Mindfully Healing

Why Americans are getting unhappier and the 10 happiest countries in the world. Norway is the happiest country in the world, closely followed by Denmark and Iceland. The United States, though, has become 5% unhappier over the past 10 years, despite people earning more money. The trend in happiness is the reverse for most countries, which have become happier. The US came 14th on the list and the United Kingdom ranked 19th. Canadians lived up to their reputation by ranking at number 7 on the list, while Australia came 9th.

New study shows that everyone knows what wearing red means, so watch out! Red is very much in fashion in psychology at the moment. Last year PsyBlog reported on the exciting news that women are more likely to wear red or pink dresses at the most fertile time of the month. On the other side, as it were, other research has shown that men think that women wearing red is a sign of sexual receptivity. Still, vital questions have been left unanswered. For example: do women notice that their man

What would you do if repeatedly ordered to give a strong electric shock to a helpless stranger? The year 1963 saw the publication of what was to become one of the most famous psychology studies ever. Stanley Milgram’s ‘obedience’ experiments have become the stuff of legend. What his experiments found was that — when ordered to — 63% of people would give a potentially dangerous electric shock to a stranger. It was designed to show how easily human beings cow to authority. Now, Polish psychologists, repeating the study, have found

Over-thinking worriers enjoy this unexpected psychological advantage. High levels of creativity may go hand-in-hand with neuroticism, a new study finds. It’s because the area of the brain which is linked to creativity also has the tendency to over-think things and worry. Neuroticism is characterised by negative thinking in a range of areas. For a long time neurotic people were thought to have a heightened perception to threat. This doesn’t fit the facts, though, explains Dr Adam Perkins, the study’s first author, said: “…it’s pretty difficult to explain neuroticism in terms

A survey of 30,500 people in the UK across 4 years reveals dramatic mental and physical benefits. Improving sleep quality leads to dramatic mental and physical health benefits, new research finds. The boost from better sleep is equivalent to winning $250,000 on the lottery or taking an 8-week course in meditation. Quality of sleep is more important than quantity, the researchers also found. The conclusions come from a survey of 30,500 people in the UK across 4 years. The researchers also found that lack of sleep led to greater use

One type of question can indirectly reveal a lot about a person’s personality. Asking someone what they think about other people reveals much about their own personality. The reason is that people tend to see more of their own qualities in others. The generous person sees others as generous and the selfish person sees others as selfish. Dr Dustin Wood, the study’s first author, said: “A huge suite of negative personality traits are associated with viewing others negatively. The simple tendency to see people negatively indicates a greater likelihood of

One of the easiest ways to reduce the risk of stress and anxiety. Eating vegetables daily is linked to a lower chance of anxiety and depression, new research finds. The study of over 65,000 Australians found that the more vegetables they ate each day, the lower their risk of suffering from anxiety and depression. Women in particular seemed to be sensitive to vegetable intake. Vegetables had a stronger protective effect on women than it did on men. Binh Nguyen, the study’s first author, said: “We found that fruit and vegetables