Are you better off when you’re pissed off?
bsp; We're all well aware of the downsides of anger but aren't there times when getting pissed off could be a really good idea? What's the upside to anger? Anger focuses attention on rewards, increases persistence, makes us feel in control and more optimistic about achieving our goals. Angry people are more logical and rage, believe it or not, can make you more open-minded. For brief periods it makes you more creative. Sometimes it can improve your ability to negotiate.…
1 min read
How happy will you be two years after getting married?
bsp; Same as you were before getting married. Via Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth: Richard Lucas, a researcher from Michigan State University, examined life satisfaction data from tens of thousands of people across many years of their lives. He found that married people are about as happy as they were before they were married. Join 25K+ readers. Get a free weekly update via email here. Related posts: What size diamond ring provides the most happiness? What simple thing kills many…
1 min read
If money is very important to you is it harder to achieve happiness?
bsp; Unless you're making ~250K or more per year, yes. Via Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth: "...it is harder for materialists on average to be happy at the same level of income as nonmaterialists because they very often feel as though they need more money, no matter how much they have." Join 25K+ readers. Get a free weekly update via email here. Related posts: 8 ways that money can buy happiness What are your relationships worth, in dollars? At what…
1 min read
Who’s better at pretending to be the other side: conservatives or liberals?
bsp; Conservatives and moderates understand liberals better than liberals understand them. Those who identified as "very liberal" performed notably worse than anyone else. Via The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion: In a study I did with Jesse Graham and Brian Nosek, we tested how well liberals and conservatives could understand each other. We asked more than two thousand American visitors to fill out the Moral Foundations Questionnaire. One-third of the time they were asked…
2 minutes
What are life’s 7 magic numbers?
bsp; Staying in touch every two weeks is what keeps friendships alive. 5 good things for every 1 bad things is the golden ratio for harmonious relationships. Yes, we are more likely to buy when the price is $1.99 instead of $2.00. Recounting three good things every day is the key to increased happiness. 0.7 is the female waist-to-hip ratio men find most attractive around the world. 10,000 hours is how long it takes to be an expert -- if…
1 min read
Are you doing all the wrong things to relieve stress?
at our brain wants in the short term is not usually a good solution long term. Via The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do To Get More of It: The APA’s national survey on stress found that the most commonly used strategies were also rated as highly ineffective by the same people who reported using them. For example, only 16 percent of people who eat to reduce stress report that it actually helps…
1 min read
Why do people order a cheeseburger, fries, dessert and a *Diet* Coke?
bsp; It's called a "health halo effect." As long as we have the feeling we're doing something healthy, we extend it to everything during that meal. Due to this, most people surveyed estimated that a cheeseburger with a salad had fewer calories than the cheeseburger alone. Via The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do To Get More of It: When we want permission to indulge, we’ll take any hint of virtue as a…
2 minutes
Are arranged marriages better?
rriages based on love start out with higher marks for closeness (70) but over time fall much further (40). Arranged marriages start off lower (58) but in the end rise almost to the initial scores for love marriages (68). Via The Art of Choosing: Usha Gupta and Pushpa Singh of the University of Rajasthan decided that this was a question worth exploring. They recruited 50 couples in the city of Jaipur, half of whom had had arranged marriages. The other…
2 minutes
