How people judge your personality based on your name

Why would people rate certain names as being more extraverted or more agreeable?

Travis Wise/Wikicommons

Extraversion, thy name is Katie. And Jack. And Carter. But not, it turns out, Joanna, Owen, or Lauren: these individuals instead embody different traits, like emotionality and agreeableness.

Keep reading Show less
psychology emotions identity mind society personality

Share your ⁠goals ⁠— but only with certain people, study says

A new study contradicts some popular wisdom that says sharing your goals is always a bad idea.

Pixabay
  • A 2009 study and a 2010 TED talk have helped spread the idea that sharing your goals is a bad idea because it disincentives people.
  • The study found that people who shared their goals with people whom they considered to be of higher status were more likely to achieve their goals.
  • However, it's possible that caring too much about the opinions of higher-status people might make you too anxious to achieve your goals.
Keep reading Show less
psychology productivity goal-setting motivation

Johns Hopkins opens center for psychedelic research

Moving the needle forward on psychedelic research.

live.staticflickr.com
  • Johns Hopkins University's School of Medicine has had a psychedelic research group since 2000.
  • Funded by a $17 million donation from a number of private donors, the university will be able to open a new center.
  • This comes on the heels of an increasing acceptance of psychedelic research and use.
Keep reading Show less
psychedelic research medical research psychology drugs mental health medicine brain

Why we — despite the good and bad — fall back to a baseline level of happiness

Trudging toward happiness: What is the hedonic treadmill?

Image source: Shutterstock
  • The concept of the hedonic treadmill is that regardless of whether good or bad things happen to us, we always return to a set point of happiness and well-being. Hence, we have to constantly work to stay at a given degree of happiness, as though we were on a treadmill.
  • Several studies exist that back up this finding, including one conducted on lottery winners and paraplegics.
  • While this may seem like a bad thing, there are advantages; in addition, it may be possible increase your baseline level of happiness through certain activities.
Keep reading Show less
psychology motivation money life love happiness

Study links lower emotional intelligence to prejudiced, right-wing views

The study is among the first to explore the relationship between emotional abilities, political ideologies, and prejudice.

Image source: SOPA Images / Getty
  • New research measured the emotional and cognitive abilities, as well as the political ideologies, of nearly 1,000 Belgian undergraduate students.
  • The results showed that students who scored lower on the cognitive and emotional tests were more likely to measure higher on tests measuring right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation.
  • Still, the study only showed an association, and couldn't establish causality.
Keep reading Show less
inequality politics psychology