Posts by Neil Petersen

Selfie takers may be revealing a lot more about themselves than they realize – at least, that’s the idea behind new research published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology. In the study, researchers asked 191 participants about their selfie-taking behaviors and personal characteristics. The researchers were especially interested in people’s motivations for taking selfies, and…

If you’re skeptical about the power of positive thinking, there’s a new study out that will give you something to, well, be positive about. It turns out that trying to create a “culture of happiness” where people are expected to look on the bright side of things not only doesn’t work – it actually has…

Sometimes getting along with people is an exercise in knowing what not to say. If you always say or do the first thing that comes to mind, you might find yourself losing a lot of friends. Based on what they called these “interpersonal functions of self-control,” a pair of researchers from the Netherlands and Austria…

Sometimes the best way to make yourself happy is to make others happy. Recently, an international team of researchers made some progress in zeroing in on why this may be the case. In their study, the researchers divided participants up into two groups. Then they started handing out cash. In one of the groups, people…

When people are asked how their abilities stack up against others’, psychologists have noticed a pattern: people tend to rate themselves as above average. Even though, of course, not everyone can be better than average. There are two ways of looking at this phenomenon. One is that people tend to inflate their views of themselves…

I’ve written before on here about how giving students more autonomy is one of the biggest favors teachers can do both for their students and themselves. When teachers structure their classes in a way that supports students’ autonomy, students end up with a more fulfilling experience and teachers report higher job satisfaction. Recently, a group…

To exercise or not to exercise – it’s a basic dilemma that usually comes down to how motivated you are. Staying in shape is partly a matter of motivation. This idea makes sense intuitively, and a systematic review of studies of older adults confirmed it recently. The review looked at studies exploring the question of…

What’s the key to coping with workplace stress? A good therapist? Meditation? Supportive friends? Getting a new job? Well, according to one theory, chocolate and essential oils can’t hurt. That’s the idea behind Code Lavender, a project that aims to fight burnout among health workers by giving people care packages when they experience stressful events…

Sometimes it’s best to leave the past in the past. At least, that’s what a new study from psychologists in the United Kingdom suggests. In the study, researchers had 372 participants complete a survey called the Temporal Focus Scale, which is designed to measure whether people are more focused on the past, the present or…