An analysis of 800 million anonymous twitter messages has shown that over the 24 hours of the day our mood changes following cycles. We knew about cycles for body temperature, sleep, appetite, secretion of certain hormones and some mood aspects, but we did not know about cycles for anger, sadness, tiredness. The cycles are specific...
n nature biodiversity helps guarantee that the response to environmental factors will be varied. If we only had one type of tree, say palm trees, the first time that temperatures fall below zero all palm trees would disappear and so good bye to all trees as well. Thanks to biodiversity we have many types of...
Spending too much time alone is not considered to be a good thing for one’s health and it may have lasting negative psychological effects. By isolating oneself, one does not acquire techniques that help one to get along in the world of today. Studies say that there are various types of social isolation and not...
Researchers wonder why the human race is so clever. Some believe that cooking food (in the last few hundred thousand years) improved nutrition so much that a big leap forward was taken. A cooked potato is much more nutritious than a raw one. Maybe it was the discovery of agriculture that nourished our intelligence. Or,...
Various studies have attempted to establish what happens when two people look at one another in the eye. If we feel we are being observed a process is triggered that increases our self-awareness, improves our memory, makes us more altruistic and more honest. Our interpretation of outside events is more personal and inclusive. Someone’s gaze...
Some children find it easy to study and get good grades at school while other children find it easy to have lots of friends and have what psychologists call social skills. A trait that is strongly associated with good academic results and social skills is the quality of the kindergarten that children go to as...
It was thought that the ‘desire’ and ‘attention’ sequence was one-way: if you desire something then you focus your attention on that thing. Now we learn that it is two-way. If you focus your attention on something that is potentially desirable, but that in that moment you do not desire, the desire to have/do that...
In today’s hectic world we often feel we don’t have the time to do everything we want. Studies show that this is not due to a true lack of time. Irrespective of the number of things we actually have to, do the feeling arises from an emotional conflict connected with these activities which makes us...
A study involving 775 people aged 18-91 years concludes that difficulties in establishing social ties is a risk for physical health just as smoking, hypertension, lack of physical exercise or obesity are. We knew about the association with mental health (depression and anxiety). Difficulty in social relations was examined in 4 ways: difficulty in offering...
Some of our most important decisions are based on intuitions. Can I trust this guy? Did he do it on purpose or not? Shall I hire this chap or the other one? A study was conducted to understand the extent to which voice and way of speaking condition an audience, over and above what is...
