1. 4 Elementary Ways of Relating to Others
The four ways of relating are respectively (1) communal sharing, (2) authority ranking, (3) equality matching, (4) market pricing principle. This theoretical framework perceives people as fundamentally social, and people in all cultures seem to relate in one of the four ways, depending on the context of the relationship. Read more →
2. The Power of a Social Purpose (A Judgmental Bias)
For a long time, it has been known that some social contexts foster compliance. Compliance describes a social phenomenon, where we do things in order to belong to a group, or more specifically, we do it so that we do not get abandoned from the group (see Asch’s conformity experiments). For this reason, we sometimes engage in behaviors that are in conflict with our own ideas, morality and perceptions. It is a strong innate force that serves the purpose of grouping and evolutionary survival. Read more →
3. Sleep is Important for Memory and Learning Potential
When we sleep, we undergo different stages of sleep. The deepest stage of sleep is REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. It has been called so because it can be recognized by rapid, random eye movements. This stage of sleep normally occurs in the early hours of the morning. This particular stage has been linked to dreaming, but it may serve basic functions as well. Read more →
4. Smiling Makes You More Attractive
Less attractive but happy faces were judged as equally or even more attractive than attractive but less smiling faces. (…) People pay more attention to attractive than less attractive people, which in turn makes them more sensitive towards them (and their emotions). Read more →
5. How Pets Influence our Health and Well-Being
Keeping pets is a phenomenon that exists in most cultures. Among the psychological theories for doing so is the theory of parental instincts, the biological love of nature, the tendency to use pets for showing off, the need to dominate the natural world, coping with loneliness, and the desire to teach youngsters responsibility and kindness. Read more →
