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Why Loneliness May Be the Next Big Public-Health Issue
TIME: Loneliness kills. That’s the conclusion of a new study by Brigham Young University researchers who say they are sounding the alarm on what could be the next big public-health issue, on par with obesity and substance abuse. The subjective feeling of loneliness increases risk of death by 26%, according to the new study in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science. Social isolation — or lacking social connection — and living alone were found to be even more devastating to a person’s health than feeling lonely, respectively increasing mortality risk by 29% and 32%. Read the whole story: TIME
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Keep a One-Sentence Journal, Be Happier
New York Magazine: Ever since I can remember, my grandma has kept a daily journal. Not a “Dear Diary,” emotion-filled journal — just a couple of lines jotting down what she did that day and whom she was with. Often, when the family is together, she’ll dig out one of her old journals and tell us what she and various other family members were doing on a random day, in, say, 1994. I've always been amazed at how interesting these little moments are in retrospect. ...
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The Neurological Pleasures of Fast Fashion
The Atlantic: In wealthy countries around the world, clothes shopping has become a widespread pastime, a powerfully pleasurable and sometimes addictive activity that exists as a constant presence, much like social media. The Internet and the proliferation of inexpensive clothing have made shopping a form of cheap, endlessly available entertainment—one where the point isn’t what you buy so much as it's the act of shopping itself. This dynamic has significant consequences. Secondhand stores receive more clothes than they can manage and landfills are overstuffed with clothing and shoes that don’t break down easily.
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Gratitude: Good for Your Wallet and Your Soul
The Huffington Post: Enticements to consumerism define our society like never before. From our tablets, to our email, to our smartphones, the next advertisement and the next purchase are only a click away. The result? The impulse buy -- the cash cow of many a business strategy -- is more tempting than ever, leading many to experience both increasing debt and buyers' remorse. As a psychologist who studies decision making, I'm acutely aware that marketers know how the mind works, and they aren't hesitant to use that knowledge to stoke consumers' desires and lessen their self-control.
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Bystander Effect Also Found Among Five-Year-Olds
Pacific Standard: The bystander effect, which was first identified in the late 1960s, describes a fascinating quirk of human behavior: Our level of altruistic behavior depends, in large part, to the circumstances we find ourselves in. As studies has shown, we’re relatively likely to help someone in trouble if we’re the only source of available assistance. But if we’re one of a number of possible saviors, we’re more likely to hold back and see if anyone else steps forward. Does this inconsistency reflect an innate impulse, or learned behavior? Newly published research suggests that if it's the latter, we pick it up very early in life. Read the whole story: Pacific Standard
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The hotly contested link between science denial and conspiracy theories
The Washington Post: In 2013, the University of Bristol psychologist Stephan Lewandowsky and colleagues published two papers containing a provocative claim: A tendency to endorse conspiracy theories, they suggested, makes people more likely to challenge various aspects of science, too. Across the two papers, they linked conspiratorial beliefs to science rejection on no less than five issues: climate change, vaccines, genetically modified organisms, and the ties between HIV and AIDS and smoking and lung cancer.
