Psychology news

• Music helps you get fit – but the right mix will keep you coming back…

  26-05-2024 15:00
  
  Finding tunes with a tempo and rhythm to match your heart rate can help youkeep the pace when you exercise – and make it more enjoyableAnyone who’s ever hefted a dumbbell or laced up a running shoe understands that music, on some level, makes the process more enjoyable. That’s why tunes and training are a hit combination: there are playlists, classes and even entire fledgling genres promising to help you push for the burn.Broadly speaking, there are two ways music can help you
  
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• I’m a hopeless people pleaser. I tried saying ‘no’ for a week

  14-01-2025 18:00
  
  ‘Defiance isn’t a one-size-fits-all prescription,’ says psychologist Sunita Sah – here’s what happened when I gave it a whirlGiving in to a pushy salesperson. Keeping quiet when you witness a workplace interaction that strikes you as unjust. Biting your tongue when a hairstylist declares that life is not worth living without micro-bangs. We’ve all been there. We’ve all caved in.Thank goodness for Sunita Sah’s spirited book, Defy: The Power of No in
  
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• Global Study Pinpoints Genes for Depression Across Ethnicities

  14-01-2025 12:11 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Science Daily - Top HealthThe world's largest and most diverse genetic study ever conducted on major depression has revealed nearly 300 previously unknown genetic links to the condition, experts say. One hundred of the newly discovered genetic variations—small differences in the DNA sequence that makes up a gene—were identified due to the inclusion of people of African, East Asian, Hispanic, and South Asian descent, the study found. The results appear in the research...
  
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• Almost Half of Americans Over 55 Face Dementia Risk

  14-01-2025 12:11 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Google News - HealthNew research finds that the lifetime risk of dementia after age 55 in Americans is 42%—significantly higher than previous estimates. Dementia involves progressive declines in memory, concentration, and judgment. Women face a higher risk than men (48% vs. 35%), a difference attributable in part to their longer life expectancy. The risk factors for dementia include genetic predisposition, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and limited physical...
  
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• U.S. House Passes Ban on Transgender Students in Girls Sports

  14-01-2025 12:10 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: CBS News - U.S. NewsThe U.S. House passed a Republican measure on Tuesday banning transgender girls and women from competing on school sports teams that match their gender identity. The bill, called the "Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act," would amend Title IX, the federal law banning sex discrimination in schools, to define a person's sex as "based solely on a person's reproductive biology and genetics at birth." Schools defying the ban risk losing...
  
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• Biden Signs Executive Order Seeking to Grow AI Infrastructure

  14-01-2025 12:09 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: PBS SciencePresident Joe Biden on Tuesday signed an ambitious executive order on artificial intelligence that seeks to ensure the infrastructure needed for advanced AI operations, such as large-scale data centers and clean power facilities, can be built quickly and at scale in the U.S. The order directs federal agencies to accelerate large-scale AI infrastructure development at government sites, while imposing requirements and safeguards at the same time.
  
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• Music As Medicine by Daniel Levitin review – musician, heal thyself

  14-01-2025 08:00
  
  In this fascinating book, the neuroscientist makes a strong case for the therapeutic force of music, describing ways in which it can be a beneficial part of recovery for patientsThat great music can up be uplifting, transportive, transcendent – and conversely sorrowful or deeply unsettling – is a given, but its power to heal in the medicinal sense strikes me as a much more difficult proposition to prove. In Music As Medicine, Daniel Levitin makes a valiant attempt to do just that, ci
  
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• Supreme Court Allows Hawaii Climate Lawsuits Against Oil and Gas Industry

  13-01-2025 15:14 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: CBS News - U.S. NewsThe U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said it will not consider whether to block lawsuits brought by Honolulu seeking billions of dollars from oil and gas companies for the damage caused by the effects of climate change, clearing the way for the cases to move forward. The lawsuits claim that the oil and gas industry engaged in a deceptive campaign and misled the public about the dangers of their fossil fuel products and the environmental impacts.
  
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• The big idea: why it’s great to be an only child

  13-01-2025 13:30
  
  The notion that it’s bad to be brought up without siblings should be banished for goodWhen I was growing up, only children were generally regarded as unfortunate souls; lonely, socially clumsy and often bullied. Partly, this was because they were unusual back then, and as those who’ve observed just about any species know, unusual individuals tend to be singled out by the pack. Today we live in a different world. From the late 1960s and 70s, the contraceptive pill, women’s incre
  
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• How Wildfire Smoke Exposure Affects Physical and Mental Health

  12-01-2025 14:04 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Huff Post Environment The wildfires blazing in California aren't just dangerous for the people and wildlife at risk of being burned, but also for those nearby who are exposed to heavy smoke. And because smoke can travel long distances, even people thousands of miles away from the fires can feel their effects, some of which may be long-lasting. For example, wildfire smoke can affect pregnancies and is thought to be a risk factor for dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
  
