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The Perks of Being a Weirdo
My childhood was, by most definitions, pretty strange. I grew up a Russian Jewish immigrant in Midland, Texas, in a region whose biggest claims to fame are being the onetime home of George W. Bush and the inspiration for Friday Night Lights. In preschool, I got in trouble for not praying before eating my snack; later, I didn’t know what this “Super Bowl” everyone kept talking about was. I felt hopelessly different from everyone else in our town. Even after we moved to a Dallas suburb, I never encountered another Russian immigrant kid like me. I rode the bus alone. I spent almost every evening alone. I began talking to myself—a habit that has unfortunately stuck.
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3 Ways the Coronavirus Pandemic is Changing Who We Are
APS Member/Author: Arie Kruglanski For most Americans, the coronavirus pandemic represents a completely unprecedented circumstance, as novel as it is life-changing. No event in recent history has affected us as profoundly and pervasively. Not only does it remind us of our physical fragility, it undermines economic security, throws daily routines topsy-turvy, wreaks havoc on plans and isolates us from friends and neighbors. ... This crisis has induced wide reaching uncertainty. We do not know what to think or how to make heads or tails of these completely unfamiliar circumstances. Who will be affected? Will our loved ones? How quickly? Will tests be available? Will we survive?
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From Voldemort to Vader, Science Says We Prefer Fictional Villains Who Remind Us of Ourselves
People may find fictional villains surprisingly likeable when they share similarities with the viewer or reader. [April 22, 2020]
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Use Social Isolation As A Time To Create Good Habits
Most of us don't consciously recognize when we are creating a habit. Habits are automatic ways of doing, seeing and acting. It's a subconscious routine. Psychologist Wendy Wood, author of Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick, suggests that "a habit is a sort of a mental shortcut to repeat what we did in the past that worked for us and got us some reward." According to Wood's research, about 43% of what we do in a day is repeated automatically in the same context. Habits can be good for us, like brushing our teeth, but they can also be bad for us, like venturing to the refrigerator too many times. How long does it take to create a habit?
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Neighbors Not Practicing Social Distancing? Here’s What to Do
The C.D.C. has issued guidelines for the public to wear masks when outside one’s home and to practice social distancing — remaining at least six feet away from those outside your household. All of this is with the goal of preventing community spread of coronavirus. But these guidelines are not laws. The level to which people follow them — or even flout them — has varied. That’s creating tension between those who think they’re already doing the right thing on social distancing and those who think they are not. (Not to mention those who just don’t care about the recommendations.) ...
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How to Preserve — And Even Strengthen — Your Relationship During Quarantine, According to a Marriage Expert
APS Member/Author: Eli Finkel If absence makes the heart grow fonder, what does forced proximity do to it? In the era of COVID-19, as more and more states mandate that people stay at home to flatten the contagion curve, many couples are feeling the impact of being together constantly. For some, this may be a make-or-break moment, particularly as social distancing and isolation leave them feeling cooped up. ... Major stressors influence relationships in various ways. One study shows that life-threatening events such as hurricanes increase divorce rates — but also marriage and birth rates.
