How To Relieve Pain Using Psychology: 10 Tips From Research
me insights on how to relieve pain using psychology, with links to the studies: Clutch some money. Don't curl up in a ball. Sit up straight. Swear. Laugh. Listen to good music. Have a healthy relationship. Look at your body. Don't close your eyes when you get that injection. Look at a photo of a loved one. Better yet, get a massage from a loved one. Try being nice, overall. Pain hurts more if the person hurting you means it and doctors…
1 min read
How To Feel Better About Your Body, Backed By Research
ercise. I know what you're thinking: I knew that answer. Here's the interesting part: exercise improved people's feelings about their body even if they didn't lose weight or achieve noticeable improvements. They just felt better about it: Body weight, shape and body image were assessed in 16 males and 18 females before and after both 6 × 40 mins exercise and 6 × 40 mins reading. Over both conditions, body weight and shape did not change. Various aspects of body…
1 min read
This Is The Quickest Way To Become An Expert Negotiator
nice. We often associate negotiation with being tough or manipulative. While there are certainly situations where that's the case, a great deal of the recent research says we can improve our results by thinking more about making friends than waging war. A great deal of what it takes to influence others, gain their compliance and lead successful negotiations is just good advice on how to be a decent person. Be warm. We value warmth more than competence. Happy people…
2 minutes
Can teddy bears make you more ethical?
nt people to play nice and not cheat each other? Bring toys. Via Harvard Business Review: The finding: Adults are less likely to cheat and more likely to engage in “pro-social” behaviors when reminders of children, such as teddy bears and crayons, are present. The research: Sreedhari Desai and her research partner Francesca Gino had people play classic psychology games in which the subjects controlled how much money other people earned and could earn more themselves if they lied. Half…
1 min read
How can you figure out what your real long term goals are?
sualize your funeral and consider what you would want friends to describe as your legacy. Via Richard Wiseman's excellent book 59 Seconds: Change Your Life in Under a Minute: Asking people to spend just a minute imagining a close friend standing up at their funeral and reflecting on their personal and professional legacy helps them to identify their long-term goals and assess the degree to which they are progressing toward making those goals a reality. Join over 200,000 readers. Get a free…
1 min read
Here’s How You Can Quickly Relieve Stress
recently posted on how owning a dog is associated with a number of powerful health benefits. Turns out you don't even need a real dog to experience some of those effects. Watching a video of a cute animal can reduce heart rate and blood pressure in under a minute. Via Richard Wiseman's excellent book 59 Seconds: Change Your Life in Under a Minute: In an innovative study, Deborah Wells examined whether merely looking at a video of an animal can…
1 min read
The Science Behind Why Dogs Might Just Be Man’s Best Friend
g owners experience a wide range of health benefits. Via Richard Wiseman's excellent book 59 Seconds: Change Your Life in Under a Minute: After carefully following the recovery rates of patients who had suffered a heart attack, Friedmann discovered that those who were dog owners, compared to those without a canine pal, were almost nine times more likely to be alive twelve months later. This remarkable result encouraged scientists to explore other possible benefits of canine companionship, resulting in studies showing…
2 minutes
What everyday object can motivate you to work harder and be a better person?
mirror. From Willpower: Resdiscovering the Greatest Human Strength: When people were placed in front of a mirror, or told that their actions were being filmed, they consistently changed their behavior. These self-conscious people worked harder at laboratory tasks. They gave more valid answers to questionnaires (meaning that their answers jibed more closely with their actual behavior). They were more consistent in their actions, and their actions were also more consistent with their values. And: Whenever people focused on themselves,…
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