-
American Voices: Dan Ariely
PBS: For many people, saving money isn’t just difficult; it’s a foreign concept. A recent study found that 58% of Americans do not have a formal retirement plan in place.¹ Why is even thinking about saving money so daunting to so many of us? We spoke with Dan Ariely, professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. He says that many people have difficulty saving their income because our minds and our environments are not naturally suited to thinking about money in the long term. In fact, our minds are not very good at thinking about the concept of money at all.
-
Vulnerability to depression can be contagious, study shows
The Telegraph: Researchers have found that the gloomy mindset of students vulnerable to depression can be contagious, making their friends more likely to suffer the condition six months later. The research, published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science, follows up on studies showing that people who respond negatively to stressful life events, interpreting the events as the result of factors they can't change and as a reflection of their own deficiency, are more vulnerable to depression. ...
-
Surviving Tragedy: The Various Paths Beyond
NPR: Survivors of sudden, unexpected events, like the bombings at the Boston Marathon, the explosion in West, Texas and natural disasters, may deal with a wide variety of emotions. Some may discover a newfound appreciation for life, while others may experience extreme feelings of guilt. ... Richard Tedeschi, professor of clinical psychology at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, is our guest. And joining us now is George Bonanno, professor of clinical psychology at Columbia University, author of "The Other Side of Sadness: What the New Science of Bereavement Tells Us About Life After Loss." Read the whole story: NPR
-
Extreme Political Attitudes May Stem From an Illusion of Understanding
Having to explain how a political policy works leads people to express less extreme attitudes toward the policy, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The research suggests that people may hold extreme policy positions because they are under an illusion of understanding -- attempting to explain the nuts and bolts of how a policy works forces them to acknowledge that they don’t know as much about the policy as they initially thought.
-
Study: Green Space Means More for Satisfaction Than a Neighborhood’s Average Income
The Atlantic: PROBLEM: As we've seen again and again, people are generally happier when they have access to grass, trees, and flowers. In terms of the many other things required to have a satisfying life in urban settings, how important is living near parks and gardens? METHODOLOGY: Researchers at the University of Exeter looked at 18 years of data covering almost 10,000 U.K. citizens living in urban areas.
-
How Therapy Can Help in the Golden Years
The New York Times: Marvin Tolkin was 83 when he decided that the unexamined life wasn’t worth living. Until then, it had never occurred to him that there might be emotional “issues” he wanted to explore with a counselor. “I don’t think I ever needed therapy,” said Mr. Tolkin, a retired manufacturer of women’s undergarments who lives in Manhattan and Hewlett Harbor, N.Y. ... But those attitudes have shifted over time, along with the medical community’s understanding of mental illness among seniors. In the past, the assumption was that if older people were acting strangely or having problems, it was probably dementia.
