-
Why Mind Wandering Can Be So Miserable, According to Happiness Experts
Smithsonian: For you, it could be the drive home on the freeway in stop-and-go traffic, a run without headphones or the time it takes to brush your teeth. It’s the place where you’re completely alone with your thoughts—and it’s terrifying. For me, it’s the shower. ... Killingsworth and Gilbert tested their app on a few thousand subjects to find that people’s minds tended to wander 47 percent of the time. Looking at 22 common daily activities including working, shopping and exercising, they found that people’s minds wandered the least during sex (10 percent of the time) and the most during grooming activities (65 percent of the time)—including taking a shower.
-
Multilab Replication Project Examines Cooperation Under Time Pressure
A large-scale replication effort aimed to reproduce a 2012 study showing that people forced to decide quickly contributed more to a communal pot than did those who had to wait before deciding.
-
How Job Insecurity Impacts Personal Identity
The threat of job instability doesn’t just cause economic stress, it can also have a major impact on how we view ourselves and our sense of personal identity.
-
New Research From Psychological Science
A sample of new research exploring the neural representation of interpretive frameworks, motor planning for joint action, and the influence of attention on spatial resolution.
-
New York Today: How Warm Weather Affects Our Behavior
The New York Times: Good morning on this beautiful Friday. This week, we’ve observed some odd behavior for February: people sunbathing in Washington Square Park, passers-by in shorts sipping iced coffee and commuters lining up near empty Citi Bike racks. Which got us thinking: How does warm weather affect our behavior? “Studies have shown that pleasant weather is associated with a few positive shifts in behavior,” said Vinita Mehta, a clinical psychologist practicing in Washington. We asked her to guide us through some of the research. ... Participants in a 2008 study in Germany kept a daily journal of their well-being, while data from nearby weather stations was collected.
-
What Research Says About Humor in the Workplace
The Wall Street Journal: The use of jokes and comedy affects how confident we appear, how productive and creative we are and even how much status we achieve. Brad Bitterly and Maurice Schweitzer of the Wharton School join us with details. Read the whole story: The Wall Street Journal
