Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 08-09-2010 | 
|
Loading ...
People react to ideas they find offensive by reasserting familiar structures of meaning.
» Connect to an experienced life coach today - session starts FREE
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 01-09-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Email is a fantastic tool, but these ten psychology studies remind us of its dark side.
» Connect to an experienced life coach today - session starts FREE
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 19-08-2010 |
|
Loading ...
The online disinhibition effect has cost people their jobs, their income and their relationships, yet many are still oblivious to it.
» Connect to an experienced life coach today - session starts FREE
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 10-08-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Psychological research on Twitter reveals who tweets, how much, what they talk about and why.
» Connect to an experienced life coach today - session starts FREE
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 03-08-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Why people think they are less influenced than others by adverts and persuasive messages.
» Connect to an experienced life coach today - session starts FREE
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 28-07-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Central to the art and science of persuasion is understanding the unconscious goals for which everyone is aiming.
» Connect to an experienced life coach today - session starts FREE
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 20-07-2010 |
|
Loading ...
When you live in luxurious surroundings, have experienced the best restaurants and stayed in the most lavish hotels, it becomes more difficult to savour the simple things in life.
» Connect to an experienced life coach today - session starts FREE
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 14-07-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Please help with recruitment for research into online support groups and expressive writing.
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 09-07-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Experimental participants told they were wearing fake designer sunglasses twice as likely to cheat on a test.
» Connect to an experienced life coach today - session starts FREE
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 06-07-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Take part in UCL research into online support groups and expressive writing.
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 05-07-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Psychological research suggests bad habits can be controlled by vigilant monitoring.
» Connect to an experienced life coach today - session starts FREE
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 25-06-2010 |
|
Loading ...
How to see yourself as others do: experiments suggest alternative to flawed intuitive technique.
» Connect to an experienced life coach today - session starts FREE
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 22-06-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Trying to make connections? Here are seven more research based techniques to increase creativity.
» Connect to an experienced life coach today - session starts FREE
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 15-06-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Experiments cast doubt on the classic marker of a genuine smile.
» Connect to an experienced life coach today - session starts FREE
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 09-06-2010 |
|
Loading ...
New study finds memory improved by vocalising or sub-vocalising words.
» Connect to an experienced life coach today - session starts FREE
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 01-06-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Experiments reveal that simple superstitions like lucky charms can improve motor and cognitive performance.
» Get Online Counseling Now
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 26-05-2010 |
|
Loading ...
According to new research around 9 out of 10 of us have experienced earworms lasting an hour or longer.
» Get Online Counseling Now
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 19-05-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Without self-forgiveness procrastination enters a vicious circle.
» Reach 30,000 psychology lovers, find out about advertising on PsyBlog.
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 29-04-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Humans produce about 50 distinct types of smiles but there's one distinction that really matters: between real and fake.
» You can also follow PsyBlog on Twitter and Facebook.
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 28-04-2010 |
|
Loading ...
15% to 50% improvements in cognition from brief meditation.
» You can also follow PsyBlog on Twitter and Facebook.
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 27-04-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Decision-makers move away from the default after a delay.
» You can also follow PsyBlog on Twitter and Facebook.
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 26-04-2010 |
|
Loading ...
One of the most successful cars in the US is the hybrid electric Toyota Prius. On the surface there isn't much going for it: it has a sluggish engine, small trunk, cloth seats and it's certainly no looker.
» You can also follow PsyBlog on Twitter and Facebook.
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 22-04-2010 |
|
Loading ...
How do people come to believe that others are so much less trustworthy than themselves?
» You can also follow PsyBlog on Twitter and Facebook.
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 20-04-2010 |
|
Loading ...
New experiment finds 50% more lies on email than pen and paper.
It's hard to look someone straight in the eye and tell them a blatant lie. Those who can are marked out for more nefarious occupations. Like politics.
Over the telephone it's easier. In a diary study 77 people recorded their everyday social interactions, noting down [...]
»...
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 20-04-2010 |
|
Loading ...
New experiment finds 50% more lies on email than pen and paper.
» You can also follow PsyBlog on Twitter and Facebook.
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 15-04-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Research reveals what personal information Facebook users disclose, and who discloses the most.
» From PsyBlog's archives: The Cocktail Party Effect.
