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Language and Emotion – Insights from Psychological Science
We use language every day to express our emotions, but can this language actually affect what and how we feel? Two new studies from Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, explore the ways in which the interaction between language and emotion influences our well-being. Putting Feelings into Words Can Help Us Cope with Scary Situations Katharina Kircanski and colleagues at the University of California, Los Angeles investigated whether verbalizing a current emotional experience, even when that experience is negative, might be an effective method for treating for people with spider phobias.
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Time Flies When You’re Having Goal-Motivated Fun
Though the seconds may tick by on the clock at a regular pace, our experience of the 'fourth dimension' is anything but uniform. When we're waiting in line or sitting in a boring meeting, time seems to slow down to a trickle. And when we get caught up in something completely engrossing - a gripping thriller, for example - we may lose sense of time altogether. But what about the idea that time flies when we're having fun? New research from psychological science suggests that the familiar adage may really be true, with a caveat: time flies when we're have goal-motivated fun.
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Politics and Prejudice – Insights from Psychological Science
New research from psychological science explores factors operating in political attitudes that could explain why political ideology and prejudice are often linked. Liberals and Conservatives Both Prejudiced Against Groups with Opposing Values Research has associated political conservatism with prejudice toward various stereotyped groups. But research has also shown that people select and interpret evidence consistent with their own pre-existing attitudes and ideologies. In this article, Chambers and colleagues hypothesized that, contrary to what some research might indicate, prejudice is not restricted to a particular political ideology.
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New Research on Sensation and Perception From Psychological Science
Read about the latest research on sensation and perception published in Psychological Science. Discrimination and Categorization of Actions by Pigeons Yael Asen and Robert G. Cook Recognizing different types of behaviors is essential for an animal's survival. In this study, researchers examined if and how pigeons classify actions by training them to discriminate among walking and running animal models. Pigeons' knowledge of movement in one animal transferred into knowledge of movement in models of other animals. Additionally, pigeons' movement discrimination abilities remained intact even when the direction of the movement was reversed and the speed of the movement altered.
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Will the Real Independents Please Stand Up?
For die-hard Democrats and Republicans, the decision of who to vote for in November may be a no-brainer. In recent years, however, many voters have rejected such partisan identities, choosing to call themselves Independents. But new research suggests that Independents may not be as independent as they think. Psychological scientists Carlee Beth Hawkins and Brian Nosek of the University of Virginia decided to use a tool called the Implicit Association Test, or IAT, to explore the unconscious biases that churn deep inside the Independent mind.
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Reminders of Death Can Sway Political Attitudes
From one day to the next, approval ratings of political figures can plummet or soar. Psychological scientists have long been trying to identify the cognitive factors that might account for the vagaries of public opinion. Why, for example, did the approval ratings of President George W. Bush— who was perceived as indecisive before September 11, 2001—soar over 90 percent after the terrorist attacks? Research suggests that it was because Americans were acutely aware of their own deaths. The fear people felt after 9/11 was real, but it also made them ripe for psychological manipulation, experts say.