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• How to optimise the cognitive benefits of dreams and sleep

  12-01-2025 14:00
  
  Dreaming is vital to our mental health – and it is possible to use them for our own goodDreams are pure emotional and cognitive gold. Those often surreal, fragmented images and plot lines that can instantly evaporate when we open our eyes, allow us not only to explore the themes and challenges of our day, but to step into the what-ifs of tomorrow.Whether we remember our dreams or not, our brain and dreams are multi-tasking to the nth degree while we sleep. Together, they are shunting keepe
  
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• Music sounds better with you? How your listening habits affect your love life

  12-01-2025 13:00
  
  Psychologists say that singing, dancing and song preferences play a key role in the viability of romantic relationships“What’s the one thing your readers should do to help them use music to find and catch the partner of their dreams?” asks Patrick Savage, a senior research fellow in psychology at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. “Go to karaoke and sing a duet. Go and sing A Whole New World with Brad Kane and Lea Salonga. That’s the number one recommendatio
  
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• The 10 rules of friendship: show up, go beyond banter, learn the boring details

  12-01-2025 09:00
  
  Writers, therapists and academics give advice on how to make, and strengthen, meaningful bonds with mates and friendsEmma Reed Turrell, psychotherapist, author and host of the podcast Friendship TherapyYou can keep balance in friendship by showing your working out, rather than making assumptions and mind-reading. This might sound like: “I’d like to invite you to a party but I’m wondering if it might not be your thing and I want you to know that you can absolutely say no, or jus
  
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• Blackrock Quits Climate Change Group in Latest Green Climbdown

  10-01-2025 16:11 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Google News - HealthBlackRock has become the latest financial firm to quit a big climate change industry group in the wake of Donald Trump's election as U.S. president. The world's largest money manager told clients in a letter on Thursday that it had quit Net Zero Asset Managers. All six of the largest U.S. banks—JPMorgan, Citigroup, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, and Goldman Sachs—have recently quit Net-Zero Banking Alliance, a similar group...
  
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• Artificial Intelligence Could Make IVF More Successful, Study Suggests

  10-01-2025 16:11 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: United Press International - Health NewsArtificial intelligence might be able to boost the success rates of in vitro fertilization among hopeful families. An AI program can help doctors analyze ultrasound scans to determine the best timing for a hormone injection associated with egg collection, researchers reported Wednesday in the journal Nature Communications. Getting the timing right can optimize the number of eggs retrieved and improve the odds of having a successful pregnancy.
  
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• Robotic Puppy "Jennie" Designed to Boost Mental Health

  10-01-2025 09:04 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: United Press International - Health NewsEmotional support dogs can serve people with various mental health needs, but many of them can't care for an animal at home. That's where Tombot comes in. The company has designed a robotic puppy to aid individuals, families, and communities in dealing with health adversities. This week, Tombot unveiled Jennie, its battery-operated Labrador retriever puppy intended to help people with dementia, autism, anxiety, PTSD, and other health conditions.
  
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• The ‘mad egghead’ who built a mouse utopia – podcast

  10-01-2025 06:00
  John Calhoun designed an apartment complex for mice to examine the effects of overcrowding. It was hailed as a groundbreaking study of social breakdown, but is largely forgotten. So what happened? By Lee Alan Dugatkin Continue reading...
  
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• The Bright Side by Sumit Paul-Choudhury review – keep the glass half full

  09-01-2025 10:00
  A powerfully inspiring study of optimism that avoids farcical good cheerHumans are unrealistically optimistic about the world and the future; we systematically under­estimate our chances of experiencing unpleasant diseases, going through a divorce, or losing a loved one. About the only people who don’t see the world through the lens of this “optimism bias” are the clinically depressed. Depressive realism – the name given to the relative immunity of the melancholic to
  
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• Where did our attention spans go, and can we get them back? – podcast

  09-01-2025 06:00
  
  The Oxford English Dictionary announced its word of the year at the end of 2024: brain rot. The term relates to the supposedly negative effects of consuming social media content, but it struck a chord more widely with many of us who feel we just don’t have the mental capacity we once did. Gloria Mark, a professor of informatics at the University of California, Irvine, has been studying our waning attention spans for 20 years. She tells Madeleine Finlay why she believes our powers of concen
  
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• U.S. Accuses One Side of Genocide in Sudan's Vicious Civil War

  08-01-2025 09:04 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: CBS News - World NewsThe U.S. has determined that genocide has been committed by the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary and its allied militias in Sudan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday. The RSF and its allies are one side in a vicious civil war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives in less than two years. In his statement, Blinken called the war a "conflict of unmitigated brutality that has resulted in the world's largest humanitarian...
  
