The study reported that average levels of extroversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness all went down from before the pandemic when compared to a year after lockdowns. Credit: TheVisualsYouNeed/Deposit Photos During the lockdowns of the pandemic, many researchers developed and tested interesting research questions. They collected data to test COVID-related hypotheses, and now many of those studies …
Continue reading Has the pandemic changed people’s personalities?
In one study, department store workers ate more unhealthy foods when they were working more demanding shifts. Is such a study likely to bean experiment, a quasi-experiment, or a correlational study?Credit: 22January/Shutterstock A Washington Post journalist integrated several health psychology studies in an article about the relationships between stress and eating. For many people, stress …
Continue reading Stress and food: experimental and quasi-experimental evidence
Does holding a comfort object actually reduce anxiety in adults? That's an empirical question! Photo: NDanko/Shutterstock Apparently, about half of American adults still have a childhood teddy bear, and 40% still sleep with it (we can look into the methodology of this survey in a later post!). Do such comfort objects provide anything beyond sentimental …
Continue reading Can a cuddly object or blanket reduce adult anxiety?
This fetus's facial expression would be judged as more of a cry or grimace. Photo courtesy of FETAP (Fetal Taste Preferences) Study, Fetal and Neonatal Research Lab, Durham University This fetus's facial expression would be judged as smiling (or lip-pulling). Photo courtesy of FETAP (Fetal Taste Preferences) Study, Fetal and Neonatal Research Lab, Durham University …
Continue reading “Fetuses smile for carrots but grimace over kale”
Credit: Ground Picture/Shutterstock Imagine sitting alone with your thoughts for 20 minutes. You wouldn't be allowed to distract yourself with a book, phone, or even walking around. How much do you think you would you enjoy it? When this question was asked of participants in a series of studies, most reported that they'd not enjoy …
According to the study, which personality trait is associated with upbeat, danceable music? Credit: Prostock-studio/Shutterstock This splashy heading from Inc.com reads: Here's what your taste in music says about your personality, according to a huge new study. whether you like Mozart or metal really does reveal something about your personality, new research finds This …
Continue reading What your taste in music says about your personality
The study found that both exercise and diet are important. Is the effect additive or interactive? Photo credit:Dragana Gordic/Shutterstock You might have heard someone claim that because they exercise regularly, they can eat whatever they want and still be healthy. When people say this, they seem to mean that either exercise OR diet can be …
Four months after Heller's story broke, the Tuskegee study was terminated with this letter. Credit: U.S. National Archives In this photo from the 1950s, a man participating in the study had his blood drawn. Credit: U.S. National Archives The year 2022 marks the 5oth anniversary of a major news event--journalist Jean Heller's story about the …
The study found that parents with more than two children experienced greater cognitive decline as they aged, compared to parents with only two children--at least in Northern Europe. Photo credit: fotoliza/Shutterstock The website Study Finds produces summaries of science research, publishing multiple summaries per day. This example concerns a study showing that how many kids …
Continue reading Having more kids linked to lower cognitive function
An example of politically polarized health outcomes occurred during the pandemic. Democratic-led areas were more likely to pass masking and lockdown mandates, and these areas later had lower COVID death rates compared to Republican-led areas.Photo credit: MikeEdwards/Depositphotos The American political system is polarized--increasingly so in the last few decades. Such polarization has gridlocked national politics …
Continue reading Life expectancy gap in different U.S. counties