Behavioral Psychology - AllPsych

Media Literacy and Modern Technology

Christopher L. Heffner, PsyD, PhD — Fri, 07 Apr 2023 08:00:26 +0000

Media Psychology Technology, including social and other forms of media, is often considered neutral - its value is determined by how we use it (see Social Media is Related to Both Ill-Being and Well-Being). Finding a social group online that understands you can be a positive, life-changing, and even life-saving experience. However, becoming consumed with…

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Generalized Anxiety Disorder

AllPsych Staff — Thu, 21 Jul 2022 08:37:03 +0000

Generalized Anxiety Disorder, or GAD, involves excessive anxiety and worry about a number of events or activities that is out of proportion to the situation. The worry and worrisome thoughts are difficult to control. Adults with GAD often focuses on everyday activities such as job responsibilities, health and finances, health of family members, and misfortune…

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Study Identifies Three Types of Low-Risk Drinkers

Neil Petersen — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 04:13:28 +0000

When psychologists investigate people’s patterns of alcohol use, they often look at what happens when alcohol use becomes a problem. They consider questions such as what might predispose people to risky drinking habits, and how risky drinking habits tip into a full-blown alcohol problem. But a new study published in Drug and Alcohol Review comes…

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The Shape of a Glass Can Influence How Much You Drink

Neil Petersen — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 23:06:42 +0000

It’s not necessarily logical that how much food or drink you consume should depend on what dish the food or drink is served in, but people’s dietary habits aren’t always logical. In fact, a running theme in food psychology research is that environmental cues, known as nudges, can push people’s eating and drinking behaviors in…

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Why Do People Watch Porn?

Neil Petersen — Tue, 04 Aug 2020 17:00:24 +0000

Of all the questions you might ask about pornography, “why do people watch it?” isn’t necessarily the first that comes to mind. That part seems relatively self-explanatory. But psychologists like to go beyond the obvious in understanding human behavior – hence a new study that’s out with the title Why Do People Watch Pornography? The…

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Mapping People’s Perceptions of Extreme Weather in the US

Neil Petersen — Thu, 30 Jul 2020 20:16:56 +0000

By this point, meteorologists have collected enough information to build detailed maps of weather across the United States. But a team of researchers in Oklahoma and Tennessee have suggested a new kind of map that tracks what people think the weather is like in different parts of the country. The researchers were especially interested in…

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How to Stop Touching Your Face

Neil Petersen — Mon, 20 Jul 2020 22:48:28 +0000

Do you find your hand regularly creeping up toward your head, despite recent advice from public health experts to keep your fingers and your face firmly separated? If so, you’re not alone. Even trivial habits like touching your face can prove surprisingly hard to shake. Psychologists have spent years investigating the question of how to…

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A Magic Trick That Shows How Unconscious Cues Can Influence Our Choices

Neil Petersen — Tue, 14 Jul 2020 19:47:38 +0000

Think of a card, any card… I can tell you what card it’s probably not. It’s probably not the three of diamonds. After all, there’s just a 1 in 52 chance that you’d pick that card. And in an experiment that was part of a recent study by researchers in the UK, none of the…

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How Do People Punish Bad Behavior in Everyday Life?

Neil Petersen — Mon, 13 Jul 2020 22:19:18 +0000

When the people around us behave in ways we don’t want, there are a variety of ways we might choose to react. The most direct is to confront them about their behavior. More subtle methods might be gossiping about them to others, or quietly excluding them from social situations. A new study in the journal…

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How to Enforce Social Distancing? Your Answer Might Depend on Who’s Breaking the Rules

Neil Petersen — Thu, 02 Jul 2020 22:51:01 +0000

An ethical question raised by the pandemic is what to do about people who don’t take it upon themselves to follow public health recommendations. Generally, there are two approaches: educate people and punish them. The first involves informing people about the consequences of not following public health advice while the second is about imposing penalties…

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