A new study in Psychological Science finds that asset and debt levels change perceptions of wealth beyond net worth, with people in debt perceiving themselves wealthier when assets outweigh debt. Participants were asked which person or household was financially better off, and whether they'd borrow to buy something they couldn't pay for.
Older people tend to be happier due to focusing on positive events and emotions, but direct links between these strategies and mood changes are lacking. More research is needed to clarify the relationship between cognitive processes and happiness in older adults.
A study by Eric Hehman and colleagues found that group status influences integration preferences. When blacks were the dominant group, they preferred assimilation, while whites did not support pluralism as much. The researchers suggest understanding these feelings to coexist in diverse nations.
Researchers found that women who wrote about their most important values lost more weight than those who didn't. This is because reflecting on core values can boost self-integrity and lead to healthier habits.
Research suggests that people's gut feelings are not entirely disregarded logic, but rather an intuitive sense of conflict. Wim De Neys' study found that brain activity indicates a 'sense of something fishy' when people make decisions, highlighting the importance of logical intuitions in decision-making.
Researchers argue that short papers based on one study or small sample are prone to false positives and may not accurately represent scientific value. The trend towards 'bite-size' science poses risks to the integrity of psychological research.
Researchers found that young children do not use category labels in the same way adults do, relying instead on the most distinctive feature of an object. This challenges long-held theories about how children mentally organize their world and has implications for teaching and communication with young children.
The study suggests that facial expressions evolved as a physiological response to threats, but also took on social roles in human evolution. The authors propose the concept of 'exaptation' and 'ritualization,' where original functions changed over time to become social signals.
A new study by University of Florida psychologists Jennifer L. Howell and James A. Shepperd found that self-affirmation can break down resistance to medical screening by refocusing attention from a threat to overall wellbeing, resulting in increased willingness to undergo screenings and treatment.
Research suggests that prejudice arises from a fundamental psychological need to make quick judgments and reduce ambiguity, often leading to stereotyping and generalizations. This way of thinking is linked to people's desire to categorize the world and rely on social norms.
Research suggests that pregnancy's massive hormonal fluctuations prepare a woman's brain for motherhood, leading to improved stress tolerance and baby sensitivity. However, there may be costs to these changes, and more comprehensive studies are needed to develop interventions for at-risk mothers.
A new science rigorously evaluates the effectiveness of team training in improving safety, decision-making, and communication. The study shows that training can produce results and improve clinical outcomes.
Research suggests that small amounts of trauma can help individuals develop resilience, contrary to the common notion that traumatic experiences are always detrimental. People who have experienced some negative life events tend to have better outcomes than those with no adverse experiences or those with excessive adversity.
A new review of literature suggests that infants' early experiences with their caregivers predict their behavior in romantic relationships decades later. This
Contrary to common belief, facial expressions may not be automatic indicators of emotions. Researcher Lisa Feldman Barrett argues that expressions are not biologically basic and cannot be recognized universally. This challenges the traditional view that certain emotional expressions evolved for specific functions.
A new study found that men who are more attractive tend to overestimate women's interest in casual sex, while women underestimate men's desire. This misperception may have evolved as a strategy for increased reproductive success.
A new article explores how people justify and defend corrupt systems, citing factors such as system threat, dependence, inescapability, and low personal control. The research sheds light on the conditions that make people resistant to change and open to acknowledging its necessity.
A new study published in Psychological Science suggests that national pride is linked to greater personal well-being, but only for those who prioritize civic nationalism over ethnic identity. The research found that civic nationalists were on average happier than both ethnic and low-civic nationalists, challenging popular theories abou...
A new study published in Current Directions in Psychological Science warns that evolutionary tradeoffs limit human cognitive abilities. Research suggests that increasing intelligence comes with problems, such as increased disease risk, and there may be an upper limit to how smart humans can get.
Scientific research challenges common myths about psychopathy, revealing it's not just a matter of genes or inalterable. Studies show that psychopathic individuals can exhibit anxiety and dysphoria, and intensive treatment can reduce violent behavior.
A study by Adam Waytz and Liane Young found that people judge groups as having a collective mind, while attributing individual minds to their members. This 'trade off' affects judgments of responsibility, blame, and moral judgment. The research explores the consequences of this attribution for both groups and individuals.
Researchers found that tracking eye movements can reveal discrepancies in eyewitness reports. Participants spent more time looking at remembered faces and had disproportionate viewing of these faces before making a response. The study's findings could lead to improved eyewitness testimony accuracy and new insights into memory and decis...
A new study published in Psychological Science found that people with poor credit scores are more impatient and prefer shorter-term gains over longer-term benefits. This impulsivity can lead to strategic defaulting on loans, as individuals weigh the costs of delayed gratification against short-term benefits.
A new study by Beijing Normal University cognitive psychologist Jia Liu and colleagues found that holistic processing is critical to face recognition. Individuals who perform well in tasks measuring holistic processing, such as the composite-face effect and whole-part effect, also excel at recognizing faces.
A new study shows that sound can affect visual perception at an unconscious level, enhancing performance on tasks involving moving objects. Participants performed better when sound moved in the same direction as the object's movement, even if it was irrelevant to the task.
