Which personality types live to be 100?
ople who are extroverted, optimistic and easygoing. via Eurekalert: "When I started working with centenarians, I thought we'd find that they survived so long in part because they were mean and ornery," said Nir Barzilai, M.D., the Ingeborg and Ira Leon Rennert Chair of Aging Research, director of Einstein's Institute for Aging Research and co-corresponding author of the study. "But when we assessed the personalities of these 243 centenarians, we found qualities that clearly reflect a positive attitude towards life.…
1 min read
10 steps to getting better at absolutely everything:
bsp; I've been doing a number of research compilations lately and in case you missed anything, here are the best of the bunch: What 10 things should you do every day to improve your life? What 10 things should you do every *week* to improve your life? What are seven things that can make you happier in seven seconds? 7 steps to being a better person Is improving your life as easy as changing how you sit or stand? 5…
2 minutes
Is dishonesty contagious?
o you hang out with does affect your ethical standards and, as is often the case, negative behavior influences us much more than positive behavior. Via The Boston Globe: If your mom warned you about running around with the wrong crowd, it turns out she may have been on to something: New research suggests that hanging out with immoral people can actually change your own standards for behavior. People who were made to relate to another person—whether by writing a…
2 minutes
10 Things That Will Prevent You From Getting Sick, Backed By Research
ok at pictures of sick people. Via The Consuming Instinct: What Juicy Burgers, Ferraris, Pornography, and Gift Giving Reveal About Human Nature: Being exposed to photographs of individuals spreading their germs (e.g., via sneezing or coughing) is sufficient to elicit a boost in one's immunological defense system. It's legit. Here's the study he's referring to: An experiment (N = 28) tested the hypothesis that the mere visual perception of disease-connoting cues promotes a more aggressive immune response. Participants were exposed…
2 minutes
What’s an easy way to increase attention span, relieve stress, reduce pain and feel better?
end time looking at nature. Via 100 Things Every Presenter Needs to Know About People: Mark Berman (2008) and a team of researchers had participants perform the backward digit-span task, which measures a person’s capacity to focus attention. Next, participants were asked to do a task that would wear out their voluntary attention. After that, some walked through downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan, and some walked through the city’s arboretum. The arboretum has trees and wide lawns (that is, it is…
2 minutes
Does a wandering mind make you more creative – and more unhappy?
ople whose minds wander a lot might be more creative and better problem solvers. Via 100 Things Every Presenter Needs to Know About People: Mind-wandering allows one part of the brain to focus on the task at hand, and another part of the brain to keep a higher goal in mind. Christoff (2009) at the University of California, Santa Barbara has evidence that people whose minds wander a lot are more creative and better problem solvers. Their brains have them…
3 minutes
Improve Your Life: 10 Things You Should Do Every Day
) Get out in nature You probably seriously underestimate how important this is. (Actually, there's research that says you do.) Being in nature reduces stress, makes you more creative, improves your memory and may even make you a better person. 2) Exercise We all know how important this is,…
3 minutes
Why do bad moods increase self-defeating behavior?
d moods sap your willpower which leads to greater risk-taking: Increased risk taking may explain the link between bad moods and self-defeating behavior. In Study 1, personal recollections of self-defeating actions implicated bad moods and resultant risky decisions. In Study 2, embarrassment increased the preference for a long-shot (high-risk, high-payoff) lottery over a low-risk, low-payoff one. Anger had a similar effect in Study 3. Study 4 replicated this and showed that the effect could be eliminated by making participants analyze…
1 min read
