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We fear death, but what if dying isn’t as bad as we think?
The Guardian: “The idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else,” wrote Earnest Becker in his book, The Denial of Death. It’s a fear strong enough to compel us to force kale down our throats, run sweatily on a treadmill at 7am on a Monday morning, and show our genitals to a stranger with cold hands and a white coat if we feel something’s a little off. But our impending end isn’t just a benevolent supplier of healthy behaviours. Researchers have found death can determine our prejudices, whether we give to charity or wear sun cream, our desire to be famous, what type of leader we vote for, how we name our children and even how we feel about breastfeeding. ...
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One surprising way money can buy happiness, according to scientists
The Washington Post: If you were given $40 on the condition that you had to spend it on something that would make you really happy, what would you do with the money? Some people might go shopping, others would treat themselves to dinner or a movie, a few might even donate to cause. But what about using that $40 to "buy" yourself more free time? According to a study published Monday in the journal PNAS, people who buy time by paying someone to complete household tasks are more satisfied with life. And it’s not just wealthy people. Across a range of incomes, careers and countries, timesaving purchases were correlated with less time-related stress and more positive feelings.
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THE UPSIDE OF NEUROTICISM
Pacific Standard: Neurotic people, by definition, spend much of their lives in a dark mood. Given the positive emotions are associated with good health, it's reasonable to assume that all that guilt, anger, and anxiety will eventually lead to an early grave. Well, surprise: A sizable new study from Great Britain reports that, for many neurotics, the opposite is true. Among two large subsets of participants, "higher neuroticism was associated with reduced mortality from all causes," writes a research team led by Catharine Gale of the University of Edinburgh. Read the whole story: Pacific Standard
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Why Our Screens Make Us Less Happy
TED: What are our screens and devices doing to us? Psychologist Adam Alter studies how much time screens steal from us and how they're getting away with it. He shares why all those hours you spend staring at your smartphone, tablet or computer might be making you miserable -- and what you can do about it. Read the whole story: TED
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Stop Putting Off Fun for After You Finish All Your Work
Harvard Business Review: How often have you put off doing something fun, like taking a trip or treating yourself, because you felt that you had too much work to do, and you had to get it all done first? My laboratory has surveyed people from all walks of life about their preferences for ordering work and leisure. Time and time again, we hear the same thing: of course you can’t just leave and have fun before work is done. Work comes first, leisure comes second. This sounds intuitive. No one wants to spoil a pleasurable experience because they’re worrying about their to-do list or feeling guilty for celebrating prematurely.
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The life-extending power of being neurotic
Quartz: Neuroticism won’t make life more enjoyable, but it can help it last longer, according to a four-year study published this month in Psychological Science. Researchers from the University of Edinburgh, University of Southampton, and University College London found that higher neuroticism was associated with a “reduced risk of death from all causes”—but only for one type of neurotic. All 321,456 participants in the study filled in a questionnaire emphasizing two types of neuroticism.
