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The Benefits of Optimism Are Real
The Atlantic: One of the most memorable scenes of the Oscar-nominated film Silver Linings Playbook revolves around Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, a novel that does not end well, to put it mildly. ... Barbara Fredrickson, a psychological researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has looked more closely at the relationship between being positive and resilience. Her research shows how important one is for the other. For starters, having a positive mood makes people more resilient physically. In one study, research subjects were outfitted with a device that measured their heart activity.
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Happiness tends to increase with age
United Press International: Overall happiness and satisfaction with life tend to increase with age, but a person's well-being depends on when he or she was born, U.S. researchers say. Angelina R. Sutin of the Florida State University College of Medicine conducted the study while at the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health. Sutin and colleagues used two large-scale longitudinal studies -- the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for those age 30 and older. ...
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The Addiction and Cost of Social Media
The Huffington Post: Have you ever found yourself asking, "Where did the last hour go?" when connecting with friends or colleagues in social networks? Social media is like a drug; just a little taste and we can't help but want more. Social networks are the drug dealers; they facilitate our addiction to this gateway drug with one-click access to our social graph and a multitude of other sites and apps. ...
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Just Say Neigh: Why Some People Are Disgusted by Horsemeat
The horsemeat scandal sweeping Europe has turned many a stomach over the past few weeks. In several countries, including China, Kazakhstan, and even France, horsemeat consumption is culturally acceptable. But many Westerners find it repulsive. University of Pennsylvania psychology professor Paul Rozin has made a career out of studying such culturally distinctive disgust patterns. And he explains why many of us freely eat beef, pork, and poultry while gagging over the thought of a horseburger.
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Really? Annoying Songs Get Stuck in Our Heads
The New York Times: Virtually everyone experiences them, and rarely are they thought of fondly. They are earworms, the tunes that burrow into our consciousness and play on repeat. In a recent study involving hundreds of people, Ira Hyman Jr. of Western Washington University and colleagues looked at what made songs most likely to stick, exposing unsuspecting subjects to popular songs and then asking them to complete various tasks. Read the whole story: The New York Times
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How to deal with jerks: Give ’em the silent treatment
NBC: Giving someone the silent treatment may not always be such a bad thing. It may actually be a good way to deal with someone who is acting like a jerk, a new study finds. ... The silent treatment is not always motivated by an intent to harm another person or punish their behavior, said study author Kristin Sommer, Ph.D, an associate professor of psychology at Baruch College, City University of New York. "It may be used as a way to offset feelings of fatigue or depletion associated with the expectation of an unpleasant interaction," she explained. Read the whole story: NBC
