Psychology

Why Pain Rewards

Why do we seek out challenging experiences in the outdoors? And why does the pain, suffering and risk make them more rewarding? We talked to a leading sports psychologist to find out. After a disappointing defeat on Grand Teton last year, Scott, Issac, Ryan, and I were determined to return and climb this mountain. But…

P-phubbing Is Ruining Your Relationships

Have you ever p-phubbed? You know, snubbed your partner by checking your phone during your date? Or leaving your iPhone out within reach while you’re on the sofa snogging? Now two researchers say there’s strong evidence that your p-phubbing is wrecking your relationships and making you depressed. The term phubbing became wildly popular in Australia…

A Lot of Published Psychology Results are Bullshit

Science is a messy, error fraught business, which is why reproducibility is so essential. Unfortunately, that doesn’t appear to be one of psychology’s strong suits, according to a massive analysis published yesterday in Science. A years-long effort to reproduce more than 100 psychology studies across three leading journals paints a pretty dismal picture. When re-tested…

In 1979, An Entire Science Class Went ‘Berserk’ After Being Hypnotized

The bizarre case has gotten new attention thanks to a new Discovery+ documentary, The Devil's Academy .

Is There Really an Equation for Staying in Love?

Psychologists John and Julie Gottman spent years observing couples’ behavior and developed a method that claims to predict a romantic relationship’s chances of long-term success. They’ve (of course) used what they learned to create a $750-per-couple workshop that aims to help people become better partners. In an article at Huffington Post Highline, Eve Fairbanks traces…

When Did You Last Share a Gaze With Someone for More Than a Few Seconds?

A recent study found that extended bouts of eye contact could trigger “dissociative symptoms, dysmorphic face perceptions, and hallucination-like strange-face apparitions.” Sounds like a fun experiment to try at home, right? Maybe—if you can stomach ten minutes of direct eye contact. For the study, Italian psychologist Giovanni Caputo had 20 people stare into one another’s…

This Week’s Puzzle Puts Your Logical Reasoning to the Test

Don’t answer this puzzle too quickly. Read the question closely, and consider your answer carefully (especially if you’ve seen this kind of puzzle before). Sunday Puzzle #45: A Devious Selection Task This week’s puzzle is a twist on a logic problem devised in 1966 by cognitive psychologist Peter Cathcart Wason (we’ll talk more about its…

A Disturbing Number of Americans Are in Pain

An analysis conducted by the U.S. National Institutes of Health has found that an alarming number of Americans experience varying levels of pain on a regular basis. Not surprisingly, people who suffer from frequent bouts of severe pain are also having to cope with diminished health. The new study, which now appears in the Journal…

“Brainwashing,” and Other Psychological Terms to Avoid 

In a review published in Frontiers in Psychology, Emory University psychologist Scott O. Lilienfeld and his colleagues have compiled a helpful list of “inaccurate, misleading, misused, ambiguous, and logically confused words and phrases… ” to avoid, or avoid using incorrectly, with detailed explanations why. We provide corrective information for students, instructors, and researchers regarding these…

For Some Items, Buying Online Can Actually Add to the Shame Factor

The privacy that comes from buying things online allows people to purchase all kinds of things they normally wouldn’t, right? Not quite. In some cases, buying something online can make you try even more strenuously to avoid the purchase in future than you would if you bought it in public. Online purchasing lets people buy…

The Animal-Lover’s Dilemma: I Don’t Eat Meat, but My Pet Does

When moral philosopher Gary Steiner first adopted his cat Pindar, the vet advised him to put the cat to sleep. A rescue animal, Pindar had tested positive for FIV (feline AIDS) and feline leukemia, and has since developed other chronic health issues, including kidney disease. Steiner decided to keep Pindar, triggering an ethical dilemma he…

Only Four-Year-Olds Truly Know Whether They’ve Gotten a Bad Deal

You probably lost the ability to recognize a bad deal before you got into kindergarten. This experiment shows that they’re able to emotionally understand when hard work has earned something that’s not worth having—but it turns out in this instance, four-year-olds are wiser than six=year-olds. This experiment, conducted by Gonda Brain Research Center, put children…

Rudeness Is Contagious

We experience rudeness and incivility all the time. From simple insults and offhand remarks to purposely excluding others from groups, these behaviors are largely tolerated in our daily lives and in the workplace. The question is, what effect do these behaviors have on us? It’s pretty clear that high-intensity negative behaviors like abuse, aggression and…

Testing Kids for “Potential Depression” Seems Like a Bad Idea

What if you lived in a world where every kid got tested for potential depression when they were in elementary school? This video, from Binghamton University, describes new research on how we’d do it. The researchers created a test that’s designed to determine whether children of depressive parents will also suffer from depression. So the…

How the Largest U.S. Association of Psychologists Colluded in Torture

Earlier this year, news broke that American Psychological Association had secretly collaborated with the U.S. government to make a legal and ethical case for torture in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks. Here’s what we now know—and what we can do to prevent it from happening again. In November 2014, the Board of Directors…

Here’s What Breaking Up Does to Your Brain

When the love of your life dumps you, you’re going to go a little nuts. But it’s a very specific form of crazy: There are actually conflicting neural systems active inside your brain. It’s like you’re falling in love all over again, only in reverse. Here’s how neuroscience explains it. Addicted to Love It doesn’t…

How a Human Scream Uniquely Activates the Fear Response in Your Brain

We know human screams are jarring. They’re loud, occasionally shrill, and tend to make us feel stressed, or even fearful. What’s unclear is why they elicit anxiety. But a new study suggests this response may have something to do with the acoustic quality of human screams, and how they trigger the brain’s fear response. According…

How to Cope With an Existential Crisis

Despite the weirdness of existence, most of us are able to get on with our lives and avoid debilitating feelings of despair, personal failure, and cosmic meaninglessness. But every once in a while we’re tugged out of our complacency and forced to re-evaluate our lives. Here’s what you need to know about existential crises, and…

Are you a heterosexual woman? University of Liverpool psychologists Minna Lyons and Jessica Green would love you to help them figure out how a woman’s personality affects how she chooses a partner. The anonymous survey takes about 10 to 20 minutes to complete. Contact the author at [email protected].

Your Fear of Radiation Is Irrational

Radioactivity stirs primal fears in many people—but an undue sense of its risks can cause real harm. Bad Gastein in the Austrian Alps. It’s 10am on a Wednesday in early March, cold and snowy – but not in the entrance to the main gallery of what was once a gold mine. Togged out in swimming…