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Positive Thinking Doesn’t Work; Here’s What Does
New York Magazine: We were told for years, by Oprah and others, that positive thinking was the key to achieving our goals. Now mounting evidence suggests exactly the opposite: that spending a lot of time thinking about your hopes and dreams may make you less likely to put in the work required to actually achieve those dreams. So if positivity is out, what should goal-oriented people replace it with? This week on the "Psychology Podcast" — a newish venture from cognitive psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman — New York University psychologist Gabriele Oettingen talked about a four-step plan she's come up with from her years of research.
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The Psychology Behind Impulse Shopping
The Wall Street Journal: Is the impulse buyer an endangered species? As the Wall Street Journal reported, "A new intentionality has taken hold of shopping. Many Americans have the money and the will to spend. But they are time-pressed and deal savvy, visiting stores only when they run out of items like cereal or toilet paper and after doing extensive research on purchases online and with friends. They buy what they came for—and then leave. Those habits threaten more than just gum sales at checkout. Impulse is why stores offer deep discounts on loss leaders, why they put the milk in the back corner and why marketers spend heavily to pile up products in displays at the ends of the aisles.
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Office Holiday Parties Leave Some Employees Out in the Cold
The end of the year is prime time for office parties. From the company picnic to the annual holiday party, office social gatherings are intended to foster team building and camaraderie between coworkers. By providing employees a low-key chance to bond over cookies and punch, managers may believe they’re giving their employees an opportunity to strengthen relationships that will ultimately lead to a more effective workplace. However, research recently published in the journal Organization Science suggests that office shindigs may actually have serious unintended consequences.
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Time to Spread Holiday Cheer, Even When You’re Down
The Wall Street Journal: On Thanksgiving, I called a normally peppy friend to wish him a happy holiday and was surprised to catch him at home. I asked what he was doing for dinner. His answer: “Nothing.” I invited him to my parents’ house, where my family was going to celebrate. They’ve all met before, and I promised him the gathering was informal. He sounded relieved, and we set a time to meet. But an hour later he called, apologized profusely and canceled. “I really do appreciate your invitation,” he said. “But I’m too depressed to be around people.” It’s no secret that the holidays aren’t a time of delight and wonder for everyone. Many people struggle to get through them.
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For the Love of Stuff
The Atlantic: “If your house was burning, what would you take with you?” This is the question Foster Huntington asks in his Tumblr (turned book) The Burning House. More than 5000 people from around the world have answered his question in photo form, neatly lining up their most treasured possessions into aesthetically pleasing arrangements. “At the time when I started the Burning House project, I was living in New York and working as a concept designer for men’s fashion,” says Huntington, now a 26-year-old freelance photographer living in Skamania, Washington. “I was inundated by this culture that was based around the idea that you define who you are by the cool shit that you own.
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Saving Computer Files Makes Your Human Memory Work Better
The Huffington Post: Saving a computer file appears to improve your human memory, a scientific study suggests. The act of recording something artificially appears to "free up space" in the brain, and make it easier to recall different information. Whatever way you do it, the result is a fundamentally better ability to recall new information, the study published in Psychological Science by Benjamin Storm of the University of California, Santa Cruz says. The study looked again at older evidence that saving information makes it more difficult to remember that specific information.
