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That bad attitude? Blame the birth month
Los Angeles Times: If you don't believe in horoscopes, you're in step with science. But that's not the same as saying the season of your birth cannot affect your fate. Hundreds of studies, published in peer-reviewed journals, have suggested that the month a person is born in is associated with characteristics such as temperament, longevity and susceptibility to certain diseases. Scientists say that even though some of these findings are probably spurious — if you dig around in data, you will eventually find correlations just by chance — other effects are very likely real, triggered not by the alignment of the planets but by exposures during prenatal and early postnatal lives.
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Why Men Always Tell You to See Movies
The New York Times: WHAT gender is the voice of God? The question has been pondered by mystics through the ages, but in the sanctuary of cinema the voice of a sonorous, authoritative, fear-inspiring yet sometimes relatable presence is, invariably, that of a man. Consider the trailer and the omniscient, disembodied voice that introduces moviegoers to a fictional world. “Most movie trailers are loud and strong, and film studios want that male impact, vocally and thematically,” said Jeff Danis, an agent who represents voice-over artists.
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How Sick Do You Think You Are? It Could Affect Your Health Outcome
Huffington Post: How sick you think you are may play a big role in your health outcome, according to a new review of research. Researchers from the University of Auckland and the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College found that the way people perceive their own illness is directly related to them seeking out health care and following doctors' orders, and even their overall survival. The study will be published in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science. Read the full story: Huffington Post
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Why Morning Routines Are Creativity Killers
TIME: Brrriiinnng. The alarm clock buzzes in another hectic weekday morning. You leap out of bed, rush into the shower, into your clothes and out the door with barely a moment to think. A stressful commute gets your blood pressure climbing. Once at the office, you glance through the newspaper, its array of stories ranging from discouraging to depressing to tragic. With a sigh, you pour yourself a cup of coffee and get down to work, ready to do some creative, original problem-solving. Good luck with that.
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The Complex Relationship between Memory and Silence
People who suffer a traumatic experience often don’t talk about it, and many forget it over time. But not talking about something doesn’t always mean you’ll forget it; if you try to force yourself not to think about white bears, soon you’ll be imagining polar bears doing the polka. A group of psychological scientists explore the relationship between silence and memories in a new paper published in Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. “There’s this idea, with silence, that if we don’t talk about something, it starts fading,” says Charles B. Stone of Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium, an author of the paper.
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Jonathan Haidt Decodes the Tribal Psychology of Politics
The Chronicle of Higher Education: Jonathan Haidt is occupying Wall Street. Sort of. It's a damp and bone-chilling January night in lower Manhattan's Zuccotti Park. The 48-year-old psychologist, tall and youthful-looking despite his silvered hair, is lecturing the occupiers about how conservatives would view their ideas. "Conservatives believe in equality before the law," he tells the young activists, who are here in the "canyons of wealth" to talk people power over vegan stew. "They just don't care about equality of outcome." Explaining conservatism at a left-wing occupation?
