Conservative commentary often attempts to reinstate the primacy of stay-at-home motherhood, prompting feelings of guilt among working mothers. But a recent study might help to finally lay this issue to…
Researchers have found female diners unconsciously copy the actions and intake of their companions.
Flickr/iambents
Young women who dine together tend to mimic each other’s eating behaviour to the point where they eat about the same amount and even take bites at similar times, research has found. A study of 70 pairs…
A growing cohort of commentators has bemoaned the descent of contemporary political “debate” into a largely fact-free zone. People used to be entitled to their own opinions, but not their own set of facts…
For many of us, the start of a new year heralds a new beginning, and an important opportunity to commit to significant personal changes. But why does this single moment in the year hold almost superstitious…
You may want to start hoarding supplies and making your end of world plans now – before it’s too late.
Flickr/Necromundo
If you believe the doomsayers, the human race is not long for this earth. By the end of this year, our number will be up: the four horseman of the apocalypse will be upon us, fire will rain from the skies…
You can’t believe everything you read in the papers … but you probably will.
EPA/Ian Nicholson
So The Guardian has now retracted its earlier reports that News of the World journalists had deleted Milly Dowler’s voicemails. Those journalists hacked the dead girl’s phone but they may not have deleted…
When the Murray Darling Basin Authority commissioned me in 2011 to examine the social impacts on the Lower Murray and Lakes communities of low flows and drought, I was confronted with irrigation farmers…
A recent article in Nature Neuroscience contends that optimism is hard-wired – that we are more likely to update our knowledge with positive than negative news. So what happens if all the news seems bad…
Are you suffering a creativity problem? Well, pop psychology claims your “right brain” holds the key. Whether you want to drop a few kilos, improve your profits, spice up your sex life, or take over the…
The emerging field of neuromarketing exploits the gap between what we say and what we think.
Flickr/DierkSchaefer
How do we choose? Consumers imagine themselves as rational decision-makers, able to weigh up the relative costs and benefits of decisions to arrive at reasoned choices. Yet, a growing body of research…
Job seekers always want to show their best side, so personality testing can be complicated.
Vermin Inc
Most people have taken an online or magazine quiz promising to reveal information about their true personality, interests, or attitudes. These tests can be harmless fun. But there is a serious side to…
Media stories about crime and grief often centre on the concept of “closure”. It’s assumed families affected by crime or loss need to achieve closure and can’t begin the grieving process until the perpetrator…
Researchers say they have identified two different types of autism, paving the way for more targeted treatment.
Flickr/Pondspider
US researchers say they have identified at least two distinct types of autism, paving the way for new and more targeted treatments. Autism, a neurobiological disorder that impairs social interaction skills…