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• U.S. Accuses One Side in Sudan's Vicious Civil War of Genocide

  08-01-2025 09:04 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: CBS News - World NewsThe U.S. has determined that genocide has been committed by the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary and its allied militias in Sudan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday. The RSF and its allies are one side in a vicious civil war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives in less than two years. In his statement, Blinken called the war a "conflict of unmitigated brutality that has resulted in the world's largest humanitarian...
  
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• Is It Still "Social Media" If It's Overrun by Artificial Intelligence?

  08-01-2025 09:04 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Canadian Broadcasting Company - World NewsBack in 2010, a 26-year-old Mark Zuckerberg shared his vision for Facebook: "The primary thing that we focus on all day long is how to help people share and stay connected with their friends, family and the people in the community," Zuckerberg said. Now, Facebook's parent company Meta has a new vision: characters powered by AI existing alongside actual friends and family. Some experts caution that this could mark the end of social media as we...
  
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• In Sudan's Vicious Civil War, U.S. Accuses One Side of Genocide

  08-01-2025 09:04 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: CBS News - World NewsThe U.S. has determined that genocide has been committed by the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary and its allied militias in Sudan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday. The RSF and its allies are one side in a vicious civil war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives in less than two years. In his statement, Blinken called the war a "conflict of unmitigated brutality that has resulted in the world's largest humanitarian...
  
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• Caregivers Face Rising Physical and Mental Health Risks, Study Finds

  08-01-2025 09:04 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: United Press International - Health NewsMore and more adults are stuck in the middle of their families, caring not only for their kids but for aging parents and other older family members. The mental and physical health of these "sandwich carers" is more likely to deteriorate over time, suggests a new study published in the journal Public Health. The study analyzed data from about 2,000 sandwich carers, comparing them with 2,000 people who only care for a child younger than 16.
  
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• The anxiety secret: how the world’s leading life coach stopped living in fear

  07-01-2025 11:00
  
  Famous for her work with Oprah Winfrey, Martha Beck is a bestselling author and self-help superstar. But for 60 years she was anxious and terrified - until she found a simple, uplifting answerAll her life, Martha Beck had been anxious, but a few years ago she began to get really curious about anxiety. And curiosity, she wants us all to know, may just be the path out of paralysing, life-spoiling terror. During the pandemic, Beck – a bestselling author and life coach – started looking
  
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• Are we hardwired to commit ‘deadly sins’? – podcast

  07-01-2025 06:00
  
  Scientists are increasingly finding that behaviours once seen as depraved often have a direct physical cause. To find out more, Ian Sample hears from Guy Leschziner, a consultant neurologist and sleep physician at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital in London. His new book, Seven Deadly Sins: The Biology of Being Human, looks at the neurological basis of behaviours often dismissed as evidence of bad character or lack of willpowerContinue reading...
  
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• Psychology Research Collaborations Becoming More Global

  06-01-2025 16:00 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: APA MonitorPsychological science is going global, seeking larger, more representative samples and tackling issues that go beyond WEIRD nations (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic). Technology is one factor enabling global collaborations, but equally important is a shift in the science community. In 2025, researchers predict more collaborative projects in Africa, Latin America, the Pacific Islands, and other historically...
  
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• Pentagon Agrees to Historic Legal Settlement with LGBTQ+ Veterans

  06-01-2025 16:00 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: CBS News - U.S. NewsThe Pentagon has reached a historic legal settlement with more than 35,000 gay and lesbian military veterans who were dismissed because of their sexual orientation, and in many cases denied an honorable discharge and various services they had earned, CBS News has learned. Veterans can now have their paperwork reissued without reference to their sexuality, and if they were denied an honorable discharge, they will be eligible for an immediate...
  
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• Older Parents, Climate Change and AI: Say Hello to Generation Beta

  06-01-2025 15:46 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Canadian Broadcasting Company - Top Stories NewsBaby Boomers grew up in a wealthy post-war world, whereas Generation Z was raised with an iPhone in hand. More recently, Generation Alpha spent their childhood knowing the face masks and work-from-home lifestyle of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2025, enter Generation Beta. The newest generation is expected to grow up in a world defined by artificial intelligence, smaller families, and ongoing climate change, say experts.
  
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• Psychology Leaders Seeking to Modernize the Profession

  06-01-2025 15:33 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: APA MonitorThough psychology has historically been a doctoral-level field, APA's elected and appointed leaders are creating a blueprint to become a multitiered profession that embraces the training of master's-level psychology professionals who can help meet an unprecedented demand for mental health services. The goals are to build consistency for the field and improve public access to care that is rooted in psychological science.
  
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