Mindfully Healing

Women applied for 400 real jobs to test the effect of clothing in their profile picture. Women whose resumes include a picture of themselves in low-cut or revealing tops are five times more likely to be interviewed, new research finds. The five-year study had two women send out resumes for real accountancy and sales positions. Each applied for 200 roles using almost identical resumes. The only difference was that half the resumes included a picture of themselves conservatively dressed. For the other half they were wearing more revealing clothing. Here

Sleep disturbance is common in dementia, but the reason is unclear. Getting less REM sleep — the phase in which we dream — is linked to dementia, a study finds. During sleep the brain cycles between periods of deep sleep and then up towards shallower periods of sleep in which we tend to dream, whether we remember those dreams or not. During REM sleep the eyes move rapidly from side-to-side (hence Rapid Eye Movement Sleep). Brain activity also increases and our pulses quicken. Dr Matthew P. Pase, the study’s first

Brain scans reveal that just a little of this personality trait boosts happiness. Even a small amount of generosity towards others makes people happier, psychological research finds. In fact, merely promising to be more generous is enough to trigger changes in our brain that lead to greater happiness. People in the study did not need to be extremely generous to see the benefits to happiness levels. Dr Philippe Tobler, one of the study’s authors, said: “You don’t need to become a self-sacrificing martyr to feel happier. Just being a little

Simply remembering everything that happens to us is not the point of memory. Forgetting is the key to having a useful memory, a new psychology paper argues. Simply remembering everything that happens to us is not the point of memory. Our memories should help to guide us in making intelligent decisions in the situations we find ourselves. Dr Blake Richards, one of the study’s authors, said: “It’s important that the brain forgets irrelevant details and instead focuses on the stuff that’s going to help make decisions in the real world.”

How to tell the difference between a narcissist and someone with high self-esteem. Criticism makes narcissists aggressive, research finds. But people with high self-esteem are not particularly bothered by criticism. This is because, at heart, narcissists often have a strange relationship with their self-esteem, so they hate to be criticised. Any criticism will usually make them aggressive in response. Psychologists measured the self-esteem, narcissism and aggressive behaviour of 540 undergraduate students. They found that the more narcissistic students tended to verbally lash out more when they were criticised. The study’s

The supplement starts to take effect after only two weeks, the researchers found. Over-the-counter magnesium is a safe and effective way to treat mild to moderate depression, a new study suggests. The mineral magnesium has already been linked to lower inflammation and improvements in depression. Now a new randomized controlled trial has tested the effects of magnesium chloride supplements compared with no treatment. For the research, half of 126 people with mild to moderate depression were given 248mg of magnesium chloride per day for six weeks. After just two weeks,

Many people are attracted to a younger partner, but is it worth it in the long run? The best age gap for marital satisfaction is…none at all, research finds. In the long run couples who are mismatched in age tend to be less satisfied, even if they are better off at first. Both men and women are initially particularly satisfied when they get a younger husband or wife. Professor Terra McKinnish, who co-authored the study, said: “We find that men who are married to younger wives are the most satisfied,

It almost doubled the amount of times that people awoke during the night. The blue light emitted by screens damages the length and quality of sleep, new research finds. Screens that emit redder light, though, do not damage sleep in the same way. Professor Abraham Haim, one of the study’s authors, said: “The light emitted by most screens — computers, smartphones, and tablets — is blue light that damages the body’s cycles and our sleep. The solution must be the use of the existing filters that prevent the emission of

Adults who grew up with this childhood personality trait earn more money now. People labelled ‘stubborn, defiant rule-breakers’ as children grow up to earn a higher income, a new study finds. The findings come from research carried out on almost 3,000 children in Luxembourg. The study looked at the children’s intelligence, socioeconomic status and family background, among other variables. Forty years later, 745 of those children were followed up to find out their educational and occupational achievements. The researchers were surprised to find that a more rebellious childhood nature was

The most common anxiety disorder is social anxiety disorder. Cognitive therapy on its own is the best treatment for social anxiety disorder, new research finds. It is better than just taking drugs and better than taking drugs as well as having therapy. Cognitive therapy resulted in either a cure or significant improvement in 85% of patients. Professor Hans M. Nordahl, who led the study, said: “We’ve set a new world record in effectively treating social anxiety disorders. This is one of the best studies on social anxiety disorders ever. It’s