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How Loneliness Wears on the Body
The Atlantic: Every Monday during the summer, some of the residents of Lyme, New Hampshire, gather up fruits and vegetables from their gardens to donate to Veggie Cares, a program that distributes local food to people living alone. Volunteers collect, sort, and package the produce, then head out in separate directions to deliver the food to some Lyme's most vulnerable, isolated residents. While the stated goal of the program is to provide people with healthy food, Veggie Cares volunteers also deliver companionship.
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The Surprising Benefits of Sarcasm
Scientific American: “Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit but the highest form of intelligence,” wrote that connoisseur of wit, Oscar Wilde. Whether sarcasm is a sign of intelligence or not, communication experts and marriage counselors alike typically advise us to stay away from this particular form of expression. The reason is simple: sarcasm expresses the poisonous sting of contempt, hurting others and harming relationships. As a form of communication, sarcasm takes on the debt of conflict. ... Consider the following example, which comes from a conversation one of my co-authors on the research (Adam Galinsky, of Columbia) had a few weeks before getting married.
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It Pays To Be Overconfident
The Huffington Post: The eye is an exquisite sensory device -- honed over hundreds of millions of years of evolution -- and yet people are incredibly biased in their perception. If you don't believe you're biased, think for a moment about the last time you saw a candid photo of yourself that you liked. If you're similar to most people, you probably think that 80 percent of the shots of yourself are poorly taken. But your friends are not bad photographers; you're just not as good looking as you think you are. And that's why you don't like their pictures of you, because they capture what you really look like.
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The psychology of political beliefs (or, why hard data isn’t always convincing)
The Washington Post: When Donald Trump declared last weekend that he saw television footage of thousands of Muslims cheering from New Jersey on the day of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, fact-checkers moved quickly. The Post's Glenn Kessler found no evidence of Trump's claim, awarding it four Pinocchios. Others came to the conclusion. And then something odd happened.
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Quick Thinkers Are Charismatic
Charisma may rely on quick thinking, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The research shows that people who were able to respond more quickly to general knowledge questions and visual tasks were perceived as more charismatic by their friends, independently of IQ and other personality traits.
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Five Ways to Give Better Gifts (Backed by Science)
The Wall Street Journal: Bundling a big, generous present with a little extra “stocking stuffer” actually detracts from the appreciation of your big gift. Contrary to everything we’ve been taught, receivers feel closer to you afterward if you choose a gift that reflects your interests rather than theirs. If you’re in a romantic relationship or hoping to nurture one, you need to be more careful giving a present to a man than a woman. These are some of the findings from psychologists and other researchers who study gift-giving that you may want to take into account this holiday season. Read the whole story: The Wall Street Journal
