Are Smart Extraverts the Biggest Liars?
In a way, lying is one of the most human acts. It draws on our unique cognitive abilities, from planning ahead to mentally simulating other people’s perspectives. Because lying...
How Does Alcohol Affect Social Anxiety?
A little liquid courage can take the edge off anxiety, but too much liquid courage can cause all sorts of problems. Self-medicating with the anxiety-reducing properties of alcohol has...
Mood Influences People’s Intentions to Exercise
You probably know that a little exercise can do a lot for your mood. And if you read the AllPsych blog often, you know that simply telling people not...
An Online Intervention for Overprotective Parents
A couple weeks ago, I wrote about how giving children less autonomy puts them at higher risk for anxiety. Now a group of psychologists in Australia have proposed a...
Positive Reinforcement May Be Key to Healthy Habits
A little more carrot and a little less stick may be the trick to maintaining a balanced diet, exercising more, and drinking less. That’s according to a new study...
Most People Think They’re Happier Than Average
We sometimes have trouble figuring out how to compare our own experiences with those of other people. That much is obvious from the study I wrote about earlier this...
People Underestimate Ability to Take Others’ Perspectives
As we go through life, we frequently find ourselves trying to guess what’s going on in other people’s minds. Our society runs smoothly partly because of people’s ability to...
Less Autonomy Could Mean More Anxiety in Youth
What’s one way to make a kid anxious? Give them less autonomy, apparently. A study of 88 children and adolescents between the ages of 6 and 17 has found...
Ignoring the News Makes People Care Less
With TVs, videos and online content all around us, we often find ourselves having to block out different kinds of media. After all, with the information overload that’s possible...
Older and More Altruistic?
There’s something intuitively satisfying about the idea that we become less self-centered as we age. It fits with the image that “older” also means “wiser.” And according to a...
