Psychology Latest Posts
This is what happened to fathers’ hormone levels when they watched their kids play football
By Christian Jarrett The effect of playing sport on men’s testosterone levels is well documented. Generally speaking, the winner enjoys a testosterone boost, while the loser experiences the opposite (though far less studied, competition unsurprisingly
Most of us have some insight into our personality traits, but how self-aware are we in the moment?
Correlations between momentary self-views and observed behaviour, from Sun and Vazire, 2018. By guest blogger Jesse Singal Your ability to accurately understand your own thoughts and behaviour in a given moment can have rather profound consequences.
A brief jog sharpens the mind, boosting attentional control and perceptual speed. Now researchers are figuring out why
By Christian Jarrett If you wanted to ensure your mind was in top gear, which do you think would provide the better preparation – 15 minutes of calm relaxation, or a 15 minute jog? A
Students’ mistaken beliefs about how much their peers typically study could be harming their exam performance in some surprising ways
By Christian Jarrett A lot of us use what we consider normal behaviour – based on how we think most other people like us behave – to guide our own judgments and decisions. When these
Students’ mistaken beliefs about how much their peers study could be harming their exam performance
By Christian Jarrett A lot of us use what we consider normal behaviour – based on how we think most other people like us behave – to guide our own judgments and decisions. When these
A cartography of consciousness – researchers map where subjective feelings are located in the body
Bodily feeling maps, from Nummenmaa et al, 2018 By guest blogger Mo Costandi “How do you feel?” is a simple and commonly asked question that belies the complex nature of our conscious experiences. The feelings and
“My-side bias” makes it difficult for us to see the logic in arguments we disagree with
By Christian Jarrett In what feels like an increasingly polarised world, trying to convince the “other side” to see things differently often feels futile. Psychology has done a great job outlining some of the reasons
Similarity in shame and its repercussions across 15 world cultures points to the emotion’s survival function
The 15 sites the researchers visited to study shame, from Sznycer et al 2018 By Emma Young Shame feels so awful it’s hard to see how it could have an upside, especially when you consider specific
There’s a fascinating psychological story behind why your favourite fictional baddies all have a truly evil laugh
By guest blogger David Robson Towards the end of the Disney film Aladdin, our hero’s love rival, the evil Jafar, discovers Aladdin’s secret identity and steals his magic lamp. Jafar’s wish to become the world’s most