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Parenting Style May Shape Political Views
LiveScience: Parenting style and childhood temperament might play a role in shaping one's political mindset, new research suggests. Specifically, kids who have fearful temperaments and are raised by parents who value obedience are more likely to endorse conservative ideologies as young adults, the study found. A team led by psychology researcher R. Chris Fraley of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign examined data from 708 children who originally participated in a National Institute on Child Health and Human Development study.
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True Blue Stands Out in an Earthy Crowd
The New York Times: For the French Fauvist painter and color gourmand Raoul Dufy, blue was the only color with enough strength of character to remain blue “in all its tones.” Darkened red looks brown and whitened red turns pink, Dufy said, while yellow blackens with shading and fades away in the light. But blue can be brightened or dimmed, the artist said, and “it will always stay blue.” Scientists, too, have lately been bullish on blue, captivated by its optical purity, complexity and metaphorical fluency.
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Mindful of Marshmallows
The Wall Street Journal: First developed by psychologist Walter Mischel, the now-famous "marshmallow test" found large differences in how long 4-year-olds could wait before consuming a treat—with self-control strongly linked to higher SAT scores and other positive outcomes later in life. Other studies have suggested an inborn ability to delay gratification, but a new paper points to a role for nurture as well. In the study, 28 3- to 5-year-olds were promised art supplies and stickers, only to have this promise broken. The other group of kids got the promised items. Read the whole story: The Wall Street Journal
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Waiting longer to have sex tied to more wealth, education and relationship happiness
CBS News: Here's some more reasons why teens should wait to have sex: A recent study shows that people who were over the age of 19 when they first had sexual intercourse were more likely to have higher educational levels and higher household income. In addition, out of those who had gotten married or were living with a partner by the end of the study, the people who had sex later in life reported less unhappiness in their relationship than their peers who had sex earlier. Read the whole story: CBS News
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Daydreaming Boosts Creativity, Study Suggests
The Huffington Post: Permission to daydream, granted. A new study in the journal Psychological Science shows that allowing your mind to wander might actually be good for your creative prowess. Researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, found an association between daydreaming and creative problem-solving. Their study involved having participants first conduct an "unusual use task" -- where they had to try to come up with as many weird ways to use an object as they could.
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Carbohydrates don’t boost self-control
United Press International: U.S. researchers say sugar does not appear to have a metabolic boost for self-control. Psychological scientist Daniel C. Molden of Northwestern University in Chicago and colleagues said many had thought self-control relied on carbohydrate metabolism -- people deplete their carbohydrate stores as they exert self-control, making it more difficult to exert self-control until the stores are built up again. Read the whole story: United Press International
