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“I’m Bored!” – Research on Attention Sheds Light on the Unengaged Mind
Psychological scientists are testing new strategies to address the cognitive errors that are often associated with boredom.
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Exercise Does a Body – and a Mind – Good
We’ve heard it time and time again: exercise is good for us. And it’s not just good for physical health – research shows that daily physical activity can also boost our mental health. But what
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Feeling Guilty Versus Feeling Angry – Who Can Tell the Difference?
When you rear-end the car in front of you at a stoplight, you may feel a mix of different emotions such as anger, anxiety, and guilt. The person whose car you rear-ended may feel angered and frustrated by your carelessness, but it’s unlikely that he’ll feel much guilt. The ability to identify and distinguish between negative emotions helps us address the problem that led to those emotions in the first place. But while some people can tell the difference between feeling angry and guilty, others may not be able to separate the two. Distinguishing between anger and frustration is even harder.
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How Do We Make Moral Judgments? – Insights From Psychological Science
New research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, provides intriguing insights into some of the factors that influence how we make moral judgments. Reappraising Our Emotions Allows Cooler Heads to Prevail We might like to think that our judgments are always well thought-out, but research suggests that our moral judgments are often based on intuition. Our emotions seem to drive our intuitions, giving us the gut feeling that something is ‘right’ or ‘wrong.’ In some cases, however, we seem to be able to override these initial reactions.
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Misinformation: Psychological Science Shows Why It Sticks and How to Fix It
Childhood vaccines do not cause autism. Global warming is confirmed by science. And yet, many people believe claims to the contrary. Why does misinformation stick?
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Prejudice Can Cause Depression at the Societal, Interpersonal, and Intrapersonal Levels
Although depression and prejudice traditionally fall into different areas of study and treatment, a new article suggests that many cases of depression may be caused by prejudice from the self or from another person.