-
Depressed Employees May Benefit From Coming in to Work
Depression can have a dramatic impact on a person’s ability to work. According to statistics from the CDC, approximately 27% of people with depression reported serious difficulties in work and home life and 80% of people reported some level of functional impairment because of their depression. Workers suffering from depression will miss an estimated 200 million workdays each year at a cost to employers of $17 to $44 billion.
-
Alkohol ist sozialer Schmierstoff für Männer (Alcohol is a social lubricant for men)
Der Spiegel: Der Mensch ist ein soziales Wesen. Er trifft sich gern mit Freunden, freut sich mit anderen und leidet mit ihnen. Mitunter lockert ein Bier oder auch ein Glas Wein die Zunge und bringt Menschen schneller einander näher. Psychologen der University of Pittsburgh haben die Wirkung von Drinks auf die soziale Interaktion nun in einer Studie mit 720 Probanden untersucht. Ihre Beobachtungen klingen zunächst wenig überraschend: Wer Alkohol trinkt, auf den wirkt das Lächeln anderer Menschen ansteckender. Allerdings gab es diesen Effekt kurioserweise nur in Männergruppen, berichten Catharine Fairbairn und ihre Kollegen im Fachblatt "Clinical Psychological Science".
-
Savor Extraordinary Experiences, Feel Worse Afterward
Pacific Standard: Feeling out of sorts this morning? Maybe it was that recent trip you took to Machu Picchu. Sure, it was fun at the time—amazing, really. But it’s not like you could truly share the experience of high-altitude awe with your friends and colleagues. As they compared amusing stories about bad camping trips, you began feeling not so much special and privileged as … left out. If that story describes you, congratulations: You’ve just discovered the surprising downside of engaging in a rare and wonderful adventure.
-
Your choice of mate can make or break your career
Fortune: The most successful people in one study all went home at night to partners who exhibit a particular personality type: conscientiousness. “Your husband, wife, or sweetheart probably doesn’t come to work with you every day,” says Brittany Solomon. “But his or her influence clearly does.” Solomon, a Ph.D. candidate in psychology at Washington University in St. Louis, recently led a study analyzing the careers and personalities of about 5,000 married people, aged 19 to 89, over a five-year period. About 75% were in two-career couples. Read the whole story: Fortune
-
In Defense of Spoilers
The Atlantic: Last October, one week after the Breaking Bad series finale, I was having breakfast with a friend in Chicago. "Do not tell me the end of the Breaking Bad," he said. "I just started Season 2 and I have been off the Internet for the last few days. Total blackout. I've stopped following the news just to stay away from spoilers. Do not say a word." "It was a great episode," I said. "No, not another word," he responded. "Seriously." Forty-five minutes later, after coffee and pancakes, I glanced at my phone and starting giggling at the table. "What is it," he said. Read the whole story: The Atlantic
-
Eating Comfort Foods May Not Be So Comforting After All
NPR: For many of us, chicken soup can soothe the soul and mac and cheese can erase a bad day. We eat chocolate when we feel gloomy, or when we've been in the presence of a Dementor. And we eat chocolate ice cream to help us get over a bad breakup. These comfort foods usually aren't so good for our arteries, but we tend to think they have healing properties — that they're the antidote for all our emotional afflictions. But maybe they're not, says Traci Mann, a professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota. In a recent study, Mann and some colleagues induced a bad mood in 100 college students by making them watch clips from sad movies.
