Rules that encourage cooperative behavior lead people to develop altruistic responses even in new contexts, a new Yale-led research found. This spillover effect suggests it is possible for organizations or even entire cultures to foster “habits of virtue,” said David Rand, assistant professor of psychology and economics at Yale and senior author of the paper appearing in the journal Management Science. (more…)
The phrase “tears of joy” never made much sense to Yale psychologist Oriana Aragon. But after conducting a series of studies of such seemingly incongruous expressions, she now understands better why people cry when they are happy.
“People may be restoring emotional equilibrium with these expressions,” said Aragon, lead author of work to be published in the journal Psychological Science. “They seem to take place when people are overwhelmed with strong positive emotions, and people who do this seem to recover better from those strong emotions.” (more…)
Study more than triples the number of facial expressions researchers can use to track the origins of emotions in the brain
COLUMBUS, Ohio—Researchers at The Ohio State University have found a way for computers to recognize 21 distinct facial expressions—even expressions for complex or seemingly contradictory emotions such as “happily disgusted” or “sadly angry.”
In the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they report that they were able to more than triple the number of documented facial expressions that researchers can now use for cognitive analysis. (more…)
UCLA findings suggests possible new treatment for depression, other disorders
What makes us happy? Family? Money? Love? How about a peptide?
The neurochemical changes underlying human emotions and social behavior are largely unknown. Now though, for the first time in humans, scientists at UCLA have measured the release of a specific peptide, a neurotransmitter called hypocretin, that greatly increased when subjects were happy but decreased when they were sad. (more…)
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Freedom of the press is viewed by many as a cornerstone of democracy. But can it actually help improve people’s lives and make them happy? Researchers at the University of Missouri have found that citizens of countries with press freedom tend to be much happier than citizens of countries without free presses. Edson Tandoc, Jr., a doctoral student in the MU School of Journalism, says that press freedom directly predicts life satisfaction across the world.
“We already know that having reliable, objective news sources can benefit democracy, but in this study, we found that press freedom also benefits communities by helping improve the overall quality of life of citizens and, in the process, by also making them happier,” Tandoc said. “People enjoy having an element of choice about where they get their news. Citizens of countries without a free press are forced to rely on the government for information, when what people really want is diversity in content where they are free to get the information they want from the source of their choosing.” (more…)
*Design fuels the whole world, says Amber Billings*
This past spring, Amber Billings competed nationally with other college students to design a pack for Orbit gum. The second-year U of M graphic design student was named one of the eight contest winners. She received $5,000. And her design and signature appear on limited edition packs of Orbit’s Melon Remix gum through February 2012.
Recently, Amber Billings discussed what inspires her design work. (more…)
As a researcher, Yale psychologist June Gruber has confirmed the many positive physical, social and psychological benefits of human happiness.
While working as a clinical scientist at the University of California-Berkeley, however, she witnessed extreme and damaging bouts of positive emotion during periods of mania in bipolar disorder. (more…)
Well, soon we are heading into the New Year 2010. Great numbers!!!
Before thinking about what we can achieve in 2010, let’s have a look back at 2009. We still have some time. 🙂
