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Admitting That Big Ugly Spider Is Terrifying Will Make It Less Frightening
Smithsonian Magazine: Talk about your fear while you do the thing you fear most, and according to new research, you may be able to overcome your phobia. Psychologists at UCLA found that people describing their feelings at the moment they confront their fears has a comforting effect. They asked 88 people with a fear of spiders to approach an open cage containing a big, hairy, live tarantula. They told the participants to touch the spider, if they could muster the courage. Before forcing their subjects to confront the spider, however, the researchers divided them into four groups. In one group, the scientists instructed the subjects to talk about their feelings.
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Drop the Pasta, Dad, and No One Gets Hurt
The New York Times: Want to avoid being the mop-up guy at dinner? “Portion the food out on the stove, before you start eating,” Mr. Fabricatore said. “Add a little distance and effort to get a second helping.” And try portioning the food in the fridge, like cutting the block of Cheddar into small containers. That’s the advice of Rena Wing, professor of psychiatric behavior at the Alpert Medical School at Brown University, where she studies weight loss tactics. Her point: when portions are big, our appetites can follow. “Do the prepackaging for yourself,” she said. Read the whole story: The New York Times
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Wanneer liegen we? (When are you thinking are we?)
Express: Mochten we af en toe over wat meer tijd beschikken, we zouden minder liegen. Tot die conclusie komen Shaul Salvi (Universiteit van Amsterdam), Ori Eldar (Ben Gurion University) en Yoella Bereby-Meyer (Ben Gurion University). Hun bevindingen worden gepubliceerd in het vakblad Psychological Science. De auteurs concluderen dat mensen meestal liegen wanneer ze onder tijdsdruk worden gezet om een antwoord te geven en ze de leugen tegenover zichzelf kunnen verantwoorden. De onderzoekers lieten 70 volwassenen driemaal met een teerling gooien. De onderzoekers konden de deelnemers niet zien en vroegen hen enkel de uitslag van de eerste worp mee te delen.
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Where Are the Conservative Psychologists Hiding? And Why?
The Huffington Post: Scientific meetings are not usually confrontational events, so it was notable when University of Virginia psychological scientist Jonathan Haidt roiled his colleagues at the 2011 gathering of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Addressing an audience of more than 1,000, the bestselling author of The Righteous Mind asked all those who considered themselves politically conservative to raise their hands. Three hands went up. He then described two other attempts he had recently made to locate conservative social psychologists.
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How Do We Make Moral Judgments? – Insights From Psychological Science
New research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, provides intriguing insights into some of the factors that influence how we make moral judgments. Reappraising Our Emotions Allows Cooler Heads to Prevail We might like to think that our judgments are always well thought-out, but research suggests that our moral judgments are often based on intuition. Our emotions seem to drive our intuitions, giving us the gut feeling that something is ‘right’ or ‘wrong.’ In some cases, however, we seem to be able to override these initial reactions.
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How to Win Over Someone Who Doesn’t Like You
Forbes: Does your co-worker scowl every time you walk by? Is that guy in your networking group consistently aloof? Sometimes, for no clear reason, someone may decide they dislike you – and if you want a more comfortable work environment, it’s up to you to change the dynamic. So what can you do to disarm a cranky colleague? In a recent podcast interview, renowned social psychologist Robert Cialdini offered two counterintuitive suggestions Read the whole story: Forbes
