The language we use affects the decisions we make, according to a new study. Participants made more rational decisions when money-related choices were posed in a foreign language that they had learned in a classroom setting than when they were asked in a native tongue. To study how language affects reasoning, University of Chicago psychologists looked at a well-known phenomenon: people are more risk-averse when…
Reasoning is Sharper in a Foreign Langauge
New Love: A Short Shelf Life
In fairy tales, marriages last happily ever after. Science, however, tells us that wedded bliss has but a limited shelf life. American and European researchers tracked 1,761 people who got married and stayed married over the course of 15 years. The findings were clear: newlyweds enjoy a big happiness boost that lasts, on average, for just two years. Then the special joy wears off and…
7 Worst Habits of Workaholics
“Many people feel like they have to push themselves to unhealthy levels in order to succeed. But high-pressure jobs and long hours take a real toll on your immediate and future health,” says George Griffing, M.D., professor of internal medicine at Saint Louis University. Here, according to Griffing are the seven worst habits to watch out for in these workaholic times. 1. Forgetting to relax: While some stress can be…
Can Parenting Style Impact Your Well-Being
A recent study published in the Journal of Child and Family Studies suggests that it’s not whether we’re parents – but how we parent – that may be an important factor to consider. According to researchers at the University of Mary Washington in Virginia, women who engage in “intensive parenting” are likely to experience negative mental health outcomes like stress and depression. The authors focused on women because they tend to be much more…
First Impressions: The Science of Meeting People
A strong handshake and assertive greeting may not be the best way to make a good first impression. Social psychologist Amy Cuddy of Harvard Business School is studying how we evaluate people we meet. When we meet individuals or groups for the first time, we mostly evaluate two metrics: trustworthiness and confidence. When we form a first impression of another person it’s not really a single…
Struggle For Smarts? How Eastern And Western Cultures Tackle Learning
The Experience in Japan In 1979, when Jim Stigler was still a graduate student at the University of Michigan, (Stigler is now a professor of psychology at UCLA), he went to Japan to research teaching methods and found himself sitting in the back row of a crowded fourth-grade math class. “The teacher was trying to teach the class how to draw three-dimensional cubes on paper,” Stigler…
Tips To Sleeping Like A Baby
There is an advertising-fueled medicine myth in America that a little pill can cure you. Sleeping pills are one of the more widely used meds prescribed to approximately 60 million people in the United States. However, these began coming under scrutiny when a British Medical Journal Online article in May triggered sleepless nights after reporting the association with some common sleeping pills to a four-fold increased risk of death—even…
My Teen Says All the Other Parents Are Allowing This
My daughter is 14 years old. She was recently invited to a party at a friend’s house. The problem is that I don’t really know the parents or the other kids very well. I am also worried about the level of supervision. The girl throwing the party has older siblings who will probably be there so there will be teens of all ages there which increases the chance…
What You Need To Succeed
Whether you succeed at work may depend on many factors—intelligence, empathy, self-control, talent and persistence, to name a few. But one determinant may outweigh many of these: how you perceive those around you. A Key Component of Achievement – Psychological Capital Psychological capital reflects our capacity to overcome obstacles and push ourselves to pursue our ambitions. It is a mixture of efficacy (self-confidence) resilience (you believe…
How To Feel Good When Things Go Bad
Life’s twists and turns can be scarier than any rollercoaster ride out there. Without warning, a perfectly fine—even good—life can take a turn for the worse. Whether you are faced with a lost job, failed health, or personal rejection, such a blow can knock you off your feet. And you might find it almost impossible to get up, never mind feel good about moving on.…