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Where Do Feelings Come From?
We often assume that our feelings are responses to the world around us. A friend gives you a fun gift, you feel joy. A driver cuts you off in traffic, you feel frustration. But what if our emotions are actually predictions? This week on the show, psychologist Lisa Feldman Barrett explains how we manufacture our own feelings. ...
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Why We Split the World Into Good and Evil — And Make Decisions We Regret
Humans carve the world cleanly in two when they feel threatened. There’s a right and a wrong, a good and an evil, an us and a them. In normal times, this behavior is most obvious in people with serious depression or borderline personality disorder. Psychologists call it “splitting.” ...
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What Happens to My Body During Dry January?
Q: What are the health effects of Dry January? Can cutting back on alcohol for a month have long-term benefits? Champagne, eggnog, mulled wine — for many, the holiday season is a time for celebration, which typically involves copious amounts of alcohol. So it’s no surprise that an estimated 15 to 19 percent of U.S. adults in recent years have pledged to participate in Dry January, or “Drynuary,” in an effort to atone for their December choices and, hopefully, slightly unpickle their livers. There’s been little research into what, exactly, a month off alcohol can do for your health.
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Scientists Discuss How to Study the Psychology of Collectives, Not Just Individuals
In a set of articles appearing in Perspectives on Psychological Science, an international array of scientists discusses how the study of neighborhoods, work units, activist groups, and other collectives can help us better understand and respond to societal changes.
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‘Forget I Said That’: The Evolutionary Drive to Disclose May Lead to Oversharing
The decision to share personal information may boil down to a battle between the drive for privacy and the drive to disclose, according to this recent article.
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The Black Mamba Effect: Psychological Science Says Adopting an Alter Ego Boosts Confidence, Determination, and Performance
For years, whenever we asked each other for advice, my daughters and I often replied, "What would Granddaddy Haden do?" Usually, that would end the problem-solving: My dad would have chosen the hard way through, not the easy way out. "What would Granddaddy Haden do?" became shorthand for making a decision you could live with. While we didn't think of it that way, taking a step back to view a situation from his point of view was a form of self-distancing, helping us gain better control of our emotions and be more objective and logical.
