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It’s A Small World When It Comes To :-/
NPR: Body language can be a dead giveaway of where you're from. People can tell whether you're from Australia or the U.K. by the way you smile. They can tell whether you're from China or Egypt by the way you count using your fingers. And they know whether you're American or German depending on how you express sympathy. But when it comes to expressing negative emotions, our body language might be much more universal than we realize. The proof is in a single facial expression that crosses over cultures and languages around the world: the "not face." ...
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A small dose distraction may actually boost productivity
The Globe and Mail: Ever notice that when a big deadline looms, life’s little distractions always seem to get in the way? Maybe your colleague has a shrill voice that can be heard over the otherwise comforting din of other people’s fingers tapping away on keyboards. You try working from home but find yourself checking your phone, which keeps beeping with the latest Facebook update, and you can’t help but click on the notification. Most of us strive to create the perfect, distraction-free environment in order to perform at our peak productivity level.
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Who Will Become a Terrorist? Research Yields Few Clues
The New York Times: WASHINGTON — The brothers who carried out suicide bombings in Brussels last week had long, violent criminal records and had been regarded internationally as potential terrorists. But in San Bernardino, Calif., last year, one of the attackers was a county health inspector who lived a life of apparent suburban normality. And then there are the dozens of other young American men and women who have been arrested over the past year for trying to help the Islamic State. Their backgrounds are so diverse that they defy a single profile. ...
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Eating something sweet can lead to a romantic date
The Washington Post: Ate something bitter? It can make you judgmental. Feeling love is all around? It can make even water taste sweeter. Not only do our emotions influence our perceptions of taste, but what we taste can also change how we feel, scientists have found. “The tongue could be a window to the psyche,” says Nancy Dess, a professor of psychology at Occidental College in Los Angeles, pointing to the growing number of studies that connect taste perception with emotions and even personality types. ... In that study, close to 1,000 Americans were given standard personality and taste-preference questionnaires.
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Genes and the American Dream
Scientific American: Nearly a century after James Truslow Adams coined the phrase, the “American dream” has become a staple of presidential campaign speeches. Kicking off her 2016 campaign, Hillary Clinton told supporters that “we need to do a better job of getting our economy growing again and producing results and renewing the American dream.” ... A study just published in Psychological Science by psychologists Elliot Tucker-Drob and Timothy Bates reveals that this version of the American dream is in serious trouble.
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The Benefits of Spicing Up a Breast-Feeding Mother’s Diet
The New York Times: When I had my children I felt that there was a tendency by experts, including those in my own pediatric profession, to push certain principles that took all the fun out of life. This played out for me, in particular, after I gave birth to my first child, and was told as part of my breast-feeding “support” that I should avoid all spicy foods, because they would upset the baby.
