Tag: psychology

What our online lives can tell us about how much we value nature

Most people like spending time in nature. But how important is it to our wellbeing? A new research project comes a few steps closer in answering that.

Psychological Strategies Can Reduce Your Cravings

Your uncontrollable craving for a bar of Snickers bar is real enough – but it is probably not because your body lacks chocolate or sugar. A health psychologist offers you tips on how to prevent cravings from turning into eating.

Here's a mental health workout that's as simple as ABC

The Act-Belong-Commit approach promotes keeping active, building stronger relationships with friends, family and community groups, and committing to hobbies, challenges, and meaningful causes.

No, we are not swimming in psychopaths

Swedish researcher Karolina Sörman thinks some of us display a morbid curiosity about psychopaths.

Psychological impacts of terrorist attacks transcend borders

The terrorist attack by Anders Breivik in Norway in 2011 caused a dramatic increase in trauma- and stressor-related disorders in Denmark, concludes a new study.

How to spot a liar

If someone copies your body language it might be a sign that they are lying to you.

Some schizophrenia patients can cope without medication

New study challenges our understanding of schizophrenia as a chronic disease that requires lifelong treatment.

Self-harm links to violence against others

Researchers behind a Swedish study do not think that self-harm leads to violent crimes. But there is an underlying association between deliberate self-harm and violent criminality.

How to get over your fear of spiders

Seeing what you fear the most between short intervals can trick the brain into being less frightened.

App will improve patient-doctor communication

A new patient controlled app, Momentum, will improve communications between patients and psychiatrists.

How extremists become ex-extremists

Ideology is not the barrier that stops an extremist from abandoning their radical views and reintegrating into the community, shows new research.

Frustrated employees are more effective

Some amount of frustration can prompt us to take new initiatives and introduce new effective methods at work, shows new research.

Believing in a watchful God makes you more “moralistic”

The type of God you follow can determine how you behave towards other people, shows new research.

One in three mentally ill patients with diabetes can be saved

Individualised treatment plans for patients suffering from both type-2 diabetes and mental illness could reduce their mortality by 33 per cent.

Super villains help prevent evil in the world

Pop culture villains confirm our sense of right and wrong, shows new research.

Kids who live with both parents in turn fare the best

Children who take turns living with each of their divorced parents generally enjoy better mental health than those living with just one. But this is not necessarily because of their living scheme.

Discharge or diversion? How music helps us regulate our feelings

When it comes to tackling difficult emotions with music, women fare far better than men.

Phobias flourish among the elderly

One in ten old people might expect to have a phobia which is serious enough to be diagnosed as a mental issue, according to Swedish research.

Heavier babies become more trusting adults

The more you weigh at birth the more trusting you are as an adult, shows new research.

This is how we motivate people to tackle climate change

Psychologists have a new way to make people act on climate change, regardless if they do not accept the underlying science.

Trust makes our hearts beat as one

People who trust each other often find their hearts beat in step with one another when collaborating on a task. Scientists are puzzled by the phenomenon.

Scientists: Sleep therapy beats sleeping pills

More people with severe sleep disorders should receive sleep therapy. It is at least as effective as sleeping pills, but without the side effects, concludes a new health report.

Your neighbour’s skin colour means less if your politics are aligned

Politics override ethnicity. A new study shows how we divide ourselves into groups, according to our political beliefs.

How young criminals explain their delinquent deeds

Young people’s narratives about themselves may make it easier for them to engage in crime.

Personality goes beyond being introvert or extravert

The media's simplistic categorisation of our personalities as either introverted or extraverted can overshadow other important personality traits.

Towards an invisible and confident body

Researchers think an experiment which produces the sensation of having an invisible body might be helpful in treatment of social anxiety.

We become more motivated when we think we're playing a game

New research shows that we tend to get more captivated when we think we're playing a game -- even if it isn't interactive.

How hoteliers handle emotions and stress

Experienced hotel managers maintain a positive attitude while switching among various ways of controlling their emotions, tackling stress and covering their employees’ needs.

