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5 Ways to Make Friends (Without Joining a Book Club)
To meet your neighbors, try doing them small kindnesses, said Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a professor of psychology and neuroscience and the director of the Social Connection and Health Lab at Brigham Young University. Compliment their gardening skills, or offer to bring in their trash bins. Why? Dr. Holt-Lunstad’s research has found that these acts can encourage conversations and reduce feelings of loneliness. Pushing yourself to be more social, said Dr. Holt-Lunstad, is like exercise: Even if you know it’s good for you, it can be uncomfortable. ... Dr. Holt-Lunstad also recommended reflecting on the people who have helped you in your life: a coach, a teacher, a neighbor.
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Journal Collection Examines Psychological Science in Pandemics
In a special Perspectives on Psychological Science collection, researchers discuss how psychological science can help policymakers and the public understand and address the spread of infectious disease while preserving constructive social interactions and learning.
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Teens Have a Lot of Good Coping Strategies — And They Often Just Need to Be Heard
Maybe a hug from a parent no longer solves problems for a teen as it did in their childhood. But when it comes to teenage mental health, adults can do a lot to help, according to new data. ... Social media and other screen-based entertainment often is talked about in terms of the risks, but “the potential benefits of social media to a large proportion of teens have received insufficient attention,” said Dr. Laurence Steinberg, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Temple University in Philadelphia. He was not involved in the survey research.
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Want to Live a Long Life? Start Prioritizing Your Friends
Your social network may influence your health as much as your exercise routine. ... To get a measure of the social health boost's overall importance, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a psychologist at Brigham Young University, in Provo, Utah, compiled the findings of 148 studies. Together they covered 300,000 participants and had looked at the benefits of social integration and the hazard of social disconnection. She then compared the effects of loneliness with the risks of various other lifestyle factors, including smoking, drinking alcohol, exercise and physical activity, body mass index (a measure of obesity), air pollution and taking medication to control blood pressure.
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Why Do People Mix Up Names?
President Biden introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as Russia’s President Putin. Donald Trump named Nikki Haley when he meant Nancy Pelosi. And getting some comedic mileage out of such flubs, the writers of “Friends” had Ross call his bride-to-be Rachel. Her name was Emily. ... The brain remembers information by linking new bits of data with existing information of similar meaning or context. That makes proper nouns, which are arbitrary “nonsense words,” harder to learn, said Neil Mulligan, a cognitive psychologist who studies memory at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Though it occurs nearly instantaneously, recalling a name is a multistep endeavor.
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Practicing Gratitude Could Help You Live Longer
Appreciating the little things in life can leave a lasting impact on your health. ... “It’s not completely surprising to me, just given what we know on the health benefits of positive emotions more generally, that a person’s disposition for gratitude might actually even lengthen their life,” said Dr. Philip Watkins, a professor of psychology at Eastern Washington University and author of the book “Gratitude and the Good Life: Toward a Psychology of Appreciation.” Research has found that gratitude benefits individuals’ happiness and flourishing, added Watkins, who was not involved with the new study.
