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Like Mama Bears, Nursing Mothers Defend Babies With A Vengeance
Women who breast-feed are far more likely to demonstrate a "mama bear" effect — aggressively protecting their infants and themselves — than women who bottle-feed their babies or non-mothers, according to a new study in the September issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. And when breast-feeding women behave aggressively, they register a lower blood pressure than other women, the study found. The results, the researchers say, suggest that breast-feeding can help dampen the body's typical stress response to fear, giving women the extra courage they need to defend themselves.
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You Can Spot a Future Bully at Age 1, Research Shows
Huffington Post: Infants don't really have what it takes to be bullies. They simply lack the physicality -- the strength and coordination and mobility -- to be aggressive. But are some of these babies already little bullies inside, just waiting to show their dukes? That may sound like a cynical view of human nature, but it's basically what some new research is suggesting. While only a minority of toddlers are habitual bullies, this aggressive tendency appears to emerge right along with the motor skills that make it possible -- by age one. What's more, such playroom roughness appears linked to the mothers' own problems with mood and conduct.
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Big heads, big profits
The Sydney Morning Herald: So, a chief executive walks into a bar. ''Why the long face?'' asks the barman. ''It's because I'm not very good at my job actually,'' he replies, ''thanks for asking.'' It's not much of a joke, but it might as well be the summary for a recent study set to be published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Run by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the study of 55 (male) CEOs of publicly-traded Fortune 500 companies concluded the wider the face, the better the financial performance.
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Back-to-school dilemma: Why do bullies bully?
Long thought to result from fragile self-esteem, bullying may instead stem from grandiose, inflated, and narcissistic self-assessment, some psychological scientists argue.
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How a Light Lunch Could Help You Lose Weight
LiveScience: When we skimp on a meal, we usually end up feeling deprived, ultimately making up for it later by eating a little more — sometimes a lot more. But a new study shows that eating a portion-controlled lunch won't leave you leave you feeling ravenous, and could actually help you lose 25 pounds within a year. "Making small reductions in energy intake to compensate for the increasing number of calories available in our food environment may help prevent further weight gain, and one way of doing this could be to consume portion-controlled lunches a few times a week," study co-author Carly Pacanowski, a doctoral student at Cornell University, said in a statement.
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The palate’s Prozac
Brisbane Times: When the recession hit (the first time around), you could hear the words buzzing from the mobile phone of every restaurant consultant around the world: "It's time for comfort food." But behind the cottage pies and creamy mash lies a question: what does "comfort food" really mean? What about it actually comforts us? Let's look at some big-time comfort foods: cheese on toast, boiled eggs and soldiers, apple crumble, chocolate cake. When people talk about comfort food, the obvious explanation is that it's all about nostalgia and missing Mum's cooking. But, really, it takes more than this to create the rush of sensations that make us feel safe, calm and cared for.
