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Harness Your Mind’s “Future Self” Bias to Make Better Decisions
Lifehacker: We don't stick to our resolutions and future goals because our minds don't think of our future selves as "us." But instead of fighting this inherent bias, you can use it and tweak it to make better long-term decisions. Science magazine Nautilus thoroughly explains this disconnect between our perception of our current and future selves. It's a fascinating read. Multiple tests and studies have shown that neural activity when we think of our future selves is more akin to thinking about a third person.Multiple selves is nothing new, but psychologists say that you can harness this trick your mind plays to improve yourself.
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Shared Pain Brings People Together
What doesn’t kill us may make us stronger as a group, according to findings from new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The research suggests that, despite its unpleasantness, pain may actually have positive social consequences, acting as a sort of “social glue” that fosters cohesion and solidarity within groups: “Our findings show that pain is a particularly powerful ingredient in producing bonding and cooperation between those who share painful experiences,” says psychological scientist and lead researcher Brock Bastian of the University of New South Wales in Australia.
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Why Waiting Actually Makes You Happy
TIME: Want to know the secret to happiness? Wait for it. No, really. Wait for it. As long as the “it” is an experience, according to a series of new studies published in the journal Psychological Science. We already know that experiences make you way happier than things do. Studies have shown that spending money on experiences as opposed to goods is more meaningful, makes you less likely to compare yourself to others, and encourages more social engagement. (Vacations trump solo shopping sprees, in other words.) You get those same pleasurable effects long before you even make the purchase and now, researchers have found, waiting to buy those experiences is a lot more fun, too.
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You’re reminiscing wrong
The Washington Post: Nostalgia is a funny thing, and you may be missing out on some of your best opportunities for reminiscing. While you're likely to expect notable events - like holidays and unusual activities - to be more fun to think back on in the future, it turns out that the most mundane experiences can give you just as much pleasure. In a study published in Psychological Science, Harvard Business School psychologists had students create time capsules full of songs they were listening to, papers they'd written, social events they'd attended, and records of conversations they'd had.
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13 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Laughing
Real Simple: Contrary to popular belief, the number one catalyst for laughter isn’t a joke: It’s interacting with another person. That’s because the modern-day ha-ha! probably evolved as a form of communication. Our primate ancestors used a similar sound—a sort of pant-pant—to reassure one another that their rough-and-tumble play was all in good fun and not an attack, says Robert R. Provine, a professor of psychology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, the author of Curious Behavior, and one of the foremost experts on laughter. Read the whole story: Real Simple
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Kids And Screen Time: What Does The Research Say?
NPR: Kids are spending more time than ever in front of screens, and it may be inhibiting their ability to recognize emotions, according to new research out of the University of California, Los Angeles. The study, published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior, found that sixth-graders who went five days without exposure to technology were significantly better at reading human emotions than kids who had regular access to phones, televisions and computers. The UCLA researchers studied two groups of sixth-graders from a Southern California public school.
