Body Temperature, Stress and Social Connection

When we say that someone is “warm,” we can mean that in a literal, physical sense. We might also be saying that they’re friendly, sociable and kind. This link between temperature and psychological state isn’t just metaphorical. Psychologists have found several ways in which body temperature and emotions actually do correlate with each other. One…

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Optimism Predicts Healthy Aging

If you expect that the future holds good things, you might be right. It’s a common idea that optimism can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, and psychology research has tended to back up a link between positive expectations and positive outcomes. The latest example comes from a study by researchers at Harvard, looking at the role…

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Optimism, Brooding Rumination and Mental Time Travel in Everyday Life

We all engage in what psychologists call mental time travel. It’s not as futuristic as it sounds. Essentially, it’s just the ability to think about our past and future experiences. While we all engage in mental time travel, we don’t all do so the same amount, and we have different preferences as far as where…

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