Most adults can do a decent job of understanding other people’s internal mental states. Not the leader of the [supposedly] free world. By Jesse Singal.

In our culture, normal human emotions like temporary sadness are often treated as disorders. Manipulative advertising, marketing and self-help industries claim happiness should be ours for the asking. Yet bad moods remain an essential part of the normal range of moods we regularly experience.

New research shows that seeing through another's eyes takes a detached mind not just a warm heart.

Trying to boost your own ego is largely pointless. Here's what works better.

Has it ever seemed to you that less competent people rate their competence higher than it actually is, while more competent people humbly rate theirs lower? It’s not just your imagination.

In a classic experiment in 1953, students spent an hour doing repetitive, monotonous tasks, such as rotating square pegs a quarter turn, again and again. Then the experimenters asked the students to persuade someone else that this mind-numbing experience was in fact interesting… By Jim Davies

A life spent dutifully responding to emails is a dull one indeed. And “wasted” time is, in fact, highly fulfilling and necessary.

The Joe Camel approach to social media addiction.

It’s possible to vent without feeling worse afterward.

Thanks to a decline in homophobia, straight men are now better able to embrace "bromances" with other men, according to a new study published in the journal Sex Roles. In order to explore the evolution of these so-called bromances -- which the report describes as being "more emotionally intimate, physically demonstrative, and based upon unrivaled trust and cohesion compared to their other friendships" -- the study's authors interviewed 30 undergraduate heterosexual and "mostly heterosexual" men studying sport-degree programs at a British University.

When people think about school tragedies and disasters, the massacres at Columbine High School in 1999 and Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 immediately come to mind.Fifteen people, including the two perpetrators, died in the Columbine, Colorado inciden

Make America great again. Clearly the message resonated. In 2016, prior to the presidential election, the Public Religion Research Institute, a nonpartisan group, published its annual American Values Survey. It revealed 51 percent of the population felt the American way of life had changed for the worse since the 1950s. Further, 7 in 10 likely Donald Trump voters said American society has gotten worse since that romanticised decade. Of course America today has its problems, but by many standards of living, the general population is better off now than it was 60 years ago. So why do so many people see the past as better than today?

When mulling over possible reasons for the alarming nastiness associated with the recent presidential election in the United States, I am reminded of my grade-school bully. Handsome, often charming, superbly athletic, the bully (let’s call him Mike) would frequently, usually without clear provocation, kick, punch and shove other classmates. Fortunately, for reasons not apparent at that time, he never bothered me.

In computer-mediated communication, you would expect that because there aren’t many opportunities to signal irony and provide cues, like gestures or facial expressions, you would expect that people avoid it. But they don’t. The internet speaks for itself on this point, but research also backs it up: In 2004, Stanford communications professor Jeff Hancock published a study in the Journal of Language in Social Psychology suggesting that people may use sarcasm more frequently online than they do in face-to-face interaction. Sarcasm is alive and well online; that much is obvio

You'd like to think that looks aren't everything when it comes to dating: that you will attract partners by your wit, warmth and creativity as much as your physical appearance. And that’s certainly true – at least for men. Women on the other hand are rather less lucky. A study published this week by the Royal Society found that if you’re an “average-looking” or ugly man, being witty, entertaining and imaginative will increase your overall attractiveness.

Our society rewards social behaviour while ignoring the positive effects of time spent alone. An excerpt from "Solitude" by Michael Harris.

Our grins are not as simple as they seem. There are a myriad different ways to smile – and some of them can conceal some less than happy feelings.

'Tereska' is one of David 'Chim' Seymour's most famous photographs

On my birthday this year, my coworkers planned an elaborate surprise. When I came into work, several dozen colleagues had dressed up as me, donning my trademark accessories: a flannel shirt, a baseball cap—and a scowl. There are two takeaways from this anecdote. The first is that I have truly thoughtful and quirky colleagues. The second is that my habitually grumpy demeanor is so noticeable in the workplace that it has become a hallmark of my persona.

Psychosis, sometimes called schizophrenia, is a psychological state characterised by symptoms such as paranoia and hallucinations. In England, one person in every 100 will be diagnosed with a psychotic disorder at some point in their lives. Disturbingly, evidence gathered from Western nations suggests that immigrants experience psychosis at rates two to five times higher than non-immigrants.

Pollen can cause inflammation that leads to impulsive, fatal behavior, researchers say.

There are lots of stereotypes about the kind of people in different professions. Lawyers and business people are often caricatured as ruthless and self-interested, especially when compared to the kind of folk who enter professions usually seen as caring, such as nursing or psychology. To test the truth of these stereotypes, a new study in Personality and Individual Differences surveyed the “Dark Triad” and “Big Five” traits of hundreds of Danish students enrolled to begin studying either psychology, politics, business/economics or law.

it might be time to revise the authenticity trope in romantic movies… By Christian Jarrett.

Shyness is a part of being human. The world would be a more insipid, less creative place without it. By Joe Moran.

When you hear someone laugh behind you, you probably picture them on the phone or with a friend – smiling and experiencing a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Chances are just the sound of the laughter could make you smile or even laugh along. But imagine that the person laughing is just walking around alone in the street, or sitting behind you at a funeral. Suddenly, it doesn’t seem so inviting.

Under the right circumstances, choosing to spend time alone can be a huge psychological boon.

The start-up has undertaken an extraordinary experiment in behavioral science to subtly entice an independent work force to maximize company revenue.

People who read the news are more likely to feel angry towards Muslims, a new study has found. Whether liberal or conservative, researchers found more avid news consumers showed both increased anger and reduced warmth towards members of the Islamic faith.  The findings, based on responses from 16,584 New Zealanders from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (NZAVS), were published in leading international science journal PLOS ONE. 

A friend of mine once had a curious experience with a job interview. Excited about the possible position, she arrived five minutes early and was immediately ushered into the interview by the receptionist. Following an amicable discussion with a panel of interviewers, she was offered the job. Afterward, one of the interviewers remarked how impressed she was that my friend could be so composed after showing up 25 minutes late to the interview. As it turned out, my friend had been told the wrong start time by half an hour; she had remained composed because she did not know she was late.

What frustrates me is, as providers, we’ve lost our humanness and we cease to live when we forget about the human. In my practice, I give every patient my personal mobile number. I get a call in the middle of the night from Sarah. I could hear her husband snoring in the background. I asked, “Are you okay?” “Well, yes and no,” she said. “You know, it’s those wee hours of the morning where we feel very alone and the uncertainty and the ambiguity of life creeps up on us.” And she said, “I just – I just wanted someone with me in this space.” I said, “Okay.”

Our occasional series on storytelling in video games travels to Pelican Town to explore the bucolic pleasures of Stardew Valley, a farming simulator inspired by the classic 1990s Harvest Moon games.

The Oatmeal takes on the backfire effect.

New discoveries about the human mind show the limitations of reason. By Elizabeth Kolbert.

There’s nothing virtuous about "early to bed, early to rise."

Cast your mind back over the past week. How many times were you tempted to act dishonestly? Perhaps you were given too much change… By Neil Garrett.