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Being selfish really does make us happy (as long as we can avoid feeling guilty)
The Daily Mail: Being selfish really does make us happier, researchers have found - so long as we can avoid feeling guilty. Although we are taught the benefits of kindness and altruism, it seems we are happiest when simply told to pursue our own self-interest. Researchers found the key to contentment is feeling we have no choice but to be selfish. In contrast, the study, carried out by psychologists at the University of Pennsylvania, found that those who actively choose a selfish path usually have to battle with guilt.
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Can Marriage Save Single Mothers From Poverty?
NPR: Newly released census figures show a long-standing and glaring contrast: A third of families headed by single mothers are in poverty, and they are four times more likely than married-couple families to be poor. The disparity is on the rise, and as the number of single mothers grows, analysts are debating if more marriages could mean less poverty. For many conservatives, the answer is simple: Promote marriages as a balm for poverty. Last week, the Heritage Foundation issued a report called "Marriage: America's Greatest Weapon Against Child Poverty." In his run for the Republican presidential ticket, Rick Santorum proclaimed three simple steps to stay out of poverty: "Work.
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Calling Miss Congeniality – Do Attractive People Have Attractive Traits and Values?
We’ve all been warned not to “judge a book by its cover,” but inevitably we do it anyway. It’s difficult to resist the temptation of assuming that a person’s outward appearance reflects something meaningful about his or her inner personality. Indeed, research shows that people tend to perceive attractive adults as more social, successful, and well-adjusted than less attractive adults, a phenomenon that’s been termed the “what is beautiful is good” stereotype. But could that really be true? Are physically attractive people really just as attractive on the inside as they are on the outside?
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Are You Bored… or Boring?
Women's Health: Take a break from your hectic schedule, stop running around like a crazy lady, look up from your iPhone, and you might realize something unexpected: You’re bored. Surprised? That’s because the way we understand boredom is off-base, according to a new paper in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science. “We often think of boredom in terms of a lack of things to do,” says Mark Fenske, Ph.D., coauthor of the paper and professor at the University of Guelph.
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Nature, nurture both affect kids’ self-control
Futurity: Being able to delay gratification—often considered a predictor of a child’s future success—is as much a question of environment as innate ability, a new study shows. For the past four decades, the “marshmallow test” has served as a classic experimental measure of children’s self-control: will a preschooler eat one of the fluffy white treats now or hold out for two later? Children who experienced reliable interactions immediately before the marshmallow task waited on average four times longer—12 versus three minutes—than youngsters in similar but unreliable situations. Read the whole story: Futurity
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Matters of Belief
The Sydney Morning Herald: The argument over whether mankind is the sole cause, a contributing factor, or irrelevant to climate change is, to say the least, a vexed one for many Australians. Or, put another way, it's right up there with religion, politics and Star Wars versus Star Trek on the list of ''Things You Really Shouldn't Get into an Argument About, Not if Your Blood Pressure Means Anything to You, Matey Boy''. It is with that in mind that we draw your attention to University of Western Australia cognitive psychologist Stephan Lewandowsky's recent research, soon to be published in the journal Psychological Science.
