Theories about how siblings develop such different personalities (NPR). “Children in the same family are more similar than children taken at random from the population,” Plomin says, “but not much more.” In fact, in terms of personality, we are similar to our siblings only about 20 percent of the time.
PsychCental: Personal Goal-Setting Strategy Affects Relationships According to investigators, goal-setting behavior may influence whether people will be comfortable in sharing and communicating. For example, people with “mastery goals” want to improve themselves. Maybe they want to get better grades, make more sales, or land that triple toe loop. On the other hand, people with what psychologists call “performance
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PsyBlog looks at thinking v. feeling when trying to persuade. [I]f you want to persuade someone, then it’s useful to know whether they are a thinker or a feeler and target your message accordingly. If you don’t already know then the easiest way to find out is listen for whether they describe the world cognitively
A app-based study supports mindfulness as a route to happiness. “A human mind is a wandering mind, and a wandering mind is an unhappy mind,” wrote psychologists Matthew A. Killingsworth and Daniel T. Gilbert of Harvard University who used an iPhone web app to gather 250,000 data points on people’s thoughts, feelings, and actions as they
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Good news relayed by PsychCentral: Emotional Stability, Happiness Increase with Age “As people get older, they’re more aware of mortality,” Carstensen said. “So when they see or experience moments of wonderful things, that often comes with the realization that life is fragile and will come to an end. But that’s a good thing. It’s a
In case you were wondering: Seeing Meat Makes People Significantly Less Aggressive. “We used imagery of meat that was ready to eat. In terms of behaviour, with the benefit of hindsight, it would make sense that our ancestors would be calm, as they would be surrounded by friends and family at meal time,” Kachanoff explained.
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Scientists giving mice electric shocks, tracking fear— –noticed that an unusual protein appeared in the amygdala, a part of the brain involved in emotions. That molecule remained for only a few days and appeared to strengthen the brain circuit responsible for maintaining the fearful memory. But when the researchers eliminated the protein during this period, mice
A study says self-awareness about your flirting style helps dating, helps relationships. “Knowing something about the way you communicate attraction says something about challenges you might have had in your past dating life,” Hall said. “Hopefully, this awareness can help people avoid those mistakes and succeed in courtship.” The five styles of flirting named: physical, traditional,
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A study likes conversation. Talking with other people in a friendly way can make it easier to solve common problems, a new University of Michigan study shows. But conversations that are competitive in tone, rather than cooperative, have no cognitive benefits…
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A study examines the idea of unlimited willpower. Up until now, many researchers have asserted that the only way to stay focused during projects that require intense concentration is to seek occasional restoration with physical distractions such as food, rest, or other activity. They believe this will help a person feel recharged and get back