Posts by Neil Petersen

OK, guys, let’s all just take a step back and a deep breath about this whole clown thing. Yes, I’ll start by acknowledging the obvious: no one wants to be chased home by a clown wielding a machete. Still, you know things have gotten out of hand when Ronald McDonald goes into hiding. In fact,…

One recipient built himself prosthetic goat limbs and spent several days grazing among a herd of goats. Another investigated the perceived personality traits of rocks. Surprising as it may be, I’m not listing Nobel Prize winners. Rather, these are recipients of the 2016 Ig Nobel Prize, an award for “achievements that make people laugh, and…

A growing theme in education research is that having the right personality traits is as important as intelligence in academic success. Smarts help, but they aren’t necessarily enough if you want an A. Rather, traits like conscientiousness that have to do with working hard and wanting to do a good job are just as important.…

People use different coping strategies to deal with stressful events, and some people use coping strategies more than others. Three techniques for keeping perspective through the ups and downs of life that have been studied are: Mindfulness: Staying aware in the present moment Reappraisal: Finding ways of reinterpreting negative events to give them more positive…

Just try running a behavioral study on cats. It’s like, well, herding cats. For the sake of scientific progress, though, a team of Finnish researchers did it anyway, trying to determine: are there reliable ways to tell when cats like food and when they don’t? Answering this question would make it easier for other researchers…

When you’re trying to solve a problem, there are a couple ways you can get to a solution. Sometimes you have to fight your way forward one step at a time. Other times the light bulb just goes off over your head and you know the answer. Albert Einstein was famous for having the light…

If you think psychologists don’t do enough research with practical applications, you’ve got another think coming. A team of researchers from Gettysburg College have just published a study on a topic we can all get behind: how to get the most enjoyment out of a bite of chocolate. The secret? Being mindful, it turns out.…

Ever feel like everyone’s looking at you? More often than not, no one is paying as much attention to you as you’re paying to yourself. But we’re not always good at differentiating between when we’re judging ourselves and when other people are judging us. In fact, according to a new study from University of Oxford,…

Sleep paralysis is about as much fun as it sounds like. It refers to a state people can experience while falling asleep or waking up where they are conscious but can’t move or talk. During sleep paralysis, it’s also common for people to hallucinate, feel intense pressure on their chest, and be filled with fear.…

It’s no secret that having a negative body image can lower your self-esteem and make you depressed. But a team of researchers from Turkey recently decided to ask a question that took things one step further: does body image impact quality of life? Asking whether body image is related to quality of life is different…