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New Study Reports on the State of Human Happiness
Psychologists have been fond of stating in recent years that human happiness, or what psychologists call subjective well-being, is largely independent of our life circumstances. The wealthy aren’t much happier than the middle class, married
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True or False? How Our Brain Processes Negative Statements
Every day we are confronted with positive and negative statements. By combining the new, incoming information with what we already know, we are usually able to figure out if the statement is true or false.
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Misery is not Miserly: New Study Finds Why Even Momentary Sadness Increases Spending
How you are feeling has an impact on your routine economic transactions, whether you’re aware of this effect or not. In a new study that links contemporary science with the classic philosophy of William James
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From Terror to Joy: Faced with Death, Our Minds Turn to Happier Thoughts
Philosophers and scientists have long been interested in how the mind processes the inevitability of death, both cognitively and emotionally. One would expect, for example, that reminders of our mortality–say the sudden death of a
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New Study Suggests we Remember the Bad Times Better than the Good
Do you remember exactly where you were when you learned of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks? Your answer is probably yes, and researchers are beginning to understand why we remember events that carry negative emotional
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Regrettably, Humans Mispredict Their Emotions After Decision Making
Behavioral research over the past 15 years has confirmed what anyone who has purchased a house or dumped a significant other could tell you: When people make decisions, they anticipate that they may regret their