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Coincidence or Conspiracy? Studies Investigate Conspiracist Thinking
A psychological study in Europe has overturned some long held assumptions about people who hold conspiracy-beliefs.
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Less Pain, Less Joy: A New Look at Acetaminophen
The Wall Street Journal: Consider this trade-off the next time you have a headache: Would you take a medicine that didn’t just ease the pain but muffled your happiness too? A recent study suggests that acetaminophen—found in Tylenol, Excedrin and a host of other medications—is an all-purpose damper, stifling a range of strong feelings. Throbbing pain, the sting of rejection, paralyzing indecision—along with euphoria and delight—all appear to be taken down a notch by the drug. For most people, this over-the-counter palliative doesn’t demand much thought: Take the right dose and the pain goes away. But it may not be that simple.
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Lengthy Commutes Take a Mental Toll
Long chunks of time spent on the road has now been linked to lower life satisfaction.
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When Do Babies Start Making Jokes?
New York Magazine: A devious infant is the protagonist of a recent viral video that was posted to Facebook earlier this month and has since racked up more than 26 million views. The basic plot line: Every time her dad goes to cut her fingernails, she cries out and makes a pained face — then quickly dissolves into baby giggles, clearly pleased with herself and her little joke. ... When you think about it, a joke is a pretty complicated thing, especially for a human so tiny as our little prankster here.
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Barbie Wants to Get to Know Your Child
The New York Times: It looked like a child’s playroom: toys in cubbies, a little desk for doing homework, a whimsical painting of a tree on the wall. A woman and a girl entered and sat down in plump papasan chairs, facing a low table that was partly covered by a pink tarp. The wall opposite them was mirrored from floor to ceiling, and behind it, unseen in a darkened room, a half-dozen employees of the toy company Mattel sat watching through one-way glass. The girl, who looked about 7, wore a turquoise sweatshirt and had her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail.
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Warm Memories Can Dampen Hatred of Outsiders
Pacific Standard: At a time when "deport the immigrants" is an increasingly popular position, it's clear that animosity toward perceived outsiders remains a powerful driver of political attitudes. If you step back and identify the underlying emotional foundation of this problematic mindset, the answer is obvious: fear and insecurity. "Those people" are perceived as a threat to "my people." But not everyone is equally fearful and insecure. As psychologists John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth pointed out decades ago, healthy emotional functioning depends in large part on the presence of a loving, supportive figure one can depend upon.
