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Why willpower matters – and how to get it
The Guardian: In the smart restaurant of a very smart hotel in the West End of London, Roy F Baumeister, eminent American social psychology professor, orders a lunch of fish and chips, and then decides not to eat the chips. "I won't eat something that's not good for me unless it's absolutely perfect, and it's going to give me real pleasure," he says. "I'm afraid ... Well, it just didn't look like these were going to do either." What willpower, you might say. You'd be right; the chips looked pretty good. But Baumeister is also, coincidentally, a leading authority on that very subject, and has just published a smash-hit book on it with New York Times science writer John Tierney.
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The Science Behind the Serenity Prayer
The Huffington Post: "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." These are the first lines of what's known as the Serenity Prayer, which is well-known to many recovering alcoholics. It's often recited in the rooms of AA as a reminder of the core principle of successful sobriety: Acceptance of the reality that for addicts, nothing but absolute, lifelong abstinence will lead to healthy and lasting recovery. As simple as that message is, it's very difficult for many alcoholics to embrace, at least at first.
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Why ‘experience’ shoppers are happier
Minneapolis Post: Next time you pull out your wallet to hand over some of your hard-earned money, you'd be wise to spend it on experiences rather than possessions. For as research on happiness and spending habits has demonstrated repeatedly in recent years, buying life experiences tends to makes us happier than buying things. What hasn't been as clear, however, is why some individuals are more likely to use their disposable income on, say, camping in the Boundary Waters or catching a show at the Jungle Theater than shopping at the Mall of America. In fact, psychologists know very little about habitual "experiential shoppers." A recent study, however, appears to have unlocked some clues.
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Online Dating Isn’t the Likely Route to Mr. or Ms. Right: Study
The Wall Street Journal: Does online dating work? Well, it’s a great way to meet people, but not for leading you to the partner of your dreams, according to a comprehensive new review published in this month’s issue of the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest. The authors, all academic researchers without any financial ties to dating services, combed through the literature on relationships (those begun both on- and offline) and other areas of psychology to take a stab at answering the question. Read the whole story: The Wall Street Journal See Eli J. Finkel at the 24th APS Annual Convention
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The Upside of Dyslexia
The New York Times: The word “dyslexia” evokes painful struggles with reading, and indeed this learning disability causes much difficulty for the estimated 15 percent of Americans affected by it. Since the phenomenon of “word blindness” was first documented more than a century ago, scientists have searched for the causes of dyslexia, and for therapies to treat it. In recent years, however, dyslexia research has taken a surprising turn: identifying the ways in which people with dyslexia have skills that are superior to those of typical readers.
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Study: Income inequality may boost your ego
The Washington Post: A new study finds that countries with more income inequality tend to have more people who believe that they are better than average — a psychological phenomenon known as “self-enhancement.” The study, published in Psychological Science, hypothesizes that societies with high levels of inequality are more likely to encourage competition over scarce rewards, and outsized perceptions of the self is simply an outgrowth of that environment. Income inequality may foster greater self-enhancement through increased competition.
