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Using Money to Buy Happiness
Scientific American: We live in America with two bits of contradictory received wisdom — that you’d be a lot better off if you made more money, and that money can’t buy you happiness. Now two scholars suggest another way of thinking about the relationship between cash and joy: To a large degree, how you spend is just as important as how much you spend. Michael Norton, an associate professor at Harvard Business School and coauthor – with Elizabeth Dunn – of Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending, answered questions from Mind Matters editor Gareth Cook. Read the whole story: Scientific American
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What Did Narcissus Say To Instagram? Selfie Time!
NPR: In these hyper-connected, over-shared times dwell two kinds of people: those preoccupied with taking and uploading photos of themselves and those who have never heard of the selfie. ... But Pamela Rutledge doesn't see it that way. The director of the nonprofit Media Psychology Research Center, which explores how humans interact with technology, sees the selfie as democratizing the once-snooty practice of self-portraiture, a tradition that long predates Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Flickr. She sees some key differences between selfies and self-portraits of yore. Unlike painted portraiture, selfies are easily deletable.
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Training Can Increase Empathy
Scientific American: Can you train someone to be a nicer person? A recent study using meditation techniques shows that it might be possible. The research is published in the journal Psychological Science. [Helen Y. Weng et al, Compassion Training Alters Altruism and Neural Responses to Suffering] One group of subjects learned to practice what’s called “compassionate meditation” by focusing on a specific person while repeating a phrase like, “May you be free from suffering.” Read the whole story: Scientific American
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The Power of a ‘Project Beard’ and Other Office Rituals
The Wall Street Journal: Rituals are common among gamblers and sports figures, from wearing a lucky shirt to blowing on dice to counting dribbles before a free throw. Now researchers are finding that rituals help on the job too. People who engage in ritualistic behavior before a difficult task are less anxious, get more involved and tend to perform better than people who didn't have a ritual, according to research at Harvard Business School, the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management and other universities. ...
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Self-Disciplined People Are Happier (and Not as Deprived as You Think)
TIME: It’s easy to think of the highly self-disciplined as being miserable misers or uptight Puritans, but it turns out that exerting self-control can make you happier not only in the long run, but also in the moment. The research, which was published in the Journal of Personality, showed that self-control isn’t just about deprivation, but more about managing conflicting goals.
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6 Ways to Get Me to Email You Back
LinkedIn: Two years ago, I made a commitment to do something that made me profoundly uncomfortable. I had just finished writing my first book, and I promised my publisher that I would reach out to bestselling authors and senior leaders, asking them to read my book and consider endorsing it. I knew their quotes would go a long way toward attracting readers. But as someone who generally prefers to be on the giving side of exchanges, rather than the asking and receiving end, I knew it was time to pick up some new tips. I began seeking advice, scouring the research evidence, and test-driving what I learned in my quest to capture the attention of busy people. ...
