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Read a Book, Stay Connected
U.S. News & World Report (Healthday): Reading a book can satisfy the crucial human need for belonging, a new study has found. The research involved 140 university students who were given 30 minutes to read a selected passage from either the vampire novel Twilight or the wizard novel Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The passages focused on the lives of either vampires or wizards. Read the whole story: U.S. News & World Report (Healthday)
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Does Taking Dietary Supplements Lead to Bad Health Choices?
ABC News Radio: New research suggests that people who take dietary supplements may make worse decisions for their health than those who don't. According to the study, published in Psychological Science, the action of taking supplements leads people to believe they are not susceptible to the health consequences of too little exercise or an unhealthy diet. Read the whole story: ABC News Radio
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Obama, lost in thought
The Washington Post: When I covered George W. Bush’s White House, my job was made easier by the simplicity of the subject. The president had a few defining mantras — Cut taxes! Rally the base! Terrorists hate freedom! With us or against us! — and most of his decisions could be understood, even predicted, by applying one of the overarching philosophies. With President Obama, there is no such luxury. The political right is befuddled as it tries to explain him: First, Obama was a tyrant and a socialist; now he’s a weakling who refuses to lead. Read the Whole Story: The Washington Post
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Ostracism hurts—but how? Shedding light on a silent, invisible abuse
Humans need to belong. Yet they also commonly leave others out. Animals abandon the weakest to ensure the survival of the fittest. So do kindergartners and ’tweens, softball players and office workers. Common though they are, rejection and exclusion hurt. Endured for a long time, ostracism leaves people feeling depressed and worthless, resigned to loneliness or desperate for attention—in extreme cases, suicidal or homicidal. Yet ostracism “was essentially ignored by social scientists for 100 years,” says Purdue University psychologist Kipling D. Williams.
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Taste buds are just one reason why we love some foods and hate others
The Washington Post: Black coffee. Hot peppers. Truffles. Oysters. The world is full of polarizing flavors and foods, beloved by many, despised by just as many. Why is that? Scientists have untangled some — but not nearly all — of the mysteries behind our love and hatred of certain foods. While we might say, “That tastes like strawberry,” scientists who study these things would disagree. Our tongues actually perceive only five basic tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, salty and “umami,” the Japanese word for savory. To go from merely sweet to “Mmm, strawberry!” the nose has to get involved.
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Why Men Say ‘I Love You’ First
Forbes: If romantic comedies are any indication, women in new relationships are constantly fretting about those three little words: “I love you.” However, according to a new study, men are more likely to let the declaration slip first. In a study that will appear in the June edition of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, based on 205 interviews of heterosexual men and women, MIT psychologist Josh Ackerman found that 64% of people believe women are the quickest to say “I love you.” In reality, men were more likely to say it first and consider it earlier–a full six weeks before women think it’s time to fess up. Read the whole story: Forbes
