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The Eyes Reveal More Than We Might Think – Research Findings from Psychological Science
Our eyes don’t just take in the world around us, they can also reflect our emotional state, influence our memories, and provide clues about the way we think. Here is some of the latest research from the journals Psychological Science and Current Directions in Psychological Science in which scientists show there’s much more to the eyes than people might think. Pupil Dilation Reflects the Creation and Retrieval of Memories Many people know that our pupils shrink when our eyes adjust to bright light, but the size and movement of our pupils can also reflect what’s going on inside our brains. Psychological scientists use pupillometry to measure cognitive processes such as attention and memory.
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Reminders of Mortality Increase Concern for Environmental Legacy
Reminders of our own mortality may encourage us to keep future generations in mind as we make decisions that have environmental impact.
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Thinking About Choice Diminishes Concern for Wealth Inequality
Against the backdrop of a worldwide recession, wealth inequality has become a prominent theme in discussions about politics and the economy. In some ways, Americans seem to advocate a more equal distribution of wealth. In surveys and public opinion polls, for example, the majority of Americans supports having a strong middle class. But, when it comes to specific policies, they often vote against measures that would narrow the gap between those with the highest and lowest incomes.
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New Research From Current Directions in Psychological Science
Expressing Emotions in Stressful Contexts: Benefits, Moderators, and Mechanisms Annette L. Stanton and Carissa A. Low Historically, emotion-focused coping has been linked with negative psychological outcomes; however, better assessment of stressor-related emotional expression has indicated that it can be beneficial. Stanton and Low discuss factors that affect the amount of benefit individuals gain from expressing their emotions and present possible mechanisms through which emotional expression might relieve stress. They conclude by saying that whether emotional expression is beneficial depends on the interpersonal, intrapersonal, and situational contexts of the emotional expression.
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Respect Matters More Than Money for Happiness in Life
New research suggests that overall happiness in life is more related to how much you are respected and admired by those around you, not to the status that comes from how much money you have stashed in your bank account. Psychological scientist Cameron Anderson of the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and his co-authors explore the relationship between different types of status and well-being in a new article published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
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‘Color Blind’ Policies Could Make Diversity Harder to Achieve
Whether it be growing concerns about bias or recognition of the value of diversity, many organizations and institutions have elected to deemphasize race or remove it entirely from their decision-making processes. Yet new evidence from psychological science research suggests that this color-blind approach may not be as effective as people believe it is. Color blindness offers a seemingly simple way to deal with race: If individuals and institutions do not even notice race, then they cannot act in a biased manner on that basis. But according to a new article published by Evan Apfelbaum of the MIT Sloan School of Management and colleagues, efforts to ignore race can backfire.