Search

This article explores the psychology of secrets, revealing that the average person has about 13 secrets, five of which they have never shared with anyone. Research has shown that secrets can have psychological effects, with brooding about a secret being the most harmful aspect. Secrets that evoke shame are more psychologically damaging than those that evoke guilt. The article also discusses the risks and benefits of confessing secrets, finding that people often overestimate how harshly they will be judged. It highlights the importance of choosing the right person to confide in, as some friends may be more likely to pass on secrets than others. Overall, the article provides insights into the nature of secrets and their impact on individuals. [Extracted from the article]

And this holds not just for the face but the body, too… Distorted bodies The team behind the face and personality research also asked 39 young female students to produce a body shape self-portrait. Body-hopping Very similar techniques can also lead people to flip into feeling that another person's face, hand, or even entire body has become their own. Find our Research Digest at www.bps.org.uk/ digest Editor: Dr Matthew Warren Writers: Emily Reynolds, and Emma Young Reports, links and more on the Digest website In 2020, we looked at the mistakes we make in seeing ourselves psychologically. [Extracted from the article]

At times, it feels that the world is awash with anger. However, circumstances can affect our perceptions of anger in others… Anger and bias We can misperceive anger. Of course, chronic illness could easily disrupt sleep, which, as we know, increases anger, but this is certainly not the first study to link anger (and the stress hormone cortisol, which is raised during anger) to increased general inflammation. [Extracted from the article]

Once again, tolerance appeared to be an intermediate state for participants: wellbeing was higher in the tolerance condition than it was in the discrimination condition, but not as high as in the acceptance condition. Proprioception Proprioception - the sensing of the location of our body parts in space - has been relatively ignored, but it's critical for confidence in using our bodies. Research shows that a healthy vestibular system is important not only for balance but for our sense of being grounded inside a physical body; in fact, people with vestibular problems are more likely to report out-of-body experiences. Yoko Ichino, the ballet mistress at Northern Ballet, based in Leeds, teaches regular proprioception classes, during which students are required to practise complex moves with their eyes shut. [Extracted from the article]

"Conspiracy theory" label does little to stop people from believing 'Taken together, the present results…suggest that the label "conspiracy theory" is likely to be a consequence rather than a cause of (dis)belief in conspiracy narratives', the team writes. The label "conspiracy theory" is often slapped on unsubstantiated ideas. [Extracted from the article]

Research shows that environment-focused eco-anxiety and anxiety about the climate emergency, in particular, are having a significant psychological impact. When a group of protestors came together to fight against the quarrying of a region of ancient Swedish forest, their goal was to change the world around them. But despite the mental health toll these feelings can take, research also shows that eco-anxiety and climate anxiety can be important drivers of collective action. [Extracted from the article]

If you recognise that stressful challenges can sharpen your focus, strengthen your motivation, and offer learning and achievement opportunities, then you have a "positive" stress mindset. In contrast, viewing stress as unpleasant, debilitating and negative constitutes a "negative" stress mindset. A 2017 study led by Anne Casper found that when faced with a day that they know is going to be challenging, people with a positive stress mindset come up with coping strategies, boost their performance, and end the day feeling more energised. Alia Crum at Stanford University is one of the best-known advocates of the positive stress mindset. [Extracted from the article]

People living in areas where incomes are more similar tend to report greater wellbeing - and this holds not just for overall high-income regions, such as Scandinavian countries, but regions where money isn't used much at all, such as the Solomon Islands. The researchers think this could be because even though there is lower social mobility and also greater income inequality in the US compared with western Europe, Americans are greater believers in the possibility of social mobility. Matthew A. Killingsworth at the University of Pennsylvania, US, analysed data from more than 33,000 employed adults in the US, who had been asked to report on their own wellbeing at random timepoints via a smart phone app. [Extracted from the article]

In a preliminary study, 147 first-year business students, who met weekly in groups of six to work on leadership skills, rated the listening skills of everyone else in their group. So in subsequent studies, fresh groups of participants rated the listening skills of fictional people who were described as falling at various points on the introversion-extraversion spectrum. Extraverts are hugely sociable - they really care about their relationships, and possess outstanding social skills. [Extracted from the article]

The article offers information on several researches on topics including social psychology, social relationships, and Alzheimer's disease.