The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has released a fascinating new brochure called Women and Depression. It provides a wealth of information on depression and its treatments.

Figuring out who is being honest about themselves is frequently one of the most challenging aspects of meeting someone. If someone exaggerates what they do for a living or how well they did in school is it a fatal flaw? Should you run the other way or accept that this is just a normal, but awkward, attempt by that person to express personal goals and ambitions?

When we talk about personality the definition most psychologists use goes along the lines of “those relatively enduring patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviors that distinguish people.” For a long time it has been thought that personality did not change in any meaningful way once a person hit adulthood. However, recent work suggests that not only does personality change in adulthood it changes well into old age as well.

A number of studies have suggested that we perceive others level of distress quite differently based on how many social resources we feel we have at the moment. In other words when we feel supported by others we tend not to feel as overwhelmed by stressful situations.

Two of the most widely published and well respected researchers in relationship science got together to review what psychological science knows about love. As it turns out, according to Drs. Henry Reis and Arthur Aron, “a uniquely psychological perspective on love can be identified.” Here are a few of the highlights they point out.

The quantity and quality of studies that report a link between stress and poor health is such that it seems to be a definitive finding at this point. However, there is a relatively new study that suggests that stress not only has a negative impact on the person experiencing the stress, it could also have negative effects on the person’s children.

An international pair of researchers, Ulrich Schimmack of the University of Toronto and Richard Lucas of the University of Michigan, have conducted a study on the long-term happiness of married couples that may have profound implications for our understanding of what makes people happy in long-term relationships.

The role of women in the workplace is such that most businesses would cease to operate without their contributions. And balancing work life with the needs of child-rearing has also been a fact of life for both men and women. However, researchers from the University of Calgary have recently reported that the relationship between gender, parental status and work productivity is rather complex.

Most people have stereotypic, and frequently unflattering, perceptions of people who have multiple sexual partners. But research done by Patrick and Charlotte Markey suggests that the personality of people who sleep around more than is typical may confound the stereotypes.
This husband-wife team of psychologists gave 210 adults an array of personality tests. They [...]

I will admit this blog is a bit selfish in motivation. This has been one of those weeks where the most consistent part of my job has been the number of interruptions. Not only am I trying to juggle about six or eight different tasks there has also been a plethora of personal issues going on. I used to think I was a Zen master when it came to concentration. But this week has challenged that perception; I started feeling like the interruptions were winning. So today I took a few minutes to see if there may be any suggestions in the literature on how to maintain concentration.

As people become more transient, maximizing educational and career opportunities, many speculate on the decline of extended family ties. Thomas Pollet and Robin Dunbar argue that while family ties may be more difficult to detect in modern society they continue to function in ways that provide needed instrumental support for the younger generations.

A study done by researchers from the University of Western Australia has a lot to offer to those of us who tend to experience the “deer in a headlight” reactions when the pressure is on. Like trying to sink a free throw when the game is on the line. And their results may have implications outside of pressure times in sports events.

A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences presents a compelling case that divorce has an extremely negative impact on the environment.

It doesn’t take the proverbial rocket scientist to reach the conclusion that men and women walk differently. The greater pelvic obliquity and less vertical center of mass displacement in women compared with men has long been mentioned as a reason why some men are so distinctly uncool, even rude, staring, etc. as they are wont to do when women walk by.