PsychCentral sums up a meta-study, “The Neuroimaging of Love.” Findings suggest falling in love can elicit not only the same euphoric feeling as using cocaine, but also affects intellectual areas of the brain…Researchers also found falling in love only takes about a fifth of a second.
Bad jobs are bad–a recent study confirms it (PsychCentral). “Our work found that people in poor-quality jobs—jobs which were insecure, did not provide future job prospects or had high levels of strain—had no better mental health than people who were unemployed,” said Dr. Leach.
A pedometer study shows Americans take fewer steps than people in other countries. One tidbit: Being single was associated with taking more steps. Single people averaged 6,076 daily steps, compared to 4,793 steps for married people. Widowed participates moved the least, averaging 3,394 daily steps.
A study finds a possible explanation why men are twice as likely as women to become alcoholics. Dopamine has multiple functions in the brain, but is important in this context because of its pleasurable effects when it is released by rewarding experiences, such as sex or drugs…Despite similar consumptions of alcohol, the men had greater
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Study: Love decreases pain. Commenters: Unimpressed. Researchers from Stanford University studied the link between love and pain by scanning the brains of 15 college students who all professed to being deeply in love. The eight women and seven men were placed in brain scanners that tracked their body’s response to pain — in this case
From Why All Indiscretions Appear Youthful (NYT): In recent years psychologists have exposed the many ways that people subconsciously maintain and massage their moral self-image. They rate themselves as morally superior to the next person; overestimate the likelihood that they will act virtuously in the future; see their own good intentions as praiseworthy while dismissing others’ as
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A unsurprising study says that where you live affects your mood. “One of the things we tried to assess was essentially community support — to what extent people in that neighborhood turned to others for child care, other forms of assistance — and whether they socialize and know each other. And it’s clear that in
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False negatives in assessing depression occur with the outgoing and bubbly, a study says. “When a person who has enjoyed socializing and whose mood normally is positive becomes depressed, friends and family often don’t recognize it. Depression is inconsistent with the expectations that people have…”
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Science Daily reports about a psychologist’s research into how and why people choke under pressure. “My research team and I have found that highly skilled golfers are more likely to hole a simple 3-foot putt when we give them the tools to stop analyzing their shot, to stop thinking,” Beilock said. “Highly practiced putts run
Scientific American relays research that finds a reason that may explain why Women Apologize More Frequently Than Men: Researchers analyzed the number of self-reported offences and apologies made by 66 subjects over a 12-day period. And yes, they confirmed women consistently apologized more times than men did. But they also found that women report more offenses