Research

The concept of learned helplessness says that when we feel like a situation is out of our control, we eventually accept that we cannot change it and essentially give up. This was first observed in a study involving dogs, in which the dogs learned to expect an electric shock—the dogs…

People debate about whether watching violence makes us more likely to engage in violence ourselves—of which was precisely explored in the Bobo doll experiment. In this experiment, Albert Bandura and his team of researchers studied 72 kids who experienced either an aggressive or non-aggressive model. In the aggressive model, the…

Many of us are fearful of snakes and spiders, whether they are or aren’t poisonous or dangerous—why? Researchers say that this fear is deep-rooted, one we likely developed from ancestors that lived 40-60 million years ago. To reach these findings, researchers showed infants varying pictures of which included snakes, spiders,…

New research shows that if parents want to successfully reduce their children’s screen-time, they should cut back on their own screen-time. Kids are spending more and more time playing on iPads and sitting in front of the TV, which feeds an increase in obesity among children. The researchers sought to…

New research says that superheroes can inspire us to want to be helpful and perform altruistic acts. Researchers sought to understand how our heroes—specifically fictional heroes—might affect how we approach life. Study participants were exposed to different images; one group saw images, which included subtle visuals of superheroes, while another…

A new study says that your imagination can help you overcome your fears; this involves imagining an encounter with the fear and realizing it is not a threat. Researchers sought to understand how fears are learned and unlearned; this goal led to their conducting an experiment that involved auditory threat…

A new study shows that the violence we see in soccer super-fans isn’t characteristic of their personality or every day. This aggression is instead rooted in a psychological construct called identity fusion, which refers to the sense of oneness and belonging one feels in a group of individuals. These findings…

April’s identity is rooted in her religion. Her devout Christianity is her north star and saving grace—until she witnesses a series of particularly unfortunate events, which leave her questioning her faith. Instead of walking into the hospital with her usual confidence and determination to help her patients, April assumes a…

Do you have a tested and true strategy for getting your way? Say you’re in a heated discussion with your boyfriend or you’re talking a possible raise with your boss. In any regard, someone is going to come up with the short stick. And you want to do what you…

I like to think I’m good at reading people and picking up on certain energies. I can walk into a room and sense if the majority of people are stressed, happy, excited, content. I can talk to someone for a few minutes and determine if they’re more or less a…

Parents often worry about their kid’s behavior and performance in school—especially when they reach the teens. This is typically the time when kids fall out of their routines, and as a result, their academic success hangs in the balance. In hopes of keeping them on the right track, parents oftentimes…

Have you ever witnessed a friend become increasingly aggressive during a night out? As their bar tab grows, so does their aggression and hostility. They get into a silly (but heated) argument with another friend or better yet, a random person minding their business in the corner. And before you…