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Irrational Positivity: Saving the Last for Best
The Huffington Post: The year 2011 was a dismal time in American public life. The nation came close to defaulting, and lost its AAA credit rating for the first time ever. The do-nothing Congress did -- well, nothing. The GOP seriously offered up the likes of Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain as its best and brightest for the country's future. Policemen in riot gear pepper-sprayed peaceful protesters. And public discourse sank to an all-time low in coarseness and partisanship. So how will we recall 2011 when we look back on it? Most likely with warmth and good cheer. Say what? That's right.
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Survival’s Ick Factor
The New York Times: Disgust is the Cinderella of emotions. While fear, sadness and anger, its nasty, flashy sisters, have drawn the rapt attention of psychologists, poor disgust has been hidden away in a corner, left to muck around in the ashes. No longer. Disgust is having its moment in the light as researchers find that it does more than cause that sick feeling in the stomach. It protects human beings from disease and parasites, and affects almost every aspect of human relations, from romance to politics. In several new books and a steady stream of research papers, scientists are exploring the evolution of disgust and its role in attitudes toward food, sexuality and other people.
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Q & A With Psychological Scientist Wilhelm Hofmann
Wilhelm Hofmann is a psychological scientist at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. We invited our Facebook and Twitter followers to submit their questions to Hofmann on self-control and temptation. Below are his answers: In your study, did you ask people what they craved or liked, or did you choose a typical food most people try to stay away from while they are dieting? We know from food diary and laboratory studies that dieters have particular problems staying away from highly palatable food, ¾ food the body finds rewarding because it contains high amounts of fat, sugar or salt.
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Notre carte intérieure est orientée vers le nord
Yahoo France: Les géographes occidentaux ont finalement bien raison d'orienter leur carte routière ou touristique en faisant correspondre le haut de ces cartes avec le nord. En tout cas, ce choix s'est ancré dans notre cerveau, au point de nous permettre de ne pas nous perdre, comme l'a constaté une équipe allemande de l'Institut Max-Planck de Tübingen dans la revue Psychological Science mise en ligne le 29 décembre. Read the whole story: Yahoo France
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Decisions: We’re maxed out say Montreal researchers
The Montreal Gazette: One has to wonder whether Liberal MP Justin Trudeau might have been suffering from a bout of decision fatigue when he launched an s-bomb on Environment Minister Peter Kent during Question Period in mid-December. Parliament was in its final days of a five-week session and Trudeau had recently been under attack for his views on abortion and the long-gun registry. The mental work of parliamentarians can wear them down, leading to slip-ups in self-control. It's a form of mental distress recently labeled by psychologists as decision fatigue.
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Yes, It Is Possible To Be Happy With Spending Less
Business Insider: Increased consumer spending has become an obsession with the economic-recovery crowd. Such spending accounts for 70 percent of the U.S. economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, or GDP. Therefore, the thinking goes, consumer spending must rise if the economy and stubbornly high unemployment rate are to recover. Some pundits even muse about consumer spending being a particularly American form of patriotism. Read the whole story: Business Insider
