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Touch May Alleviate Existential Fears for People With Low Self-Esteem
As human beings, we all know that we are going to die some day. Most of us deal with this knowledge by trying to live meaningful lives, but people with low self-esteem tend not to see their lives as particularly meaningful. Now, research suggests that touch may help people with low self-esteem in confronting their own mortality. “Even fleeting and seemingly trivial instances of interpersonal touch may help people to deal more effectively with existential concern,” explains psychological scientist and lead researcher Sander Koole of VU University Amsterdam.
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New Research From Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Psychological Science: The Stability of Intelligence From Age 11 to Age 90 Years: The Lothian Birth Cohort of 1921 Ian J. Deary, Alison Pattie, and John M. Starr How stable is intelligence over the lifespan? Participants completed the Moray House Test No. 12 (MHT) -- a paper-and-pencil test of general mental ability -- at ages 11 and 90. MHT scores at age 11 and at age 90 were significantly correlated. MHT performance at age 90 was also significantly correlated with performance on other commonly used assessments of cognitive functioning at age 90, indicating that intelligence has moderately high stability across the lifespan.
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Stress Eaters May Compensate by Eating Less When Times Are Good
When faced with stress, some people seem to lose their appetite while others reach for the nearest sweet, salty, or fatty snack. Conventional wisdom tells us that stress eaters are the ones who need to
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Moral in the Morning, But Dishonest in the Afternoon
Our ability to exhibit self-control to avoid cheating or lying is significantly reduced over the course of a day, making us more likely to be dishonest in the afternoon than in the morning, according to findings published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. “As ethics researchers, we had been running experiments examining various unethical behaviors, such as lying, stealing, and cheating,” researchers Maryam Kouchaki of Harvard University and Isaac Smith of the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business explain.
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People Seem More Attractive in a Group Than They Do Apart
People tend to be rated as more attractive when they’re part of a group than when they’re alone, according to findings published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. This phenomenon -- first dubbed the “cheerleader effect” by ladykiller Barney Stinson on the popular TV show How I Met Your Mother — suggests that having a few friends around might be an easy way to boost perceived attractiveness.
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Keeping Emotions in Check May Not Always Benefit Psychological Health
Being able to regulate your emotions is important for well-being, but new research suggests that a common emotion regulation strategy called “cognitive reappraisal” may actually be harmful when it comes to stressors that are under our control. The study is published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. “Context is important,” says psychological scientist and lead researcher Allison Troy of Franklin & Marshall College.