Psychology in Action

Tag: health

  • Happy Hearts

    There is a long history and a strong literature linking psychological aspects of peoples’ lives and coronary heart disease. Early research found a connection between coronary heart disease and a personality characteristic called Type A. Type A personality is characterized by time urgency, strong competitive drive, and hostility. Though some of these characteristics are related to…

  • Bossing stress away

    Imagining the stereotypical executive doesn’t exactly conjure up the image of a zen-like state. Instead, we tend to associate leadership roles with too many demands and not enough time to meet them—in essence, a pretty stressful lifestyle. After all, managers typically have to juggle more responsibilities and contend with more personalities than do their subordinates.…

  • Your Brain on Ads: Ground breaking research by UCLA researchers

    Dr. Matt Lieberman and former Psych in Action blogger Dr. Emily Falk are getting a lot of attention for their paper in Psychological Science that found that the specific brain regions that were activated while viewing health related advertisements predicted the ad’s success in the population at large — even though the viewers were not aware…

  • The Politics of Eating and Exercising: Are We Getting It Right?

    Eat healthier. Exercise. Our culture is currently full of messages telling us to change our habits, to turn us into a leaner, healthier society. While these messages are easier said than done, they’re perfectly warranted: The Centers for Disease Control reports that childhood obesity has tripled since the 1970s. So what can we do to…

  • How We See Food

    I’m not a great cook, but I know what I like. Or do I? Research from Brian Wansink and colleagues may challenge our ideas about how we think of food. How do we behave at buffets? Can a clever name really encourage us to eat something ordinary? Will placement of food at a cafeteria really…

  • How do ethnic and family identities affect adolescents in immigrant families?

    In recent decades, the United States has seen a dramatic rise in immigration from Latin American and Asian countries, which has raised questions (and staunch political opinions) about how immigration policies affect everyday life for U.S. citizens.  However, equally important questions concern how living in America affects the immigrant families themselves.  What exactly is life like for…

  • Depression and the immune system: recent research

    Behavioral scientists have been studying depression and depressive symptoms for a long time, yet the etiology is still not fully known.

  • New findings about the behavioral immune system

    In a recent issue of Psychological Science, researchers report on a new finding that our immune systems may be dictating our behavior.  When we notice that someone else is sick or has a rash, we instinctively try and avoid that person to keep ourselves healthy. This is called the “behavioral immune system” – we preform…

  • The Convenience of Therapy on your Computer

    Finding a good therapist is important. As a graduate student in clinical psychology, I am often asked where to find one. Typically, I would recommend the psychology clinic associated with my university, or point them in the direction of therapists who use empirically supported treatments. Yet, there remains several obstacles for reaching a therapist. These include…

  • How Food Companies Market to Children Online

    Keeping children eating healthy foods is one of the most important things one can do as a parent.  And one of the most difficult.  It’s probably no surprise that most food companies market directly to children, spending $1.6 billion a year to do so.  In fact, in 2006 the Institute of Medicine concluded that food…