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Close Enough: The Lure Of Living Through Others
It used to be that if you wanted to feel what it was like to do something, you had to go out and do it. If your dream was to see the Grand Canyon from a raft, you'd head to the river. If you wanted to gaze up close at the Mona Lisa, you'd go to Paris. But something in our culture has changed. Now, as we sit on the couch and eat take-out, we watch kitchen virtuosos whip up gourmet meals from scratch. And then, we watch other people eat meals — there's a popular genre on YouTube where you just watch other people binge eat. It has never been so easy to bring the world into our living rooms and kitchens and bedrooms. And the world that enters our lives has never looked better.
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The Personality Trait That Makes People Feel Comfortable Around You
Some people can walk into a room and instantly put everyone at ease. Others seem to make teeth clench and eyes roll no matter what they do. A small body of psychology research supports the idea that the way a person tends to make others feel is a consistent and measurable part of his personality. Researchers call it “affective presence.” This concept was first described nearly 10 years ago in a study by Noah Eisenkraft and Hillary Anger Elfenbein. They put business-school students into groups, had them enroll in all the same classes for a semester, and do every group project together.
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New Research From Clinical Psychological Science
A sample of research exploring: genetic associations anxiety, depression, and executive function; motivation and emotion regulation in depression; and sense of agency over thoughts in obsessive-compulsive disorder.
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NIH is Revising Its Definition of Behavioral and Social Science and is Asking for Your Input
NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research wants your input on a new definition of behavioral and social sciences research that it has drafted. OBSSR should hear from individual scientists like you: What do you think about the new definition?
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Showing Yourself Compassion Can Have Mental and Physical Benefits
Showing love for your nearest and dearest is a hallmark of Valentine’s Day, but research suggests that you may want to save some of that love and compassion for yourself.
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The Kids (Who Use Tech) Seem to Be All Right
Social media is linked to depression—or not. First-person shooter video games are good for cognition—or they encourage violence. Young people are either more connected—or more isolated than ever. Such are the conflicting messages about the effects of technology on children’s well-being. Negative findings receive far more attention and have fueled panic among parents and educators. This state of affairs reflects a heated debate among scientists. Studies showing statistically significant negative effects are followed by others revealing positive effects or none at all—sometimes using the same data set.
