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On Ash Wednesday, it’s good to feel the pain
The Los Angeles Times: Ash Wednesday marks a day of sacrifice and penance for Christians in order to atone for their sins. The theology of the idea coincides nicely with psychology. Feeling pain, it seems, really cleanses the mind of guilty burdens, according to a new study. Australian researchers tested the idea of whether pain and sacrifice ease guilt. They recruited 62 young men and women under the guise that they were part of a study on mental and physical activity. Read the whole story: The Los Angeles Times
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Ash Wednesday Idea: Beat Guilt This Lent — Literally
Politics Daily: In an age when boosting self-esteem is seen as the answer to every problem, the idea of physically punishing oneself to expiate guilt is a notion that borders on the medieval. But just in time for Ash Wednesday and the Lenten season of penance, new research shows that some form of "mortification of the flesh"-- the old-fashioned term for inflicting physical discomfort for spiritual growth -- can in fact alleviate feelings of guilt. Read the whole story: Politics Daily
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A New Tool for Creative Thinking: Mind-Body Dissonance
Scientific American: Did you ever get the giggles during a religious service or some other serious occasion? Did you ever have to smile politely when you felt like screaming? In these situations, the emotions that we are required to express differ from the ones we are feeling inside. That can be stressful, unpleasant, and exhausting. Normally our minds and our bodies are in harmony. When facial expressions or posture depart from how we feel, we experience what two psychologists at Northwestern University, Li Huang and Adam Galinsky, call mind–body dissonance. Read the whole story: Scientific American
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Parents in Denial When It Comes to Child Costs
Discovery News: New research suggests that people may exaggerate the perks of being parents to rationalize the financial costs of raising children. Two studies, featured in the journal Psychological Science, measured more than 140 parents' feelings after being presented with information regarding the hefty bill of raising a child. In the Northeast, raising one child to the age of 18 costs nearly $193,000, according to the research. Read the whole story: Discovery News
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Cleansing the Soul by Hurting the Flesh: The Guilt-Reducing Effect of Pain
Lent in the Christian tradition is a time of sacrifice and penance. It also is a period of purification and enlightenment. Pain purifies. It atones for sin and cleanses the soul. Or at least that’s the idea. Theological questions aside, can self-inflicted pain really alleviate the guilt associated with immoral acts? A new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, explores the psychological consequences of experiencing bodily pain.
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Why are overheard mobile chats so annoying?
The Irish Times: It’s often the prelude to a loud, mundane and frankly irritating half-conversation that commuters within earshot have to witness. Whether it’s the minutae of the person’s oh-so-interesting day, blow-by-blow details of some argument being rehashed with dramatic effect or just other inane waffle, it’s the kind of anti-social annoyance that can turn a pleasant journey into an endurance test. Read the whole story: The Irish Times