» You can also follow PsyBlog on Twitter and Facebook.
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 13-04-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Why material purchases are unsatisfying and what to do about it.
Buying stuff can be disappointing. After swallowing the hype, checking out the options and trolling for bargains, finally you've got [...]
» From PsyBlog's archives: The Cocktail Party Effect.
» You can also follow PsyBlog on Twitter and Facebook.
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 30-03-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Looking for the last piece of the puzzle? Try these 7 research-based techniques for increasing creativity.
Everyone is creative: we can all innovate given time, freedom, autonomy, experience to draw on, [...]
» From PsyBlog's archives: The Cocktail Party Effect.
» You can also follow PsyBlog on Twitter and Facebook.
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 25-03-2010 |
|
Loading ...
When you feel weak, stating core values can be a quick and easy self-control booster.
People are rightly obsessed with self-control because they intuitively understand what studies have proven: that it [...]
» From PsyBlog's archives: The Cocktail Party Effect.
» You can also follow PsyBlog on Twitter and Facebook.
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 23-03-2010 |
|
Loading ...
In 44% of married couples, at least one partner is secretly checking up on the other's online activities.
Flirting. Sharing relationship secrets with members of the opposite sex online. Pornography.
What do married couples consider unacceptable uses of the internet? Do they check up on each other? If so, how?
To find out Helsper and Whitty (2010)...
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 18-03-2010 |
|
Loading ...
New study shows that self-control can be automatically, unconsciously bolstered by abstract thinking.
Wouldn't it be great if we could just spontaneously and automatically exercise self-control, without all that painful back-and-forth battle with ourselves?
Just automatically resist that cake and choose the apple; or suddenly find ourselves out...
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 16-03-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Psychological research on cognitive fluency shows why easy to understand = more profitable, more pleasurable, more intelligent and safer.
Which of these would you say sounds like the more dangerous food additive: Hnegripitrom or Magnalroxate?
The majority of people say Hnegripitrom sounds more dangerous. It turns out that the word 'Magnalroxate'...
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 11-03-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Alcohol makes us attentionally 'short-sighted'—this helps explain its popularity and its variable effects.
We tend to think of alcohol as primarily a disinhibitor, but this can't really explain its varying effects. Sometimes it seems to make us loud and boisterous, sometimes quiet and contemplative, sometimes sad and depressed, along with all...
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 08-03-2010 |
|
Loading ...
"Easy things nobody wants, but what is forbidden is tempting." ~ Ovid
Back in the 60s and 70s, before the sexual revolution had really taken hold, the standard dating advice for women was play hard to get. In some quarters it still is.
Like the Roman poet Ovid 2,000 years earlier, social scientists in the 1960s accepted [...]
» From...
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 02-03-2010 |
|
Loading ...
PsyBlog is now on Facebook, right here.
If you're so inclined, you might like to add yourself as a fan. You might also feel a sudden burst of generosity towards me and spread the word about PsyBlog to your friends on Facebook.
The Facebook fan page for PsyBlog will contain the same updates that you can already [...]
» From PsyBlog's...
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 18-02-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Do people display their actual or idealised personalities on social networking sites?
There are now over 700 million people around the world with profiles on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. In the US 75% of those between 18 and 24 who have access to the internet use social networking sites. And over the past [...]
» From...
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 16-02-2010 |
|
Loading ...
The pressure to conform affects everyone. Understanding how and when puts you one step ahead of the pack.
Conformity is such a strong influence in society that it's impossible to understand human behaviour without it. Psychological experiments show that people will deny the evidence of their own eyes in order to conform with other people.
But as...
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 09-02-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Research shows both pro-Arabs and pro-Israelis watching the same news reports think it is biased against their own side.
The media may well be biased, in fact it would be a miracle if it were permanently and perfectly balanced, that isn't what this post is about.
Instead this is about how you and I perceive the presence [...]
» From...
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 08-02-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Update: Thanks for your interest in this study but recruitment is now closed.
Are you currently feeling a little under the weather, fed up or stressed?
Do you live in the United Kingdom?
Are you over 18?
Would you be interested in participating in an expressive writing study?
If so, read on...
About this research
Many studies have found that...
