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The Unexpected Joy of Repeat Experiences
Scrolling through Instagram can quickly convince you that everyone’s life is more interesting than yours. During a particularly adventurous week on Instagram Stories recently, I saw water skiing in Maui, hiking in Yosemite and swimming with wild pigs in Bermuda. Wild pigs! Impulsively, I started Googling flights to new places. Then I ordered pho from the same Vietnamese place I eat at every week and … felt bad about not trying somewhere new.
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The Three Personalities of America
A few years ago, Jason Rentfrow, a psychologist at the University of Cambridge, dug into a question that has captivated him for decades: Do different places have different personalities? Do people in Los Angeles, for instance, have measurably different temperaments from the residents of Augusta, Georgia? If so, what does that mean for both places? Rentfrow decided to test these questions on a phenomenon that has captivated all of America lately: the rise of Donald Trump. ... Rentfrow had a breakthrough in 2013, when he and others published a study that suggested the U.S.
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Do we actually grow from adversity?
In our culture, there’s this idea that enduring a tragedy can be good for your personal growth. You’ll have a newfound appreciation for life. You’ll be grateful for your friends and family. You’ll learn from the experience. You’ll become more resilient. This theme appears in media coverage, time and again, in the wake of natural disasters and terrorist attacks. But what does the science say? Is there actually value in pain and suffering? Was philosopher Frederich Nietzsche onto something when he said, “That which does not kill us, makes us stronger”?
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Tips for easing the service burden on scientists from underrepresented groups
During Neil’s first semester as a faculty member, a group of Black undergraduates came by his office to welcome him to the department. It was a kind gesture that he remembers fondly, but one of the things they said stuck with him: “We’re so happy that you’re here. We never thought there would ever be another one,” by which they meant another Black professor. At first, he thought it was an odd statement. Why did they doubt that there could be two Black professors in the same department? But then Neil remembered being in their shoes.
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Stop Trying to Raise Successful Kids
As anyone who has been called out for hypocrisy by a small child knows, kids are exquisitely attuned to gaps between what grown-ups say and what grown-ups do. If you survey American parents about what they want for their kids, more than 90 percent say one of their top priorities is that their children be caring. This makes sense: Kindness and concern for others are held as moral virtues in nearly every society and every major religion. But when you ask children what their parents want for them, 81 percent say their parents value achievement and happiness over caring.
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Hungry, Hungry Hippocampus: The Psychology Of How We Eat
Anyone who's tried (and failed) to follow a diet knows that food is more than fuel. The reasons we eat are even embedded in our language. When we're in an unfamiliar place, we yearn for comfort food. We take one too many scoops of ice cream because we stress eat. We connect to others by breaking bread. Having spent decades studying the interplay between food, identity, and culture, psychologist Paul Rozin has come to appreciate that hunger isn't the only reason we head for the kitchen. He says, "Food is not just nutrition that goes in your mouth or even pleasant sensations that go with it.
