Emma Young
Emma Young (@EmmaELYoung) is Staff Writer at BPS Research Digest
Musicians and their audiences show synchronized patterns of brain activity
Researchers observed "inter-brain coherence" (IBC) — a synchronisation in brain activity — between a musician and the audience.
People who watch more TV find thinner women more attractive, even in remote Nicaraguan communities
These people had no access to magazines and, generally, no access to the internet.
Sexist ideologies may help cultivate the “dark triad” of personality traits
People who score highly on the dark triad are vain, callous, and manipulative.
How personal experience of adversity affects our feelings of compassion towards others
Researchers measured high- and low-adversity participants' feelings of compassion.
Schadenfreude turns us into temporary psychopaths, according to a new model of the emotion
Ever taken pleasure in someone else's misfortune?
Polyamory offers a unique opportunity to enjoy prolonged passion and closeness in romantic relationships
Researchers recruited more than 1000 polyamorous participants.
5 unusual, evidence-based ways to get better at a new language
It's hard not to conclude that if you act like a child, maybe you'll learn as effectively as a child, too…
Preliminary evidence that lonely people lose the reflex to mimic other people’s smiles, potentially sustaining their isolation
If loneliness is a "disease," is this one of the complications?
New insights into hikikomori — people who withdraw from society for months or years on end
What causes people to retreat into their homes indefinitely?
A new study has investigated who watched the ISIS beheading videos, why, and what effect it had on them
This is the first study to explore not only what percentage of people in the general population choose to watch videos of graphic real-life violence, but also why.
Different kinds of loneliness – Having poor quality relationships is associated with greater distress than having too few
According to a new study, there are 4 different types of loneliness.
New study finds strength of imagination not associated with creative ability or achievement
If you have a strong imagination, this won't help you with academic study.
The public “deserve to know” that there is an overlooked subset of people who thrive after major depression
More research is needed into people who experience "high functioning after depression."
People with “Maladaptive Daydreaming” spend an average of four hours a day lost in their imagination
"Daydreaming can evolve into an extreme and maladaptive behaviour, up to the point where it turns into a clinically significant condition," scientists say.
Women with a keener sense of smell have more orgasms during sex
In a new study, people with a keener sense of smell reported finding their sexual activities more “pleasant”, and women with a greater sensitivity to odours had more orgasms during sex.
Study of long-term heterosexual couples finds women over-estimate and men underestimate their partner’s sexual advances
“Navigating sexual activity can be difficult, especially when partners’ behaviours that indicate their sexual interest are subtle.”
Are religious people really less smart, on average, than atheists?
Various studies have found that, on average, belief in God is associated with lower scores on IQ tests.