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Distraction reduces pain, study finds
msnbc.com: When you distract yourself from pain, you actually hurt less, a new study suggests. Study participants who were subjected to slight pain on their forearms reported less discomfort when they were asked to perform a distracting mental test as the pain was delivered. Moreover, when participants were given a placebo "pain relief" cream, and distracted at the same time, their pain was even more reduced. "Both placebo and distraction are effective mechanisms for reducing pain. You can combine them and you don't lose anything," said study researcher Jason Buhle, who conducted the research as part of his doctoral dissertation from Columbia University. Read the full story: msnbc.com
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What You Need to Succeed—and How to Find Out If You Have It
Scientific American: Whether you succeed at work may depend on many factors—intelligence, empathy, self-control, talent and persistence, to name a few. But one determinant may outweigh many of these: how you perceive those around you. New research suggests that your own ability to get things done—not to mention your success in non-work relationships—is highly correlated with how you see others. Are your coworkers capable and kind, or are they, dare I say, incompetent jerks?
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Facebook Might Be Tough on Users With Low Self-Esteem
U.S. News & World Report: Using Facebook can be bad for people with low self-esteem, a new study suggests. Canadian researchers found people with low self-esteem deluge their Facebook friends with negative details about their lives, which makes them less likeable. The findings, published online Feb. 7 in the journal Psychological Science, were unexpected, according to the researchers. Many people with low self-esteem are uncomfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings face-to-face, but Facebook enables them to do this remotely, explained study author Amanda Forest, a graduate student at the University of Waterloo, in Ontario. Read the full story: U.S. News & World Report
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What Kind of Chocolate is Best? The Last You Taste, Says a New Study
Like to save the best for last? Here’s good news: If it’s the last, you’ll like it the best. That is the finding of a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the
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La romance virtuelle, ça marche !
Slate France: Une bénédiction pour les coeurs solitaires… Alors qu’il est de bon ton de penser que les rencontres en ligne ne sont que des attrape-nigauds, une étude américaine montre que ce mode de mise en relation a dépassé toutes les autres, hormis la bonne vieille rencontre par l’intermédiaire d’amis. La publication destinée à la revue Psychological Science et rendue publique le 6 février 2012 constate que “chaque année, des millions de personnes à la recherche de relations utilisent ces sites [de rencontre en ligne], souvent en payant des sommes substantielles pour cela”.
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Why willpower matters – and how to get it
The Guardian: In the smart restaurant of a very smart hotel in the West End of London, Roy F Baumeister, eminent American social psychology professor, orders a lunch of fish and chips, and then decides not to eat the chips. "I won't eat something that's not good for me unless it's absolutely perfect, and it's going to give me real pleasure," he says. "I'm afraid ... Well, it just didn't look like these were going to do either." What willpower, you might say. You'd be right; the chips looked pretty good. But Baumeister is also, coincidentally, a leading authority on that very subject, and has just published a smash-hit book on it with New York Times science writer John Tierney.
