Psychology news

Bad News for the Genetics of Personality

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 23:34:11 +0000

A genome-wide association study using a self-report questionnaire suggests that there is no large influence of genes on personality.

Blood donations: religious and non-religious are equally generous

Sun, 18 Apr 2010 10:13:55 +0000

According to a new analysis of data from the US National Survey of Family Growth, there is no relationship between giving blood any facet of religiosity.

Reminder of disease primes the body and mind to repel other people

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:03:07 +0000

A disease-themed slide show makes people feel less sociable and extravert, and primes their motor system for repelling other people.

Pay it forward? Cooperative behaviour spreads through a group, but so does cheating

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:46:47 +0000

Both cooperative behavior and selfish behavior spread equally in a small social experiment.

Your left brain has a bigger ego than your right brain

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:24:45 +0000

Psychologists have used an auditory version of the self-esteem 'implicit association test' to show that the left half of the brain has more self-esteem than the right half.

What Zaps a High Achiever’s Performance Lights a Low Achiever’s Fire

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:36:45 +0000

High achievers may do worse on "fun" tasks compared to low achievers.

Becoming better mind-readers - to work out how other people see you, use the right lens

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 03:11:29 +0000

Our failure to accurately judge how others would perceive us appears to stem from an inability to look at ourselves and other people with the level of detail that they would use.

Step away from the cookie jar! Over-confidence in self-control leads us to temptation

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:24:04 +0000

Apparently when we're satiated, we overestimate our ability to resist temptation - a phenomenon researchers have dubbed the "restraint bias".

Self-doubt turns bosses into bullies

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:47:38 +0000

Self-perceived incompetence could provoke a person in power to abuse their authority.

Once You Start Trusting a Source, Beware the Trust Trap

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:15:58 +0000

The trust trap can also result in the creation of false memories.