A new study published in Psychological Science found that vaccination and hand washing can reduce bias against stigmatized groups, including immigrants and the obese. The researchers conducted three experiments, which showed that people who felt secure through these measures exhibited less prejudice towards out-groups.
Researchers discovered evidence of visual ambiguity and rivalry in an unrecognized reference frame, challenging the understanding of how our brains process visual information. The study found that object-frame rivalry is a competing process to spatial rivalry, with similar brain regions and processes involved.
Researchers found that the structure of cognitive change remains consistent across adulthood, with age-related declines varying in direction and magnitude. The study's findings advance understanding of the aging brain and may inform interventions to improve cognitive functioning.
A new study found that false confessions are a common cause of errors in evidence, with 25% of exonerated individuals having made false confessions. The study suggests that juries and judges may be misled by false confessions, leading to miscarriages of justice.
Researchers found that reappraising emotions can quickly reduce negative responses to angry faces, with brain activity showing decreased signals for negative emotions after reappraisal. This process is faster and deeper than previously thought, allowing people to prepare themselves for potentially challenging situations.
A new study published in Psychological Science finds that individuals pay attention to negative information about a system when they believe the status quo can be changed. This shift in perspective allows people to focus on finding solutions to problems, rather than reinforcing the existing system.
A new study finds that a fetus can sense its mother's mental state through chemical signals. The baby develops better when the environment is consistent before and after birth. Inconsistent conditions, such as a mother going from depressed to healthy or vice versa, slow down fetal development.
A study found that subtly manipulating body posture influences people's estimates of quantities such as sizes, numbers, or percentages. Participants who leaned left estimated lower quantities, while those who stood upright gave more accurate estimates.
A Japanese study reveals that the brain, not the eye, produces afterimage illusions in complementary shapes. The research found that the brain's shape-processing visual cortex is responsible for creating these illusory shapes, which were observed in a novel afterimage illusion.
A new study investigates how age-related stereotypes influence memory performance in older adults. Researchers found that older adults are more likely to falsely recall unrepresented words due to implicit beliefs about their age. However, by reducing the influence of negative stereotypes, memory performance can be improved.
According to a new article, psychologists recommend making treatment memories stronger through methods like giving more therapy or conducting it in different locations. This approach exploits established principles of learning and has been shown to be effective in reducing relapse rates.
Researchers found that individuals rationalize restrictions they cannot change, but rebel when they believe a change is possible. This finding could explain uprisings and unrequited love, suggesting that perceived absoluteness influences behavior.
Research suggests that mindfulness meditation can have wide-ranging effects on well-being, including improved immune function and reduced blood pressure. A new framework approach explains the mechanisms of mindfulness by identifying four key components: attention regulation, body awareness, emotion regulation, and sense of self.
A new study published in Perspectives on Psychological Science suggests that women's lower scores on technical aptitude tests may be due to biased testing methods rather than a lack of interest. The researcher found that women score lower on technical aptitude at all intelligence levels, while also exhibiting higher levels of general i...
A new study published in Psychological Science found that an individual's sexism leads to gender inequality in society, with the largest study to date examining 57 countries. The research suggests that changing individual attitudes is crucial for achieving greater equality.
A new study published in Perspectives in Psychological Science reveals that curiosity plays a significant role in academic success, with personality traits like curiosity being as important as intelligence. Conscientiousness is also found to be a key factor, suggesting that teaching methods can inspire curiosity and motivation.
A new study by Loran Nordgren and Eileen Chou found that thinking may not be effective in resisting temptation, as it depends on the interaction between temptation and visceral state. Cognitive mechanisms such as attention and motivated valuation can either promote impulsive behavior or self-control, depending on the context.
A new study published in Psychological Science found that fans of baseball teams tend to remember the games their teams won more than the ones they lost. The researchers discovered that positive experiences and social factors play a significant role in boosting memory for winning events.
A new report reviews over 70 mentoring program evaluations and confirms that mentoring programs confer many benefits across behavioral, social, emotional, and academic domains. However, improvements in youth outcomes tend to be modest and it's unclear how well such gains hold up over time.
Research by Guillermo Campitelli and Fernand Gobet found that deliberate practice is necessary to achieve mastery in skills like chess. However, the duration of practice alone does not guarantee success. Other factors such as intelligence, handedness, and working memory also contribute to an individual's ability to excel in these areas.
Researchers found that working memory capacity significantly impacts performance in various tasks, regardless of deliberate practice. Basic capacities and abilities play an important role in skilled performance, challenging the idea that expertise is solely acquired through experience.
A new study published in Current Directions in Psychological Science suggests that paying too much attention to performance can lead to decreased success. Research has shown that athletes under pressure exhibit changes in movement patterns, such as altered club head angles during golf swings and reduced joint mobility in climbers.
A new field is taking shape, studying scientific thought and behavior, with applications in education and understanding human interest in science. Researchers examine brain correlations, cognitive processes, and developmental aspects of scientific inquiry.
Research shows that forgetting can be beneficial for memory and problem-solving. By eliminating irrelevant information, we can better retain and recall important details. This phenomenon is particularly evident in situations where updating our knowledge becomes necessary.
Researchers found that the brain can selectively focus on visual information from one eye, even when both eyes are receiving images. This selective attention enhances the processing of visual information from the focused eye.