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Why a hug is good for your health
The New Zealand Herald: If you're struggling to get your beloved under the mistletoe this year, then help is at hand. Scientists have revealed that hugging is good for our health, helping to prevent infection and relieve stress. They say just a cuddle or squeeze is enough to reduce illness symptoms and the more you do it, the greater the effect. Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University in the US quizzed 400 people about their personal conflicts and the sort of support they received. They then exposed them to a common cold virus and put them in quarantine.
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What Is Fatigue?
The New Yorker: When, on a blustery day in Oxford in 1954, Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four-minute mile, measuring out the full capacity of his lungs and legs and collapsing across the finish line, he felt, as he later wrote, “like an exploded flashlight.” That was the feeling researchers were trying to evoke, recently, when they paid thirteen volunteers at Bangor University, in Wales, to pedal a stationary bike at a predetermined pace for as long as they could. Such “time to exhaustion” trials are a well-established method of measuring the limits of physical endurance, but in this case the experiment also had a hidden psychological component.
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Why Americans care more about experiences than possessions
Quartz: The signifiers of success used to be simple. Own a home (or two) and a car (or two) and voilà! You’ve achieved the American Dream. Ownership, however, is a complicated concept for an increasing number of Americans (this writer and her sister, included)—and not for all the reasons you might think. Multiple studies and datasets have shown that millennials are not buying homes and they are not buying cars. In fact, they are not buying many big ticket items at all (save for their smartphones) in the way generations of the past have.
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The Secret to Raising Smart Kids
Scientific American: A brilliant student, Jonathan sailed through grade school. He completed his assignments easily and routinely earned As. Jonathan puzzled over why some of his classmates struggled, and his parents told him he had a special gift. In the seventh grade, however, Jonathan suddenly lost interest in school, refusing to do homework or study for tests. As a consequence, his grades plummeted. His parents tried to boost their son's confidence by assuring him that he was very smart. But their attempts failed to motivate Jonathan (who is a composite drawn from several children). Schoolwork, their son maintained, was boring and pointless.
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How to Be a Better Shopper
Scientific American: The other day an e-mail from Old Navy arrived in my in-box with the subject line “Buy one, get one 50 percent off all activewear. Two days only!” I get these sales e-mails from the store almost weekly, and even though I know exactly what the marketers are doing (trying to get me to spend money I wasn't planning to spend), I usually click—and often end up purchasing—anyway. As a mortgage-owing, self-employed mom with two college funds and a retirement account to think about, I havegot to become a smarter, better shopper. You, too? Here's how consumer psychology and marketing researchers suggest we start.
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Will Retirement Pay You a ‘Happiness Bonus’?
The Wall Street Journal: Life gets better after retirement—despite the financial and physical challenges associated with that time of life.
