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Shivering Liberals, Parched Conservatives
The Huffington Post: Imagine you're reading a newspaper and you come across an article about a woman lost in a nearby forest. She had hiked several miles to a small cabin for a bit of an escape from her stressful work life, and a freak spring snowstorm dropped eight inches of powder overnight as the temperature plummeted. This forest is difficult to navigate under the best of conditions, and the woman is a fairly inexperienced hiker. Her family and friends are concerned because she didn't pack food or water for a long stay, and she dressed for mild weather. Rangers are combing the forest. How do you feel about this woman as you read her story?
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Why Rose-Colored Glasses May Be Just What the Relationship Doc Ordered
Glamour: Yeah, we all know there's no such thing as the perfect guy (OK, maybe 69 percent perfect), but when we're happy and in love, some of us think our guys are sent from heaven above. And while in the past, there have been conflicting reports on whether idealizing your partner is actually beneficial for your relationship, a new study in Psychology Today says it helps to keep the love alive—even after you say "I do." The study, published in Psychological Science, looked at how idealizing partners impacted marriage satisfaction by following 193 newlyweds over three years. Researchers then asked participants to rate their partners, themselves and their "ideal" mates.
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La deshumanización de la medicina moderna
el Economista Salud: El ejercicio de la medicina moderna está sufriendo actualmente de un proceso de deshumanización dentro de una sociedad globalizada. "Cualquier paciente que ingrese en un hospital o sea sometido a un tratamiento, incluso si se les cuida de la manera más apropiada, pueden sentirse tratados como animales o incluso como objetos", dice el psicólogo y médico de la Universidad de Harvard Omar Sultan Haque. Los médicos trabajan para ayudar a las personas, la investigación muestra que la atención empática, humana mejora los resultados. Read the whole story: el Economista Salud
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Kindness rewards the giver, too
The Columbus Dispatch: Among the benefits of kindness is the positive psychological gain that occurs for both the giver and receiver. When we see someone else help another person, it gives us a good feeling, which in turn causes us to go out and do something altruistic. Research has shown that generosity and kindness are contagious. American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.” Why do generosity and kindness have a positive psychological effect on people? Researchers think that kindness gives people a strong sense that they are doing something that matters.
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5 habits of highly successful dieters
CNN Health: Eat less, exercise more. That's the recipe for losing weight, and we all know it by heart. So if we want to get slimmer, and we know the formula, then why can't we do it? Commitment is important -- in fact, it's essential -- but it's only the beginning. The key to successful dieting is bridging the gap between what you want to do and actually doing it. The desire is there; you just need a plan. The scientifically proven tactics on these two pages will help you do just that. I say that with confidence -- not only as a social psychologist who studies motivation, but also as someone who has benefited from these tricks firsthand.
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Low Socioeconomic Status Means Worse Health – But Not for Everyone
Poverty is bad for your health. Poor people are much more likely to have heart disease, stroke, and cancer than wealthy people, and have a lower life expectancy, too. Children who grow up poor are more likely to have health problems as adults. But despite these depressing statistics, many children who grow up poor have good health. In a new article published in Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, Edith Chen and Gregory E. Miller of the University of British Columbia suggest a possible reason: some children have role models who teach them to cope with stress.