Mindfulness as useful as therapy to treat depression

The quickest road out of depression might be to simply be aware of how you feel, without trying to change those feelings.

Laughter helps policemen cope with their work

The atmosphere is great, and the squad car is filled with jokes. It’s all necessary to handle a stressful kind of work, says a researcher.

Genes influence political engagement

Your ideological position, and your participation in demonstrations and elections, are partly determined by your genes.

Abused children risk adult obesity

A large-scale Swedish study shows that persons who were subjected to physical, emotional or sexual abuse during childhood are more prone to becoming overweight as adults.

Age strengthens our social skills

New research shows that some of our skills actually improve as we age.

Siblings of bipolar persons more likely to become bosses

The bipolar disorder appears to have a connection with leadership abilities. If you are the sister or brother of a person with the disorder – also known as manic depression – your chances of becoming a boss are higher than average.

Research points to personality's effect on our health

Angry and hostile people are more prone to cardiovascular disease than others, while anxious and depressive types have a high risk of developing dementia. Studying the connection between personality and illnesses is a hot topic among scientists.

Social intelligence: The brain mirrors behaviour of others

New study may help us understand why some people with autism and schizophrenia find it hard to cope socially.

Uncertainty worse than torture in developing country prisons

Prisoners everywhere can become depressed, aggressive or anxious because they feel incapacitated. The feeling of powerlessness can be the hardest one to deal with – even for inmates who are tortured and sit in crowded cells, new research shows.

Santa is as trustworthy as a doctor

Danish researchers have studied whether Santa Claus is trustworthy and friendly by comparing him with a doctor. Santa does well, the study concludes.

Unknown ’food function’ discovered in the brain

A specific area of our brain responds strongly to the sight of food we have previously tasted – even before we become conscious of what we’re looking at. This function is likely to influence our choice of food.

The boss, not the workload, causes workplace depression

It is not a big workload that causes depression at work. An unfair boss and an unfair work environment are what really bring employees down, new study shows.

Extreme rituals enhance social cohesion

Physically and mentally exhausting rituals promote the spirit of community in society, according to a new study. This is the first time that this hypothesis has been confirmed experimentally.

A prized theory of visual attention

In 1990, a Danish psychologist proposed a mathematical formula which enabled scientists to measure our attention. He recently received a prestigious Danish research award for his work.

New centre will improve treatment of traumatised refugees

OPINION: A new competence centre for transcultural psychiatry will integrate research with the treatment of traumatised refugees.

Spiders find jobs that match their personalities

When cooperative spiders select specialties in the service of their colony you might think they had consulted career advisors.

Arthritic kids feel pain even after successful treatment

Some children with arthritis experience pain on a daily basis even after successful treatment of the disease. Why is it that the pain doesn’t always go away when the disease does?

Worldviews shape personality

Ways we view the world strongly influence what sort of people we are. A worldview reflects personality and behavioural patterns, according to a Swedish researcher.

Hunger increases support for social welfare

If we are hungry when we’re asked about our attitude towards welfare, we are more likely to show support for a social welfare policy. This is a biological impulse which ensures survival, new research suggests.

Breasts make life better

Women who have had one or both breasts removed surgically because of cancer are far happier if they have their breasts reconstructed, new study shows.

Swedish women struggle with stress

Nearly two-thirds of all middle-aged Swedish women experience stress. Researchers blame it on the conflicting demands posed by careers and children.

Cause of depression still eludes us, says neuroscientist

Almost 500.000 Danes suffer from depression. We don't know why they are sick and we give them medicine to treat symptoms not causes, says neuroscientist.

Scientist: Antidepressants cause addiction

A Danish meta-analysis claims antidepressants lead to addiction but the study’s result is met with serious reservations.

Modern workplaces function as tribal communities

Modern working relationships on construction sites do not only rely on designs, drawings and schedules. Problems and disagreements are solved using the same unwritten rules that tribal communities use for creating harmony.

