What makes you appear smarter and more sociable?
er at the judg.me blog they posted the results of some number crunching based on snap judgment reactions to photos. The results are a fascinating collection of the stereotypes we hold about appearance and personality traits/qualities. Here are some quick highlights: The average woman is seen as smarter and more sociable than the average guy. Redheads are seen as dumber than blondes. Women with dyed hair or short hair are seen as extroverted. Bald men are perceived as intelligent. Beards…
1 min read
5 Things Your Clothes Are Saying About You
me findings about clothes from psychological research: Different color clothing says different things about you. Most interesting is that studies show red has some pretty unique effects. For the most part, red seems to mean sex. Research shows it makes men more attractive to women. It makes women more attractive to men. It helps hitchikers get picked up. (More on the odd and interesting effects of red here.) Dressing young can make you healthier. Glasses make you look smarter but…
1 min read
5 Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Someone – Backed By Research
re are the things you can tell just by looking at someone As for personality, you can generally trust your gut when guessing extraversion, self-esteem, and religiosity. If you have a spontaneously taken photo of them you can add in agreeableness, emotional stability, openness, likability, and loneliness. Your predictions are probably more accurate when evaluating good-looking people. Who is a good leader? The face will tell you. (True for women as well as men.) Or just look at the earlobes. Not…
2 minutes
Can starving yourself for a while every day improve health, extend life and make you look good?
termittent fasting may have very powerful effects: Restricting caloric intake to 60-70% of normal adult weight maintenance requirement prolongs lifespan 30-50% and confers near perfect health across a broad range of species. Every other day feeding produces similar effects in rodents, and profound beneficial physiologic changes have been demonstrated in the absence of weight loss in ob/ob mice. Since May 2003 we have experimented with alternate day calorie restriction, one day consuming 20-50% of estimated daily caloric requirement and the…
3 minutes
This Quality Makes A Man Smarter, Faster, And A Better Lover
mmetry. (The more the left side of a man's body matches the right side, the more symmetrical he is. Take a close look at your face in the mirror and you'll notice that the two sides are not perfect twins.) Symmetry is a sign of good genes and one of the cornerstones of physical beauty. Via In Your Face: The New Science of Human Attraction: Men with symmetrical bodies apparently have a higher IQ, they run faster, dance better, sing…
1 min read
Watching TV Increases Empathy
s. Via an excellent piece by Jonathan Gottschall in the Boston Globe: As the psychologist Raymond Mar writes, “Researchers have repeatedly found that reader attitudes shift to become more congruent with the ideas expressed in a [fictional] narrative.” For example, studies reliably show that when we watch a TV show that treats gay families nonjudgmentally (say, “Modern Family”), our own views on homosexuality are likely to move in the same nonjudgmental direction. And it's not just TV. It's fiction, in…
2 minutes
Can anything in life ever surpass winning 14 gold medals?
ybe not. Research shows that extremely positive events can skew perspective so much that everything that follows pales in comparison. Maybe this is why many athletes have trouble staying retired. Via Sonja Lyubomirsky, author of The How of Happiness: As I was watching Michael Phelps receive his 14th gold medal – what a week! – this is what I was thinking: “How could anything in this 23-year old swimmer’s life ever top this?” And: “After he comes down from the…
1 min read
How To Be A Better Person: 7 Steps Backed By Research
all want to know how to be a better person. The science can be surprising. First, remember context, context, context. Your context dramatically affects your behavior, so manipulating it is the easiest, most painless way to change yourself. This is why the religious are nicer on Sundays and mentioning God makes people clean up their act. Thinking about your childhood (seriously, get a teddy bear) and seeing others do nice things can make you act more ethically. Our circumstances…
2 minutes
