A blog about human brains and behavior for students of psychology.
In December 2015, researchers asked 59 Argentinian adults to consider this description of a scenario featuring Argentina’s long-time football rival, Brazil. They meant it as a hypothetical exercise: Brazil and Peru are playing a football match. The match is decisive
If there’s a good side to suffering, it might be that it can make you more attuned to the suffering of others. A new study from researchers at City University of New York, University of Cambridge, and University College London
Loneliness has a bad rap, and it’s not entirely undeserved. The emotion of loneliness has been linked to both physical and mental health problems. As I wrote last year, for example, loneliness might contribute to the onset of depression. Not
You find yourself in a situation where you’re struggling. You don’t know what to do. Your confidence is starting to flag. Is it time to seek out some advice from other people? Actually, it might be time for you to
Waiting isn’t known for being fun. It’s not generally fun when you’re waiting in line at the supermarket, and it’s really not fun when you’re waiting for a piece of life-altering news like a job offer. In fact, previous research
Burnout at work is a common phenomenon, but it’s still one that mental health professionals don’t completely understand. Why do some people eventually become emotionally exhausted by their jobs? And is this a workplace problem or a mental health problem?
Psychology researchers have become increasingly interested in the idea that people who are more prone to feelings of shame and guilt are at higher risk for mental health conditions like anxiety disorders. The emotion of shame in particular is now
The United States is a country of immigrants. Throughout its history, it has been a society that gathers people from a diverse range of cultures. So what does that mean for the country’s culture today? For one thing, it apparently
Thinking scientifically involves putting forward logical explanations and dispassionately considering the evidence. But underlying scientific inquiry might be a more profound emotion: awe. Evidence for this idea comes from a study published this month in the journal Cognitive Science. The
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
