A blog about human brains and behavior for students of psychology.
A couple weeks ago, I wrote about a study where people were asked to stand up during work meetings. The results of the study suggested that one factor contributing to the unhealthy amount of time people often spend sitting at
Some things in life, like building genuine connections with other people or having a job you love, can lead to an ongoing sense of happiness. Other things, like chasing power and money, can make you feel good in the short-term
How do people’s experiences in life shape their expectations surrounding death? One way of shedding light on that question is by following how people’s fear of death changes over time. Some researchers have hypothesized that people become gradually more fearless
People aren’t always good at predicting the impact their actions will have on themselves and others. I wrote about one example earlier this week, where introverts tended to be overly pessimistic about how much they’d enjoy social interactions. Another example
Why do people vary in their tendency to seek out opportunities to interact with others? A reasonable explanation would be that extraverts simply enjoy social interactions more than introverts do. To some extent, this appears to be the case. But
In a time where we carry smartphones that provide a constant stream of information about our lives, it’s worth asking: what can you tell about someone’s mental health from their smartphone data? Obviously, their search history might tell you something.
If I tell you that a person is a specialist, does that person have to be male? The answer, of course, is no. “Specialist” is not a word with any gender connotation. Yet it turns out that many people associate
What do we worry about when we worry? More often than not, the future. Ruminating about what tomorrow holds is a familiar activity for people with anxiety. A logical question, then, is whether teaching people techniques for taking a step
With prolonged sitting being blamed as a culprit in heart disease and early death, medical professionals are increasingly pointing to standing at work as a practical step that people can take to improve their health. But what happens when an
How are you feeling right now? And how do you wish you were feeling? Not everyone gives the same answer to that second question. Different people value different emotional states. Some people seek out high-arousal emotional states like excitement and
