This Helpful Habit Works Wonders At Sharpening The Mind (M)
Half of Americans are already doing this common activity that helps preserve thinking skills.
Category: Social psychology
Social Interaction Gives You An Instant Boost, But There’s A Hidden Cost Later (M)
Scientists tracked people’s social interactions and emotions for two weeks to uncover the truth about the connection.
A Simple Mental Trick That Instantly Makes You Nicer — Even When You’re In A Hurry (M)
Time pressure transforms many people into social ice cubes, but there is a way around it.
The Stories That Transform Your Behaviour Without You Knowing
Reading certain stories can rewire your personality in measurable ways.
Reading certain stories can rewire your personality in measurable ways.
Losing yourself in a story can be a powerful way to change your own behaviour.
People who read a fictional story about a character who overcame barriers to voting were twice as likely to vote in an actual election a few days later.
Dr Lisa Libby, study co-author, said:
“Experience-taking can be a powerful way to change our behavior and thoughts in meaningful and beneficial ways.”
The key to experiencing fiction more powerfully is to literally ‘lose’ your sense of self in it.
In one experiment, people were asked to try and read in a cubicle where they could see themselves in a mirror.
Most people found it very hard to immerse themselves in the presence of their own reflection.
Dr Kaufman said:
“The more you’re reminded of your own personal identity, the less likely you’ll be able to take on a character’s identity.
You have to be able to take yourself out of the picture, and really lose yourself in the book in order to have this authentic experience of taking on a character’s identity.”
In the voting study, for example, participants read different versions of the story.
Some read a version written in the first-person with similar attributes to the readers to encourage identification with the character.
Others read a third-person version describing someone who was dissimilar to the readers.
The results showed that 65 percent of those who read the story they could identify with voted a few days later.
This was in comparison to only 29 percent of people who read the story that was harder to identify with.
Dr Libby said:
“When you share a group membership with a character from a story told in first-person voice, you’re much more likely to feel like you’re experiencing his or her life events.
And when you undergo this experience-taking, it can affect your behavior for days afterwards.”
The study was published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Kaufman & Libby, 2012).
This Conversation Skill Triggers An Ancient Love Response In The Brain (M)
Certain types of listening can trigger an immediate neurological response that bonds people together.
Research Reveals One More Reason To Be Honest
Many people tell half-truths to help smooth awkward social situations — but is it necessary?
Many people tell half-truths to help smooth awkward social situations — but is it necessary?
It’s OK to be honest with people, it won’t hurt their feelings as much as you think.
Most people predict that honesty will hurt other people much more than it actually does.
In fact, people enjoy having more honest conversations more than they expect.
Dr Emma Levine, the study’s first author, said:
“We’re often reluctant to have completely honest conversations with others.
We think offering critical feedback or opening up about our secrets will be uncomfortable for both us and the people with whom we are talking.”
The conclusions come from a series of experiments in which people were asked to be more honest for a period.
The authors write:
“…we randomly assigned individuals to either be (or imagine being) honest, kind, or conscious of their communication in every conversation with every person in their life for 3 days.”
The same results emerged again and again: it wasn’t as bad being honest with people as expected.
Most were surprised that increased honesty could often connect them more closely to others and did less harm than they thought.
Sometimes it was even pleasurable.
The authors write:
“Taken together, these findings suggest that individuals’ avoidance of honesty may be a mistake.
By avoiding honesty, individuals miss out on opportunities that they appreciate in the long-run, and that they would want to repeat.”
The study was published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General (Levine & Cohen, 2018).
10 Startling Studies Reveal The Colossal Power Of Social Pressure (P)
Social influence runs deeper — and lasts longer — than most people realise.
The Eye Gaze That Makes You More Attractive
People look more attractive when gazing in this way.
People look more attractive when gazing in this way.
Looking directly at someone makes you more attractive to them. People were particularly attracted to opposite-sex faces that were looking at them and smiling. Dr Claire Conway, the study’s first author, said:“When asked to think of examples of attractive facial characteristics, most people think of physical traits such as healthy looking skin, symmetrical features or a strong jaw. Here we show that gaze direction can also be important for attraction.”People in the study looked at a series of pictures in which faces were sometimes looking at the viewer and sometimes away (e.g. below).
Different facial expressions were also tested.
Dr Conway explained the results:
“Faces that were looking directly at the viewer were judged more attractive than faces with averted gaze. This effect was particularly pronounced if the face was smiling and the opposite sex to the viewer. This shows that people prefer faces that appear to like them and that attraction is not simply about physical beauty. It is possible that our brains are wired this way to allow us to invest our time in attracting members of the opposite sex who seem the most receptive to our interest in them.”
Related
The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B (Conway et al., 2008).This Tiny Head Shift Makes You Look More Attractive
Allure might be hiding in the angle of your face.
Allure might be hiding in the angle of your face.
Women look more attractive to men when they tilt their head down and look upwards slightly.
Men, though, should tilt their heads back a little and look down their noses to appear more attractive to women.
It is thought that the effect is down to the usual difference in height between men and women.
Looking upwards helps reinforce a woman’s femininity and looking downwards reinforces a man’s masculinity.
The study used computer-generated models of male and female faces that were tilted upwards or downwards.
Each face with a different tilt was evaluated by 130 people for attractiveness and masculinity.
Male faces were judged more masculine and attractive when tilted backwards while women’s faces benefited from being tilted downwards.
Dr Darren Burke, study co-author, said:
“We investigated whether looking at a face from different perspectives as a result of the height differences between men and women influenced perceived masculinity or femininity.
The research found the way we angle our faces affects our attractiveness to the opposite sex.”
Related
- 12 Personality Traits Science Says Make You Irresistibly Attractive (P)
- Love: 10 Studies That Unveil The Mysteries Of Passion, Attraction And Connection (P)
The study was published in the journal Evolutionary Psychology (Sulikowski et al., 2015).
Most People Have No Idea How Shockingly Obedient They Really Are (M)
Most people still do not believe the results of the Milgram study apply to them, decades later.