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 03-02-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Paradoxically we initially like narcissists more because of their exploitative, entitled behaviour—but it doesn't last long.
Despite being self-absorbed, arrogant, entitled and exploitative, narcissists are also fascinating.
And not just from a clinical perspective; the research finds that we are strangely drawn to their self-centred...
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 26-01-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Which is your favourite social psychology study?
Over the last 7 months I've been exploring 10 more of my favourite social psychology studies, each with an insightful story to tell about how our minds work. This follows on from an article I wrote two years ago (10 brilliant social psychology studies).
Key insights from each study are...
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 21-01-2010 |
|
Loading ...
How hustlers trick 3.2 million people each year in the UK into handing over £3.5 billion.
Good hustlers are excellent intuitive psychologists. Just like magicians they understand enough about how the mind works to exploit its vulnerabilities. Our fascination with hustlers is insatiable and, despite being criminals, they are frequently portrayed by...
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 19-01-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Classic social psychology experiment on Halloween shows how groups, anonymity, modelling and shifting of responsibility encourage people to cheat.
People will cheat for all sort of different reasons in all sorts of different ways — in love, in their finances and at work — but social psychologists are particularly interested in the general features...
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 07-01-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Three classic experiments show how stereotypes can influence our behaviour without our knowledge.
Despite their bad name, stereotypes can be handy short cuts that give us useful information about the world and other people. For example the stereotype of psychologists is that they are going to analyse you, then start meddling. There's certainly...
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 05-01-2010 |
|
Loading ...
Are you an independent person? Classic social psychology research suggests some people can't tell.
Why are people so blissfully ignorant of certain aspects of their personalities?
Take an everyday example: there are some infuriating people who are always late for appointments. A few of these people explain it by saying they are 'laid-back', while...
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 22-12-2009 |
|
Loading ...
On the first day of Christmas PsyBlog sent to me...12 psychology studies about Christmas (and no partridges or pear trees).
1. How to have a happy Christmas
We all want a happy Christmas (or cultural equivalent), but how do we get it? This research into happiness and Christmas suggests that a focus on spending and consumption is [...]
»...
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 15-12-2009 |
|
Loading ...
A modern test of an ancient bible story demonstrates the power of situations to trump personality in determining behaviour.
A fundamental mistake we often make when judging other people is assuming that their behaviour mainly reflects their personality. Unfortunately this ignores another major influence on how people behave staring us right in the...
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 14-12-2009 |
|
Loading ...
Sponsored post: new 'Stress Free' iPhone application available at Deepak Chopra Mobile.
Deepak Chopra, author and proponent of alternative medicine, is developing a new series of iPhone applications designed to tackle stress. The first in the series — 'Stress Free' — has just been released for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The app combines...
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 07-12-2009 |
|
Loading ...
We quickly sense how others view us and play up to these expectations.
A good exercise for learning about yourself is to think about how other people might view you in different ways. Consider how your family, your work colleagues or your partner think of you.
Now here's an interesting question: to what extent do you play [...]
» Positive...
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 30-11-2009 |
|
Loading ...
The stories we weave about our mental processes are logically appealing but fatally flawed more often than we'd like to think.
We all have intuitive theories about how our own and other people's minds work. Unfortunately psychological research demonstrates that these theories are often wrong. The gulf between how we think our minds work and how...
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 26-11-2009 |
|
Loading ...
Classic social psychology study explores our yearning to bask in the reflected glory of successful others.
Here in England we have a strange tradition called 'test cricket'. It's a ridiculous game that goes on for five days, stops for tea and bad light, has impenetrable rules, weird names for fielding positions like 'silly-mid-on' and...
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 24-11-2009 |
|
Loading ...
New psychology research demonstrates a direct effect of snack food adverts on increased consumption for both adults and children.
Nowadays the word 'obesity' is rarely seen in print without its partner-in-crime, 'epidemic'. The developed world seems to be intent on eating itself to death and no small proportion of the newly obese are children:...
Posted by Jeremy Dean | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 19-11-2009 |
|
Loading ...
Does mimicking other people's body language really make them like us?
Self-help books, persuasion manuals and glossy magazine articles often advise that mimicking body language can increase how much others like us. But is it really true that mimicry causes others to like us, or is mimicry just a by-product of successful social...
