How To Quickly Increase Confidence And Self-Esteem:
what mom told you and sit up straight: Building on the notion of embodied attitudes, we examined how body postures can influence self-evaluations by affecting thought confidence, a meta-cognitive process. Specifically, participants were asked to think about and write down their best or worse qualities while they were sitting down with their back erect and pushing their chest out (confident posture) or slouched forward with their back curved (doubtful posture). Then, participants completed a number of measures and reported…
1 min read
Is there an easy way to increase insight and creativity?
ile: When we're nervous our attention tends to narrow. We stop noticing what's going on around the edges and only see what's right in front of us. This is true in both a literal and a metaphorical sense: when nervous or stressed we're less likely to notice ideas that are at the edge of our consciousness. But to gain insight into a problem, it's often precisely these peripheral ideas we need. Cue a smile. Smiling makes us feel good which…
1 min read
How to make sure you don’t choke under pressure:
e tips in this New York Times article were for golfers but I think the underlying ideas can be applied to most anything: Beilock suggested that golfers play games for small change with their friends on the practice putting green. If practicing alone, she said, a golfer ought to put some sort of incentive on the task, like promising to make 10 3-footers in a row before going home. “Anything that holds you to the consequences of not succeeding will…
2 minutes
Is stupidity contagious?
tching movies and TV shows about stupid people may temporarily make you stupider: Media priming refers to the residual, often unintended consequences of media use on subsequent perceptions, judgments, and behavior. Previous research showed that the media can prime behavior that is in line with the primed traits or concepts (assimilation). However, assimilation is expected to be less likely and priming may even yield reverse effects (contrast) when recipients have a dissimilarity testing mindset. Based on previous research on narrative…
1 min read
Can frowning when you’re happy make you more creative?
.The study shows that when bodily expressions are in conflict with one's actual feelings – such as recalling a happy memory while frowning or listening to sad music while smiling – people become more likely to accept and embrace atypical ideas. Kellogg researchers Adam Galinsky and Li Huang suggest that this "mind-body dissonance" sends a signal to the brain that something is out of sync and prompts it to break its normal cognitive boundaries. "Our minds are trained to operate within a 'normal'…
1 min read
Is ass-kissing good for your health?
is new research shows that when politically savvy professionals use the coping skill of ingratiation, they may neutralize ostracism and other psychological distress that other less savvy individuals have to cope with in the workplace. Ostracized employees experience more job tension, emotional exhaustion and depressed mood at work. Savvy career minded individuals have known for some time that ingratiating oneself to the boss and others -- perhaps more commonly known as 'sucking up'- can help move them up the corporate…
1 min read
What does your handshake say about you?
a NYT: People with high grip-strength scores are usually healthier than those with weak grips. “They live longer and recover faster from injury,” Gallup says. “They have reduced disability, higher bone density and greater fat-free body mass.” And in a study published this year, Gallup and his son Andrew — at the time an undergraduate psychology major — found that males with high grip-strength scores reported being more aggressive and dominant and had more masculine body types (broader shoulders, narrower…
1 min read
Is it easier to tell what beautiful people are really like?
autiful people are seen more positively than others, but are they also seen more accurately? In a round-robin design in which previously unacquainted individuals met for 3 min, results were consistent with the "beautiful is good" stereotype: More physically attractive individuals were viewed with greater normative accuracy; that is, they were viewed more in line with the highly desirable normative profile. Notably, more physically attractive targets were viewed more in line with their unique self-reported personality traits, that is, with…
1 min read
