits
“At 2 a.m. on Sunday (Nov. 6), most of the United States will enjoy the upside to the annual daylight saving time shift — setting our clocks back by an hour. But be careful how you enjoy it, cautions Dr. Anita Valanju Shelgikar, director of the sleep medicine fellowship program at the University of Michigan.” Read more…
(source: Live Science)
Does inequality make us unhappy?
“Inequality is inevitable; life is a bell curve. Such are the brute facts of biology, which can only evolve because some living things are better at reproducing than others. But not all inequality is created equal. In recent years, it’s become clear that many kinds of wealth disparity are perfectly acceptable — capitalism could not exist otherwise — while alternate forms make us unhappy and angry.” Read more…
(source: Wired)
Psychologists’ golf trick shows superstition boosts performance
“How can you make people better at sports? Tell them they’re using equipment that previously belonged to a professional athlete. No, really. A new study finds that golfers significantly improved their putting ability when they believed the putter they were using belonged to a celebrity golfer.” Read more…
(source: ScienceNow, via Wired)
Five ways popular American culture breeds sociopaths
“If you have a relationship with a narcissist, even a malignant narcissist, you’ll probably end up with your dignity, heart, and maybe even bank account, damaged. If you have a relationship with a sociopath, you’ll be lucky if you end up with your body and property intact.” Read more…
(source: PsychCentral)
How to spot psychopaths: Speech patterns give them away
“Psychopaths are known to be wily and manipulative, but even so, they unconsciously betray themselves, according to scientists who have looked for patterns in convicted murderers’ speech as they described their crimes.” Read more…
(source: MSNBC.com, via Crabby Go Lightly)
The brain on trial
“Advances in brain science are calling into question the volition behind many criminal acts. A leading neuroscientist describes how the foundations of our criminal-justice system are beginning to crumble, and proposes a new way forward for law and order.” Read more…
(source: The Atlantic)
Brains don’t need a study break
“These findings show that our brains do just fine at working hard for a sustained period of time, so long as we have a little faith. In the words of the researchers, “it is important that people understand that their own beliefs about willpower as a limited or unlimited resource can affect their self-regulation.” The next time you’re overwhelmed with work and feel too burned out to finish, just remember that that urge to procrastinate is all in your head.” Read more…
(source: FYI Living)
