psychology

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What It Takes to Be a Good Assassin
 What It Takes to Be 
 a Good Assassin 
NEW STUDY

What It Takes to Be a Good Assassin

Lesson 1: Don't humanize your target

(Newser) - How do assassins kill strangers without a second thought or an ounce of guilt? A successful one convinces himself or herself that the victim is a target rather than a human, and that the killing is just another day's work, criminologists say in a new study . After reviewing cases...

Rats Will Rescue Friends in Distress
 Rats Will Rescue 
 Friends in Distress 
study says

Rats Will Rescue Friends in Distress

One rat will open the door for another stuck in water

(Newser) - Rats may not have the best reputation, but a new study suggests that they're actually pretty good citizens. Researchers found that if a rat is in distress in water, another will save it, according to a post in Science Daily . Researchers put one rat in a pool of water...

Study: The Stick Trumps the Carrot

But the stick may not have to be very big

(Newser) - Do people learn better by being rewarded for the right behavior—or punished for doing wrong? A new study offers a harsh answer: The stick beats the carrot. Researchers at Washington University of St. Louis had 88 students perform a challenging task. Some listened to a randomized bunch of clicks...

Going Out Alone Is Actually a Good Thing

Drop that fear of looking like a loser, researchers say

(Newser) - Sitting in restaurants or movie theaters all alone isn't nearly as depressing as you might think—in fact, researchers say, you'll actually like it. They decided this after surveying people about whether they preferred to engage in certain activities alone or with others, and then studying subjects' reactions...

'Power Posing' May Not Live Up to the Hype

Study can't replicate inspiring findings

(Newser) - A popular and inspiring 2012 TED Talk extolled the benefits of "power posing": That is, stretching your body into what researchers called "open, expansive postures" associated with dominance in order to feel more powerful. It's an encouraging idea, as the researchers put it, "that a person...

Did Science Just Discover a New Shakespeare Play?

Psych theory and text-analyzing software show 'Double Falsehood' may be Bard's

(Newser) - Did William Shakespeare pen Double Falsehood after all? Texas researchers say he probably did after comparing the play to "psychological signatures" they worked up for the Bard, Lewis Theobald (the supposed author), and Shakespeare contemporary John Fletcher. The study, published in Psychological Science , used text-analyzing software and psychological theory...

For Better Health, Be Awed
 For Better Health, Be Awed 
study says

For Better Health, Be Awed

Researchers also found awe can occur more often than you might think

(Newser) - News that's kind of, well, awesome: Research suggests that the feeling of awe offers a health boost, and it actually happens quite frequently. "Some people feel awe listening to music," University of California, Berkeley, researcher Dacher Keltner tells the New York Times , "others watching a sunset...

Why Dreams Fuel So Many Religions

 Why Dreams Fuel 
 So Many Religions 
study says

Why Dreams Fuel So Many Religions

And why "hearing voices" may not mean a person is ill

(Newser) - Religions throughout the world—and throughout history—have put dreams at the center of their belief systems, and researchers say there's a good reason for that. We do much of our intense dreaming during REM sleep, when the highly active brain acts almost like it's awake, writes Ross...

Actually, Liberals May Be Happier Than Conservatives

It's just that conservatives say they're happier: study

(Newser) - Who's happier, the left or the right? Years of research would say the latter—but a new series of studies is challenging the notion that conservatives are the more cheerful ones, the New York Times reports. The new research, published in Science , finds that while conservatives say they're...

Why Hungry People Want More Binder Clips
Why Hungry People
Want More Binder Clips
new study

Why Hungry People Want More Binder Clips

Study's name says it all: 'Hunger promotes acquisition of nonfood objects'

(Newser) - You probably know that walking into a grocery store on an empty stomach is unwise. Now a new study suggests walking into a mall while hungry is just as bad—at least for your wallet. The study's title sums up the finding: "Hunger promotes acquisition of nonfood objects....

