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Opposition to Same-Sex Marriage Linked to Self-Interest
Why do opponents of same-sex marriage really oppose it? A study concludes that many people believe gay men and women are more sexually promiscuous than heterosexuals, which they may fear could threaten their own marriages.
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New Research From Clinical Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Clinical Psychological Science: Positive Affectivity Is Dampened in Youths With Histories of Major Depression and Their Never-Depressed Adolescent Siblings Maria Kovacs, Lauren M. Bylsma, Ilya Yaroslavsky, Jonathan Rottenberg, Charles J. George, Enikö Kiss, Kitti Halas, István Benák, Ildiko Baji, Ágnes Vetró, and Krisztina Kapornai Depressed individuals often display a reduced ability to experience pleasure and joy, known as anhedonia. Although anhedonia has been extensively studied, several questions remain, such as whether it persists after depression remission and whether it constitutes a risk factor for depression.
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Mastering the Art of Ignoring Makes People More Efficient
People searching for something can find it faster if they know what to look for. But new research suggests knowing what not to look for can be just as helpful. Although previous studies concluded that attempting to ignore irrelevant information slows people down, Johns Hopkins University researchers found that when people are given time to learn what’s possible to ignore, they’re able to search faster and more efficiently. The results, which offer new insight into how the mind processes difficult information, are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
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Experiencing Financial Stress May Lead to Physical Pain
People who feel that their financial outlook is shaky may actually experience more physical pain than those who feel financially secure, a psychological study suggests.
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New Research From Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Psychological Science: Five-Month-Old Infants Have General Knowledge of How Nonsolid Substances Behave and Interact Susan J. Hespos, Alissa L. Ferry, Erin M. Anderson, Emily N. Hollenbeck, and Lance J. Rips Research has shown that infants have a sophisticated understanding of the properties of objects, but it is less clear whether infants develop a similar understanding of nonsolid objects. Four- and 5-month-old infants were habituated to the sight of a solid object or the sight of a nonsolid substance (sand or liquid).
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New Research From Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Psychological Science: The Evaluative Advantage of Novel Alternatives: An Information-Sampling Account Gaël Le Mens, Yaakov Kareev, and Judith Avrahami People often rate new items more favorably than old items. Why might this be? Theories explaining this phenomenon have suggested that new items may serve a purpose or solve a problem old items could not, or that through imitation of others use of new items, new items come into favor. The authors suggest that adaptive sampling may also account for the favoritism shown to novel alternatives. Specifically, people seek out positive experiences and avoid past negative experiences.