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Google Enlists Psychological Science to Fight Office Snack Attacks
The way to an employee’s heart might be through their stomach as much as their wallet. One recent survey of 1,000 people found that free food at work was associated with a 20% higher likelihood of feeling extremely or very happy with their jobs. Silicon Valley tech companies have become famous for their lavish, free employee snacking options. At Google’s main campus in Mountain View, employees have access to over 30 different cafés serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as a variety of snacks. Google’s Toronto campus even has a “baconators” club where trained chefs prepare custom flavored bacon (as an example, Thai lemongrass, basil, and chili was one past flavor).
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Graduating and Looking for Your Passion? Just Be Patient
The New York Times: For all their grandeur and euphoria, graduation ceremonies can be harrowing. Until that momentous day, you’re a student whose job is to do what your teacher asks. Now you have to ask things of yourself — but what? If you’re relying on a commencement speaker to set your compass, you may still be confused at day’s end. In my experience, it’s common to hear “Follow your passion” from the podium. This is great counsel if, in fact, you know what that passion is. But what if you don’t? Young graduates might imagine that discovering your passion happens the way it does in a movie: with a flash of insight and a trumpet blast.
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Jerome S. Bruner, influential psychologist of perception, dies at 100
The Washington Post: Jerome S. Bruner, who was born blind and, after having his sight restored, spent the rest of his life trying to understand how the human mind perceives the world, leading to influential advances in education and the development of the field of cognitive psychology, died June 5 at his home in New York City. He was 100. He had an aortic aneurysm several months ago, said his son, Whitley Bruner, but the exact cause of death was not known. In the 1950s, when Dr. Bruner was at Harvard University, he was a key figure in advancing the study of psychology beyond the behaviorist theories of B.F.
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As Suicide Rates Rise, Scientists Find New Warning Signs
The Wall Street Journal: Scientists are making headway in the search for solutions to one of the most vexing problems in mental health: How to predict who is at risk for suicide. Researchers are hunting for so-called biomarkers, such as patterns of brain activity on fMRI scans or levels of stress hormones in the blood, linked to suicidal thoughts and acts. They are creating computer algorithms, fed with tens of thousands of pieces of data, to come up with measures of risk. They are looking at sleep patterns and even responses to specialized computer tasks that can reveal unconscious biases toward self-harm. The need is great.
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Can’t Stand Your Commute? It’s All in Your Head.
The Wall Street Journal: Hate your morning commute? There is no need to move, or switch jobs. A recent study suggests an easy way to turn that lost time into found opportunity. The Wall Street Journal spoke with one of the authors of the working paper, Jon M. Jachimowicz, a doctoral student at Columbia Business School, about the study’s findings and how morning attitude adjustments can help with careers and commutes. Read the whole story: The Wall Street Journal
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Loneliness is an essential human feeling that rises and falls throughout our lives
Vox: Loneliness is epidemic, and in the coming years it could explode. Forty percent of people age 65 and older report being lonely at times. And the percentage of people living alone has been rising steadily since the 1960s. Look at this GIF of how America will age until 2050. It's a wave of increasing old age, but it may also represent a soul-crushing wave of loneliness as baby boomers age into their 70s. ... "What studies also show is that [loneliness] has real physiological consequences," says Maike Luhmann, a psychologist at the University of Cologne in Germany. "Blood pressure goes up, and it can go up permanently.