Spanish Is the Happiest Language
 Spanish Is 
 the Happiest 
 Language 
study says

Spanish Is the Happiest Language

Scientists' analysis of websites suggests as much

(Newser) - If you're in a foul mood, it might be time to learn Spanish. Languages, and the people who use them, tend to favor using positive words over negatives, researchers find, and they've learned that that's particularly true in Spanish. Experts at the University of Vermont and the...

Experts Stumped by 1M Young Japanese Unable to Go Out
 Experts Stumped by 
 1M Young Japanese 
 Unable to Go Out 

in case you missed it

Experts Stumped by 1M Young Japanese Unable to Go Out

Hikikomori phenomenon has been widespread since 1990s

(Newser) - Japan is grappling with a mysterious problem among young people. Some 500,000 to 2 million are affected by a condition that leaves them unable to leave the house—or even their rooms—for years at a time. It's called hikikomori, a word that has been commonplace in Japan...

The Way You Walk Can Change Your Mood
 The Way You Walk Can 
 Change Your Mood 
STUDY SAYS

The Way You Walk Can Change Your Mood

Researchers find a bouncier gait can affect happiness

(Newser) - Being happy may very well put a little bounce in our step, but new research suggests that if we purposefully walk this way we may be able to actually elevate our mood. Reporting in the Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry , researchers say they enlisted a group of volunteers...

That White Mug Makes Your Coffee Taste Bitter

 That White Mug 
 Makes Your Coffee 
 Taste Bitter 
in case you missed it

That White Mug Makes Your Coffee Taste Bitter

Cup color can affect flavor, study says

(Newser) - Forget the latest pour-over trend. A much simpler method could improve the taste of your coffee: To make it less bitter, it may be that all you need to do is change the color of your mug, researchers say. Psychology researcher George Van Doorn got the idea for his experiment...

Schizophrenia Isn&#39;t Actually One Disease
 Schizophrenia 
 Isn't Actually 
 One Disease 
study says

Schizophrenia Isn't Actually One Disease

Genetic research points to 8 disorders

(Newser) - Genetic research is paving the way to a "new era" in psychiatry, a researcher says, and that includes a different way of looking at schizophrenia: It's not one disease, but rather eight different ones, divided by their genetic profiles, a study suggests. Researchers reviewed genetic data from 4,...

There&#39;s No Such Thing as &#39;Comfort Food&#39;
 There's No Such Thing 
 as 'Comfort Food' 
STUDY SAYS

There's No Such Thing as 'Comfort Food'

Favorite foods don't lift moods, researchers find

(Newser) - Your favorite food hasn't really got the power to chase the blues away after a bad day, researchers say. A University of Minnesota team took a group of volunteers—most of whom were confident that their favorite "comfort food" could help lift their mood—showed them movie clips...

How the Media Can Help Stop Mass Murders

Gina Tron was once feared to be a killer

(Newser) - Gina Tron made headlines as a teenager when people mistakenly feared she planned to go on a killing spree at her high school. Now, she writes at Politico about how she enjoyed her brief fame—and how mass murderers seek media validation. If we stop offering them a platform, she...

Scientists Reveal Equation for Happiness

Literally: They developed a mathematical formula to predict it

(Newser) - How happy will you be at a given point in time? Scientists have come up with an equation to answer the question, or as they call it in the journal PNAS , "a computational and neural model of momentary subjective well-being." Mathematicians can marvel at the actual formula here...

Here's How We Quickly Judge Human Faces

Features lead to assumptions about character, study says

(Newser) - Have masculine or feminine features? A big smile? Characteristics like these, it seems, are central to our snap judgements of people's faces. Using a computer model, researchers have figured out how different features affect our first impressions, the BBC reports. The system is based on 1,000 pictures of...

Most Men Prefer Electric Shocks to Boredom

People couldn't stand 15 minutes with their thoughts

(Newser) - For a surprising number of people, 15 minutes alone with their thoughts appears to be a psychological ordeal so grueling they would rather give themselves an electric shock. In one of a series of experiments involving leaving people with nothing to do but think, a quarter of women and two-thirds...

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