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The Science of Getting Over It
Despite our commitment to 24/7 news, unlimited-data plans, and bottomless mimosas, nothing lasts forever. So how should we handle life’s endings and last hurrahs? Should we rage against the dying of the light, or be content to let things go? ... [6] Another study, this one focusing on end-of-life professionals such as hospice workers, found that firsthand exposure to death left these people more likely to “live in the present, cultivate a spiritual life and reflect deeply on the continuity of life.”
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The Psychology Behind How You Decide What Halloween Candy to Give Trick-or-Treaters
You can be forgiven for having a panic attack the next time you’re confronted with a bunch of little Spider-Mans and Elsas at your door demanding candy on Halloween. After all, you may feel judged by trick-or-treaters who think you’re being stingy because of your choice of candy. Maybe those tiny fun-size bags of Skittles just don’t cut it? Or at least some stores and candy brands may want you to feel that way. ... As a new Fortune story points out, retailers like Costco and Amazon now routinely push bulk quantities of full-size Snickers and Hershey bars.
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I Heard It Before, So It Must Be True
Psychologist Lisa Fazio of Vanderbilt University, in collaboration with David Rand of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Gordon Pennycook of the University of Regina, Canada, set out to determine whether the illusory truth effect occurs across levels of plausibility, or whether it applies only to ambiguous statements. To find out, the researchers used computational simulations combined with a large online study, completed via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk large-scale testing system.
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THE ATTITUDES THAT PROMOTE COLLABORATION
Collaboration isn’t only a value to cultivate; it’s a skill to teach. And the best way to train employees to work better together is through a psychological approach, says behavioral scientist Francesca Gino on Harvard Business Review. “When I analyzed sustained collaborations in a wide range of industries, I found that they were marked by common mental attitudes: widespread respect for colleagues’ contributions, openness to experimenting with others’ ideas and sensitivity to how one’s actions may affect both colleagues’ work and the mission’s outcome,” Gino says.
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Parents Need to Help Their Children Take Risks
Today’s children and teenagers seem to be taking fewer risks. The trend has had some good effects, like decreases in teenage pregnancy, drug use and even accidents. On the other hand, there has been an equally dramatic increase in anxiety in children and teenagers. If life is less risky, why are young people more fearful? A new study in the journal Nature Human Behavior, by Nim Tottenham at Columbia University, Regina Sullivan at New York University and their colleagues, suggests an answer. Young people are designed to take risks and avoiding them too much may lead to anxiety.
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Psychology tells us why older people don’t enjoy new music
When I was a teenager, my dad wasn’t terribly interested in the music I liked. To him, it just sounded like “a lot of noise,” while he regularly referred to the music he listened to as “beautiful.” ... It turns out that my father isn’t alone. As I’ve grown older, I’ll often hear people my age say things like “they just don’t make good music like they used to.” ... In fact, studies have found that by the time we turn 33, most of us have stopped listening to new music. Meanwhile, popular songs released when you’re in your early teens are likely to remain quite popular among your age group for the rest of your life.
