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Don’t Worry, Be Happy – Understanding Mindfulness Meditation
In times of stress, we’re often encouraged to pause for a moment and simply be in the ‘now.’ This kind of mindfulness, an essential part of Buddhist and Indian Yoga traditions, has entered the mainstream as people try to find ways to combat stress and improve their quality of life. And research suggests that mindfulness meditation can have benefits for health and performance, including improved immune function, reduced blood pressure, and enhanced cognitive function.
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Practice Doesn’t Always Make Perfect, Study Suggests
U.S. News & World Report: Practice is an essential part of gaining excellence in a specific skill, but to become truly great other qualities must come into play, such as IQ or working memory, according to researchers who studied how practice affects the success of chess players. For the study, published in the October issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, the researchers also considered earlier research and noted that practicing harder or longer doesn't compensate for the lack of other important traits relevant to a certain activity.
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10 Examples of Everyday Evil
Discovery Channel: Consumer Wickedness We live in a consumerist culture that equates possessions with happiness. But where do they all come from? Bangladesh's garment workers, for one, who produce clothing for companies such as Gap and Levi-Strauss at a rate of 21 cents per hour [source: Richardson]. In March 2010, more than 20 workers in a Bangladeshi factory were killed in a fire due to poor safety standards [source: Hickman].
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Are liberals and conservatives just taking different routes to happiness?
Business Insider: Yes. Liberalism increases the chance people will feel good. Conservatism makes people less likely to feel bad: Research shows that political conservatives are happier than liberals [Napier, J. L., & Jost, J. T. (2008). Why are conservatives happier than liberals? Psychological Science, 19, 565–572]. Relevant theory and evidence suggest that political conservatism and liberalism might be differentially related to components of happiness [(Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being.Psychological Bulletin, 95, 542–575); life satisfaction, positive affect and negative affect].
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Alison Gopnick on The Colbert Repert
Appearing on “The Colbert Report,” psychological scientist Alison Gopnik discusses her book The Philosophical Baby.
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Psi Chi Midwestern Regional Convention – 2012
The Psi Chi Midwestern Regional Convention will be held May 3–5, 2012 at the Palmer House in Chicago, IL. For more information visit: http://www.midwesternpsych.org/
