Behavioral Psychology
People Care More About Climate Change After Experiencing a Hurricane
Climate change is an interesting psychological case study. It’s a big, scientifically unambiguous problem, but we’re more or less content to ignore it and go on with our lives as usual. Part of the reason for this nonchalance is that, for now, the effects of climate change seem distant and abstract. We all have immediate…
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Quitting Smoking Can Set Off a Chain Reaction of Positive Mental Health Changes
There are obvious physical health benefits that come with giving up tobacco, but it turns out there are some mental health benefits too. Researchers have consistently found a link between quitting smoking and positive mental health outcomes. For example, a meta-analysis of 26 studies published in 2014 found that smoking cessation was associated with lower…
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Four Types of Bad Driving
All good drivers are alike, but every bad driver drives badly in their own way, to paraphrase Tolstoy. Now, a pair of psychologists from Louisiana State University have come up with a questionnaire for measuring the different ways people drive badly. In their research, the psychologists identified four main types of bad driving that occur…
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Why Do Religious People Report Higher Rates of Porn Addiction?
Pornography addiction is a hot debate (no pun intended!) because it gets at two themes that tend to stir up a lot of moralistic opinions: sex and the growing role of technology in our daily lives. In the media, there has been a rise in the idea that people commonly become addicted to porn in…
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Social Ostracism Linked to Internet Addiction
To understand people’s online behavior, it’s worth looking at what’s happening in their offline lives. That’s one takeaway from a new study published in the journal Psychiatry Research showing a relationship between social ostracism and internet addiction. Previous research has suggested that social factors play into excessive internet usage. As the authors point out, studies…
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First Coffee, Then Alcohol for Teens?
There’s a new study out on coffee, the drug so popular we don’t even think of it as a drug. According to the study, caffeine consumption in early adolescence might be linked with alcohol consumption a year or two later. As far as drugs go, coffee generally isn’t so bad. In fact, it has even…
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Extraversion: Can You Fake It ‘Til You Make It?
Our society tends to value people who are social, outgoing, and action-oriented – that is, extraverts. Indeed, there’s plenty to like about being extraverted. Extraverts enjoy higher levels of happiness on average, partly because they have higher levels of social support. But is extraverted behavior an ideal that we should all strive for? In the…
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Materialism and Gambling
There are different ways we can talk about gambling. For example, we can talk about the way it’s similar to other compulsive and addictive behaviors. But one aspect we talk about surprisingly little is that gambling is, on some level, about money. A new paper in Journal of Gambling Studies takes this angle. As the…
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Giving Advice Might Be Better Than Receiving It
You find yourself in a situation where you’re struggling. You don’t know what to do. Your confidence is starting to flag. Is it time to seek out some advice from other people? Actually, it might be time for you to give advice. In a new paper titled Dear Abby: Should I Give Advice or Receive…
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The Dark Side of Celebrity Worship
We live in a society that is obsessed with celebrities. But if you have concerns that idolizing someone you’ve never met might not go hand-in-hand with good mental health, you could be on to something. People differ in the extent to which they care about celebrities. Research on the topic has consistently indicated that having…
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