Archive

Smile! And I tell you where you’re from

Although popular belief (and a heartwarming children’s song) holds that we all laugh in the same language, recent research has found that people are remarkably adapt at detecting local accents in the way that emotions are expressed. In this blog, I will review the research that suggests that the long-assumed universality of emotions is limited. / more

Smartphones: A threat to well-being?

Nowadays, smartphones appear to play an inevitable role both in our work and private life. However, when it comes to work-related use, smartphones can hamper recovery and thus, pose a threat to our well-being. In this blog-post, I review recent studies on how and when potential side-effects may occur. / more

Why Are We Still Spanking Our Kids?

In this blog post we discuss legal, attitudinal and motivational factors that explain why we use physical punishment with children, specifically: (1) the United States, unlike most other countries, does not legislate against it, (2) attitudes condoning corporal punishment remain strong, particularly in some U.S. regions and cultures, (3) situational precipitating factors, impulsive appraisal, and cognitive scripts for aggressive punishment can interact to result in a spanking episode. / more

Consensual non-monogamy: Table for more than two, please

Admit it:  We have crushes, we have sexual fantasies, and sometimes we want to act on them—even when those crushes and fantasies aren’t about our current romantic partner.  Most of the time, we ignore these crushes and our fantasies go unfulfilled.  For some, cheating seems like an option.  However, for others, it is totally okay to pursue these crushes and fantasies outside a relationship.  Welcome to the emerging movement to rewrite the rules of romance: consensual... / more

Keeping the spark alive: The role of sexual communal motivation

In new relationships, feelings of sexual desire for a partner come relatively easily. But, over time, partners’ sexual interests often change and it can be difficult for couples to keep the spark alive. In the beginning stages of relationships when partners are getting to know each other sexual desire tends to peak (Baumeister & Bratlavsky, 1999), and then often declines over time as partners become comfortable and committed in their relationship... / more

An Introduction to Cognitive Psychology. Proccesses and Disorders

When I started incorporating cognitive paradigms into my research, I was looking for a book that would allow me to quickly navigate through cognitive theories and refresh my knowledge acquired in undergraduate cognitive psychology course. I was glad to find ”An Introduction to Cognitive Psychology” edited by David Groome and colleagues. / more

From candidate genes to genome-wide association studies

In my last post I asked where the genes for psychological traits are, and argued that over the last two decades candidate gene studies have failed to identify genes that are reliably associated with complex behavioral phenotypes. In this post, I will discuss more recent whole genome methods, such as genome-wide association studies, and what we have learned from these. / more

No strings attached: Are “friends with benefits” as complicated in real life as they are in the movies?

Many people become “friends with benefits” to avoid drama and to have sex without getting tied up in emotions; however, the reality is that having a friend with benefits often becomes complicated. Why is that, and is there anything you can do to avoid these complexities? In this article, we will explore the science behind friends who decide to have sex.

 “No relationship. No emotions. Just ...

Now I ain’t sayin she’s a gold digger, but will she get with someone who makes less than her, either?

In this post I review research showing that women do not care about partner’s income as much as people may think. In fact, the research suggests that both men and women overestimate the degree to which the other gender cares about money in relationships. These findings are particularly relevant given that some opponents of the 2014 U.S. Paycheck Fairness Act have stated that women prefer to make less money than their romantic partners. / more

Bullying in the workplace

Organization-motivated aggression like retaliatory behavior and antisocial conduct designed to harass, ostracize, humiliate (verbally and non-verbally), and eliminate any employee who is perceived to have ethical standards or raises an ethical concern that might become a problem for management could be classified as a bullying behavior. Human resources departments are designed to protect management and can easily be drawn into becoming the “Bully” who is hiding behind his or her legal jargon in order to lynch and attack targeted employees. / more