AllPsych Psychology Articles

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Friends Cooperate More Efficiently After Exchanging Gifts

As I’ve written about before, people give gifts for a range of reasons – sometimes simply to do something nice, sometimes because they want to influence others. A new study from researchers ...
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January 30, 2020 / Neil Petersen / Cognitive Psychology, Friendships, Gratitude, Positive Psychology,

Do Children Imitate Differently Across Cultures?

Children have a lot to learn, and one of the ways they meet that formidable challenge is by imitating others. They’ll imitate the good things see. They’ll imitate the bad things they ...
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January 29, 2020 / Neil Petersen / Behavioral Psychology, Children, Culture, Developmental Psychology, Teens

Why Gun Owners Are Happier (Hint: It’s Probably Not the Guns)

Decades of psychology researchers has converged on the conclusion that the key to happiness is … owning a gun? Not quite. But as the authors of a new study on happiness and ...
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January 24, 2020 / Neil Petersen / Behavioral Psychology, Happiness, Positive Psychology

The Dietary Habits of Optimists

It’s solidly established that there appears to be a link between optimism and physical health. This can be seen, for example, from the fact that people with higher levels of optimism tend ...
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January 22, 2020 / Neil Petersen / Behavioral Psychology, Health Psychology, Nutrition, Optimism, Positive Psychology

Romantic Partners May Influence Young Adults’ Binge Drinking

If you ever dated someone your parents thought was a "bad influence," it turns out they might have been onto something. Romantic partners may influence young adults’ binge drinking behaviors more than ...
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January 21, 2020 / Neil Petersen / Alcohol, Behavioral Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Relationships, Sex, Young Adults

What Happens When College Students Disclose Mental Health Problems?

To disclose or not to disclose? For people with mental health conditions, it’s a common question. On one hand, disclosing your mental health condition is a step toward obtaining accommodations or support ...
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January 20, 2020 / Neil Petersen / Clinical Psychology, College, Developmental Psychology, Mental Health, Young Adults

Hungry Kids Don’t Like to Share

It’s hard to be concerned with lofty philosophical principles when you’re hungry. A new study from researchers at University of Chicago underscores this point in the context of an ethical dilemma that ...
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January 17, 2020 / Neil Petersen / Behavioral Psychology, Children, Gratitude, Nutrition, Positive Psychology, , Teens

When Is It “Manly” to Cry?

Our traditional ideas about how people are "supposed" express emotions are often tied up with gender stereotypes. Since managing emotions is a key part of mental health for anyone of any gender, ...
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January 13, 2020 / Neil Petersen / Emotion-Affective Psychology

Two Ways to Use Social Media

In my last post, I talked about how children in neighborhoods with faster internet apparently evaluate their lives more negatively. That study is one of several that has explored a possible link ...
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January 10, 2020 / Neil Petersen / Clinical Psychology, Emotion-Affective Psychology, ,

In Neighborhoods With Faster Internet, Children Feel Worse About Their Lives

Who wouldn’t want a faster internet connection? Kids who want to feel good about their lives, maybe. A new analysis of data from 6,300 children carried about by researchers at University of ...
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January 8, 2020 / Neil Petersen / Children, Clinical Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Emotion-Affective Psychology, Internet, Media Psychology & Technology,