Psych News You Can Use

People usually think of death as a depressing fact of life, but a study in the Journal of Positive Psychology (11 January 2017) found that when we appreciate that our life is limited, it offers us an opportunity to focus on what’s good in our life and to make the most of the days we do have, which makes us happier.

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How can you tell if someone is interested and flirting with you? Look at what they say and do – but look carefully because the signs are subtle and maybe different than what you expect. Researcher Jeffrey Hall at the University of Kansas has identified 36 verbal and nonverbal actions that show whether you’re interested in another person… (more…)

Even though women and men usually focus on their differences, according to UNC psychology professor Zlatan Krizan, who analyzed over 100 studies including more than 12 million people, there’s almost an 80% overlap for 75% of our psychological characteristics. In reality, men and women are much more alike than different when it comes to IQ, personality traits, well-being, satisfaction in life, stress, morality, etc. (more…)

According to psychologist Ty Tashiro, author of ‘The Science of Happily Ever After,’ unfortunately only about 30% of couples who marry will create and maintain a long-term happy and healthy marriage. Tolstoy wrote that each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way, but the happy ones are happy in ways they share in common. (more…)

Want to stop smoking, start exercising, lose weight, improve your diet, or reduce your alcohol use? We’re much more successful in developing and maintaining healthy habits if our partner does the same. Scientists at University College London studied over 3700 couples married or living together, and found that if you want to improve your habits, get your partner to do the same. (more…)

Psychologists have long known that generally people are happier and more satisfied when they’re married, and according to two international studies this is especially true during times of stress. And it’s even truer for those couples who feel that they’re each other’s best friend. In recent decades, men and women are less locked into the old roles of men as provider and woman as homemaker. (more…)

A study of infidelity among 64,000 Americans by David Frederick, PhD of Chapman University found that men and women differ when it comes to jealousy. Heterosexual men were much more upset than women by sexual infidelity (54% men vs 35% women) and less likely than heterosexual women to be most upset by emotional infidelity (46% men vs 65% of women). (more…)

Before criticizing your wife’s faults, you must remember it may have been these very defects which prevented her from getting a better husband that the one she married. Before marriage, a man will lie awake thinking about something you said; after marriage, he’ll fall asleep before you finish saying it. (Helen Rowland) The best exercise for a good marriage is bending over backward. (more…)

Hunger and low blood sugar create irritability and conflict, and research sponsored by the National Academy of Science shows that many fights couples have can be traced to this common physiological problem. Especially in this era when tens of millions of people are diabetic or pre-diabetic, physically caused anger often and easily leads to marital conflict. (more…)

Traditionally, married couples meet through work, school, friends, relatives, religious gatherings, or a common hobby or other shared activity. But maybe it’s easier to find someone with whom we have a lot in common, increasing our chances of success, when we have thousands of people from which to choose, rather than just the few we can meet in person. (more…)