The Psychology of Eating Meat
There’s often some cognitive dissonance involved in the act of eating meat. On one hand, you might like animals and not want any of them to suffer. On the other hand, you might really enjoy eating them. So how do
What Can Science Tell Us About Intuition?
Intuition can be a valuable resource for making decisions. Don’t ask me how I know that, I just know it. In science, though, intuition only goes so far. In fact, it’s only really useful as long as it leads to
Cultural Ideas About Ownership Influence Memory
What does it mean to own something? It depends what society you’re in. In Western culture, ownership is strongly linked to ideas about individualism and personal identity. But the same isn’t necessarily true in other cultures, and it turns out
How Your Beliefs About Free Will Shape Your Decisions
One of the things we can learn from psychology is that a lot of different factors outside our control influence our behavior. And one of those factors itself is whether we believe factors outside our control are influencing our behavior.
A Psychological Profile of an Abusive Boss
Researchers working to determine whether abusive bosses share certain personality traits have ended up with some unexpected findings. Going into the study, the team of psychologists from University of Cambridge in the UK and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium guessed
Want to Forget Something? Keep Your Mind Active!
Forgetting gets a bad rap. We think of remembering as inherently better than forgetting. After all, no one aspires to be forgetful, right? But forgetting is actually one of the most important skills there is. It’s the way we move
Need A Nap? Science Thinks So Too
More and more of us in the Western world are sleep deprived. And that doesn’t mean just tired. According to WebMD, the average adult requires 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night for optimal rest. And contrary to what
A Drug to Prevent Alzheimer’s? A New Clinical Trial
Every 67 seconds someone in the US develops the disease, and an estimated 5.3 million Americans of all age groups currently have Alzheimer’s in 2015, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. More than likely we all know someone with the disease, or
Does Publication Bias Overstate the Effectiveness of Psychotherapy?
Depression is one of the most common mental health disorders in the US, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. And most of us have known a loved one, friend or acquaintance impacted by the disease. But depression can
Can Eating Fish Help Depression Risk?
A recent study published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health has suggested that eating a lot of fish may help reduce the risk of depression. Major depression is one of the most common mental disorders, with most families affected
