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7-minute essay slows the loathe in marriages
Today: Could a little homework help save your marriage? Researchers in Chicago think so. They found that couples who spent just seven minutes every few months writing short essays about their recent fights reported being less unhappy a year later than similar couples who didn’t do the assignments. ... “It doesn’t make them fight less often and it doesn’t make that fight less severe. What is does is it makes them less upset about the fights that they have,” said Eli Finkel of Northwestern University, who led the study. “It was a really minimalist, easy-to-do intervention.” Read the whole story: Today See Eli J. Finkel at the 25th APS Annual Convention.
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Relax! You’ll Be More Productive
The New York Times: Think for a moment about your typical workday. Do you wake up tired? Check your e-mail before you get out of bed? Skip breakfast or grab something on the run that’s not particularly nutritious? Rarely get away from your desk for lunch? Run from meeting to meeting with no time in between? Find it nearly impossible to keep up with the volume of e-mail you receive? Leave work later than you’d like, and still feel compelled to check e-mail in the evenings? ... Working in 90-minute intervals turns out to be a prescription for maximizing productivity. Professor K.
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Sure, I remember that
Marketplace: How accurate are our memories? Not as accurate as we’d like to think, especially when it comes to political events. This week, we look at the work of University of California, Irvine, researcher Elizabeth Loftus, a memory expert, whose research shows just how easily we can be led to “remember” events that never happened. All you have to do is show someone a doctored photograph. These false memories become all the more intense when political beliefs are factored in -- Democrats are more likely to falsely remember events that show Republicans in a bad light, and vice-versa. Read the whole story: Marketplace See Elizabeth F. Loftus at the 25th APS Annual Convention.
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Mixing Alcohol With Diet Soda May Make You Drunker
NPR: Looking to cut back on the calories in your cocktail by mixing, say, diet soda and rum? Well, get ready for the buzz. According to the results of a new study, this combination will leave you drunker than if you'd mixed the liquor with a sugary, caloric mixer. "Alcohol, consumed with a diet mixer, results in higher (BrAC) Breath Alcohol Concentrations as compared to the same amount of alcohol consumed with a sugar-sweetened mixer," says Cecile Marczinski, a cognitive psychologist who authored the new study. Read the whole story: NPR
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The Best Day to List a Home Is…
The Wall Street Journal: T.G.I.F. One day of the week can mean an extra $5,000 in a home-seller's pocket. ... What makes Fridays so special (other than a six-pack and takeout pizza)? Adults who have a Monday-to-Friday workweek tend to be more positive and happier on Fridays, an effect that lasts through the weekend, says Richard Ryan, professor of psychology at the University of Rochester. They also tend to report more vitality and energy on the weekends, which may prompt them to be more proactive in searching for homes, says Prof. Ryan, who has studied how the day of the week affects mood.
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Shame About Past Drinking Problem May Lead to Relapse
LiveScience: Feeling shame about a past drinking problem might actually increase the likelihood of a relapse for recovering alcoholics, a new study shows. "How much shame participants displayed strongly predicted not only whether they relapsed, but how bad that relapse was — that is, how many drinks they had if they did relapse," said the study's authors, Jessica Tracy and Daniel Randles, both psychological scientists at the University of British Columbia. Read the whole story: LiveScience
