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The Weird Reason Happy Things Make You Cry
TIME: Think back to the one of the happiest moments of your life, say a wedding day or the birth of a child. During these life-changing moments, it’s safe to say you were probably crying. It may feel silly when it happens—especially if you’re someone who often turns into a blubbering mess over a heartwarming viral video. But it turns out crying when you’re happy isn’t so crazy after all: A forthcoming study in the journal Psychological Science found that people who are often reduced to happy tears may actually be better at regulating their emotions. Read the whole story: TIME
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You’re not my type, but sure
The Boston Globe: HAVE YOU EVER found yourself on a date with someone who, on paper, isn’t what you were looking for at all? It turns out that daters’ preferences in principle can get blindsided by another factor: compassion. In an experiment, single, heterosexual college students were shown dating profiles of other students. The researchers told some of the participants that these profiles represented actually available fellow students, while other participants were told that these profiles represented unavailable students. Read the whole story: The Boston Globe
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Yes, It’s Possible To Be Both An Introvert And An Extravert
The Huffington Post: We love to proudly label ourselves as introverts or extraverts. If the Internet has anything to say about it, introverts particularly enjoy categorizing themselves as suchand connecting with fellow introverts (virtually, not in person of course) over their mutual distaste for parties and small talk. But in reality, few of us fit neatly into either of these personality types. And for those of us who are truly in the middle of the introversion/extraversion spectrum, there's a name, too. Psychologists refer to such people as ambiverts, meaning that we express qualities and behaviors of both introverts and extraverts, depending on the situation.
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Feeling—Not Being—Wealthy Cuts Support for Economic Redistribution
Pacific Standard: Psychologists and political scientists have puzzled for some time about why the same Americans who favor greater economic equality don’t also support the kinds of redistributive economic policies that would get them there. Perhaps, some say, it’s political ideology. Perhaps it’s some kind of twisted self-interest. Or perhaps it’s because of how easy it is to make someone feel relatively poor or relatively well-off. ... So what is it then? While it’s not a complete answer, Jazmin Brown-Iannuzi and colleagues at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill say that subjective social status, rather than actual financial well-being, is likely playing a role.
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How To Convey Power With Your Voice
Forbes: Before Margaret Thatcher became prime minister of the United Kingdom, she went through extensive voice coaching designed to make her sound more powerful. The coaching did three things to her voice: It raised the pitch at which she spoke, it kept that pitch steady and it helped her vary the volume of her voice while she was talking. Now a study just published in the journal Psychological Science by professors at San Diego State and Columbia Business School suggests that Thatcher may not have needed to go through all that coaching. Just imagining that you are in a position of power can result in modulations to your voice that will make others believe that you are indeed powerful.
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Revisiting the Land of Opportunity
“Our success should depend not on accident of birth, but on the strength of our work ethic and the scope of our dreams.” So President Obama proclaimed in his 2014 State of the Union Address, adding: “Opportunity is who we are.” Yet in the same speech, just a few paragraphs before, the President acknowledged that the American Dream is elusive for many: “Average wages have barely budged,” he noted. “Inequality has deepened. Upward mobility has stalled.” President Obama is not alone, neither in his yearning nor his gloom. Many Americans echo his view that economic realities are falling far short of the American Dream that defines our national ethos.
