All articles tagged with #psychology
The Guardian reports that experts describe modern societies as 'grief-phobic,' avoiding discussions about death despite its inevitability. This avoidance creates significant anxiety for individuals, as illustrated by a friend’s visible discomfort when a colleague discussed her mother’s passing. The article argues that normalizing conversations about mortality is essential for reducing fear and improving emotional resilience.
A controlled experiment by Marina Weiler at the University of Virginia tested whether people having out-of-body experiences could see hidden images in another room. Participants failed to identify the images better than chance, though two individuals reported strange, unexplained observations.
Netflix has released the first trailer for 'The New Stanford Prison Experiment,' an unscripted reality series premiering on October 21. The show adapts the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment, placing 30 participants in a real prison facility where they are randomly assigned as guards or prisoners. The series, produced by Alfred Street Industries, consists of six 45-minute episodes and explores whether ordinary people conform to abusive power dynamics or maintain their morality under pressure.
A study of 796 Polish adults finds that higher autistic-like traits correlate with less frequent use of positive relationship-maintenance behaviors, such as affection and gifts. This link is mediated by insecure attachment styles rather than broad evolutionary reproductive strategies.
A new study argues that age-related memory lapses are not signs of decline but evidence of a new developmental phase where the brain prioritizes emotional regulation and wisdom over detailed recall.
A 16-year-old boy with highly superior autobiographical memory (HSAM) was found to have an unusually high rate of involuntary memories. His spontaneous thoughts were 87% about his past, compared to 39% in a control group, suggesting HSAM is driven by heightened cue sensitivity rather than general distractibility.
A new study analyzing over 16,000 online responses from individuals who previously experienced suicidal thoughts identifies four key themes that helped them stay alive: concern for others, appreciation of sensory pleasures, positive foresight, and negative emotions like fear or anger. Researchers from the University of Maryland suggest these findings can help clinicians better assess risk and support patients by focusing on small, tangible reasons to live.
The piece outlines eight traits—shy, quiet, vulnerable, curious, empathetic, impatient, hopeful, and imaginative—that commonly describe people who form close bonds with AI chatbots. It notes AI can offer a safe space for conversation and learning, especially for introverts and creatives, but warns that reliance on AI could deepen loneliness for vulnerable individuals, referencing Stanford research on these dynamics.
Psychologists debate what a messy bedroom says about a person: Jordan Peterson links recurring mess to struggles with daily tasks, while Sam D. Gosling argues the physical space reflects personality traits; Kathleen Vohs suggests disorder can spur original thinking, echoing Einstein’s famously cluttered desk. The consensus is nuanced: clutter can indicate flexibility and creativity, but a new or drastic change in organization may signal mental health concerns such as depression, so clutter isn’t inherently good or bad.
Harvard Business School research suggests that asking insightful, open-ended questions—not trying to impress with wit—is key to being likable. Behavioral scientist Alison Wood Brooks outlines ten questions (adapted from Arthur Aron’s 36 questions) designed to prompt others to talk about themselves and feel understood. When you listen, follow up, and invite vulnerability, you trigger reciprocal liking and create more engaging conversations.
A study of 212 university students found that Dark Triad traits (Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism) do not directly predict real-world creative achievement. Instead, these traits are linked to a field-independent cognitive style that helps individuals filter out contextual distractions, and this thinking style mediates higher creative achievement across multiple domains. The relationship is cross-sectional, so causality can’t be established, and the sample was non-clinical; the researchers caution against viewing dark traits as universally beneficial and note future work should explore broader models of dark personality.
A series of four experiments shows that even tiny, lasting meaning—like saving a child’s artwork in a box—can boost effort and persistence in both children (ages four to nine) and adults. Participants preferred outcomes that would endure and were more willing to tackle harder tasks when they believed their work mattered, indicating that the need for meaning may be a fundamental, early-developing driver of motivation with implications for education and everyday activities.
Chronic illness and aging disrupt self-identity and future plans, often triggering grief and internalized stigma. The article uses Meaning Reconstruction Theory to show that healing comes from combining acceptance of bodily change with reaffirming purpose, through therapy, honest discussion with loved ones, and reimagining activities to fit a changed body. It highlights that chronic pain is common and that rebuilding meaning—by integrating loss and reframing goals—can enable living well despite illness.
AI-generated food photos are going viral but may repulse consumers: studies show small imperfections trigger the uncanny valley and food neophobia, making AI menus appear less appetizing and potentially harming diners’ trust and restaurants’ reputations; experts advise brands to favor authentic photos or simple illustrations over slick AI imagery.
TikTok users say skipping showers boosts attraction through “pheromone maxxing,” but experts warn there’s no solid evidence that pheromones drive human attraction; scent preference is personal and not a guaranteed method to attract partners. Regular hygiene remains prudent, and many so-called looksmaxxing practices cited in the piece are controversial or unsupported by science.