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‘Executive’ training for problem drinkers?
Hangover, the low-budget comedy hit of 2009, tells the story of Phil, Stu and Alan, twenty-something buddies who wake up in a Las Vegas hotel room the morning after a booze-drenched bachelor party for their friend Doug. None of them remembers a single detail from the night of partying, and a lot needs explaining. There’s the tiger in the bathroom just for starters, and then Stu’s missing tooth. There’s also an unfamiliar infant in the closet, and Phil is wearing a hospital wristband. What’s more, Doug has gone missing—and his wedding is the following day.
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Heat Wave Psychology
Much of the eastern U.S. is gripped in a heat wave right now, with some predictable effects on mood and behavior—or at least our perceptions of others’ moods and behavior. Normally congenial folks seem to be simmering, while others are on a slow burn. Hotter heads are steaming, and a few have even been pushed to the boiling point. What is it with all these heat metaphors? The fact is our metaphorical thermometer is as much a gauge of our social interactions as an actual thermometer is of degrees Fahrenheit. At least that’s an emerging theory, which psychologists have been exploring in various ways in the laboratory. Here’s an example, from Hans IJzerman and Gun Semin of Utrecht University.
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Two Faces of Death: Inside the Existential Mind
You’re visiting a friend who lives on the 20th floor of an old, inner city, block of apartments. It’s the middle of the night when you are suddenly awakened from a deep sleep by the sound of screams and the choking smell of smoke. You reach over to the nightstand and turn on the light. You are shocked to find the room filling fast with thick clouds of smoke. You run to the door and reach for the handle. You pull back in pain as the intense heat of the knob scalds you violently. Grabbing a blanket off the bed and using it as protection, you manage to turn the handle and open the door.
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The Psychology of Retirement
Earlier this year, the first baby boomer turned 65, and from now on, for years to come, 10,000 boomers will pass that milestone every day. That’s every day–which means that more than 69 million boomers will reach this symbolic age by 2030. So at this very moment, millions of working men and women are already wondering how to make the best decisions about retirement, specifically about how to finance the so-called Golden Years. Well, understanding human psychology may help–specifically the heuristic mind and irrational decision making.
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The Vitamin Paradox
Last night I had a chocolate milkshake for dinner. I don’t eat like this all the time, but often enough. I eat lots of salads, but I also eat cheeseburgers. And if I’m tired I eat pretzels, or skip eating entirely. In short, I’m far from a nutritional purist. But I take a multi-vitamin every day, and have for as long as I can remember. I figure it’s the least I can do for my personal health, plus it’s easy and fairly cheap. I guess I’m hedging my bets. And I’m not alone. Sales of nutritional supplements have grown dramatically over the past decade or so, and now total more than $20 billion a year. More than half of Americans take some kind of vitamin pill.
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The Psychology of Beach Reading
Selecting a book to read by the water is no trivial matter for me. I want something that’s accessible because—well, because it’s vacation, and I don’t want anything that resembles work. On the other hand, my past experience with picking pop fiction—thrillers and such—has often as not been disappointing. I think I want a “page turner,” but I quickly get bored by formulaic plots and pat characters. They’re simply not interesting. But what is interesting? What do I mean by that vague, cranky statement? Is interest a universal emotion like fear or pride or bemusement?