Weird diagnoses kept Greenlanders in check

Arctic hysteria and kayak dizziness were once used as diagnoses to bolster the image of Greenlanders as an ‘inferior’ indigenous people.

Gamblers get a kick out of making risky decisions

Compulsive gamblers get more excitement and pleasure from making risky decisions than from winning, new study shows.

Here’s why mindfulness works

A new meta-analysis of the entire scientific literature on mindfulness suggests why this popular new form of therapy actually works.

Brain scans look for Christmas spirit

A series of scientific studies in the weirder end of the spectrum can be found in the Christmas edition of a Danish medical journal.

Children who walk to school concentrate better

Children who walk or cycle to school rather than being driven by their parents have an increased power of concentration, and the effect of this ‘exercise’ lasts all morning.

Children with dying parents should get more support

Health authorities are not good enough at understanding and supporting children with terminally ill parents. New research offers insight and some solutions.

Men are better at multitasking

Everyone says that women are better at doing several things simultaneously. Swedish researchers put it to the test.

Mindfulness helps against anxiety and depression

Mindfulness is the great buzz word in women’s magazines and self-development books. New research shows that mindfulness actually works, provided that it’s “done correctly”.

Music therapy reveals parenting skills

A test for assessing parenting skills has been developed. It is based on music therapy and reveals some of the fundamental family patterns that are otherwise not visible to outsiders.

Working in the line of fire

Far from being risk seekers, firefighters feel their work isn't particularly risky. But relations between team members are regarded as crucial.

Can repulsive photos make smokers quit?

Scary pictures of cancerous lungs and blackened teeth on cigarette packs have the desired effect, says researcher. They make people stop smoking.

Bullying weakens the body

Harassment, social isolation or intimidating abuse in the workplace is not only psychologically destructive – it’s also stressful physically. Symptoms are similar to posttraumatic stress.

New method gets staff to discuss workplace bullying

It is difficult to research bullying between work colleagues because they simply will not talk about it. But researchers have now found a new and promising method that gets staff to discuss the problem.

Link between self-harm and rape

Studies of rape victims reveal that 15 percent have scars from old self-harm injuries. The figure suggests a need for improved care of self-harming youths.

Mindfulness helps cancer patients

New research shows that mindfulness-based therapy can effectively reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression in cancer patients.

Role playing and religion function identically

Religious rituals and role playing both require agreement on the rules that maintain a ‘fantasy world’ in which churchgoers and game players find themselves.

Psychological traumas intensify whiplash

Injuries from traffic accidents are compounded by posttraumatic stress disorder. Pain rehabilitation should start by treating psychological trauma, new study suggests.

Emotions in politics make us rational

Letting your emotions rule your political decisions isn’t normally a good thing. But new research shows that emotions are among the factors that turn us into rational, well-informed members of a democracy.

Men say women weigh too much

Men are fatter than they think, and they perceive women as being fatter than they really are. These distorted body images can also apply to how we view our children and could cause serious problems for both sexes.

When negativity doesn’t pull the news through

A news journalist has devoted her master’s thesis in psychology to bringing positivity back to journalism, replacing the negativity that is driving readers away.

Health and lifestyle campaigns miss the target

Campaigns designed to make us live healthier lives assume that we don’t live healthily because we don’t know any better. But they miss the target as other lifestyle factors play a role.

Self-harm is not only for troubled teens

Self-inflicted cuts and burns have become such a widespread phenomenon that ordinary, otherwise well-balanced young people have started doing it. The problem is seen in both sexes to an equal degree.

How music touches the brain

New method reveals how different musical features activate emotional, motor and creative areas of the brain.

Nicotine worsens processing ability

Nicotine gives you a kick-start, but the benefit stops there. New research shows that nicotine affects our information processing ability in several ways.

Nudity sparks the brain

The naked truth: our brains process nude pictures more efficiently than pictures of clothed people, new Finnish study reveals.

Mentally ill have greater risk of suicide

Patients suffering from schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder have a risk of suicide that is ten times greater than the general public’s, says a new report.