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Too Big or Just Right? Optimal Circle of Friends Depends on Socioeconomic Conditions
Some people like to have a few close friends, while others prefer a wider social circle that is perhaps less deep. Research suggests that the optimal approach may depend on socioeconomic conditions.
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My, What Big Teeth You Have! Threatening Objects Appear Closer
When we're faced with things that seem threatening, whether it’s a hairy spider or an angry mob, our goal is usually to get as far away as we can. Now, new research suggests that our visual perception may actually be biased in ways that help motivate us to get out of harm’s way. Our bodies help us respond to threats by engaging our fight-or-flight response and enabling us to act quickly: Our heart rate and blood pressure ramp up, and we produce more of the stress hormone cortisol. But research suggests that the body may also demonstrate its preparedness through certain perceptual biases.
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Messages That Speak to Conservatives’ Morals Narrow Partisan Gap on Environment
Public opinion on environmental issues such as climate change, deforestation, and toxic waste seems to fall along increasingly partisan lines. But new research suggests that environmental messages framed in terms of conservative morals -- describing environmental stewardship in terms of fending off threats to the “purity” and “sanctity” of Earth and our bodies -- may help to narrow the partisan gap.
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New Research From Psychological Science
New research published in Psychological Science investigates the ways in which the physical state of our bodies may play a role in shaping what we think, feel, and perceive. Covert Painting Simulations Influence Aesthetic Appreciation of Artworks Helmut Leder, Siegrun Bär, and Sascha Topolinski How does art create aesthetic pleasure? Drawing from existing theory, Helmut Leder of the University of Vienna and his colleagues hypothesized that experiencing a physical resonance with the movements that the artist made when producing the artwork may be one source of aesthetic empathy and, therefore, pleasure.
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Feeling Disgust May Enhance Our Ability to Detect Impurities
Disgust – it’s an emotion we experience when we encounter things that are dirty, impure, or otherwise contaminated. From an evolutionary standpoint, experiencing the intense, visceral sense of revulsion that comes with disgust presumably helps us to avoid contaminants that can make us sick or even kill us. But new research suggests that disgust not only helps us to avoid impurities, it may also make us better able to see them. If something looks dirty and disgusting, we typically assume it’s contaminated in some way; when something is white, however, we are more likely to assume that it’s clean and pure.
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Brain Stimulation May Buffer Feelings of Social Pain
Accumulating evidence suggests that certain brain areas involved in processing physical pain may also underlie feelings of social pain. But can altering brain activity in these areas actually change how people experience social pain? Paolo Riva of the University of Milano-Bicocca and colleagues wanted to examine whether there might be a causal relationship between activity in the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (rVLPFC) – known to be involved in the regulation of physical pain and negative expressions of emotion – and experiences of social pain. Their findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.