For over 50 years, doctors have used placebos to cause real effects through fake cures. Placebos include pills, acupuncture and surgeries just to name a few. How have things changed with review boards and lawyers being involved? […]
There’s a popular myth that men and women have different types of brains. What’s the truth in this statement, and how significant are the differences? […]
When it comes to asking how we measure emotions, the first question we should probably address is whether or not there’s a basic, universal set of emotions across cultures. If so, which ones are they? Paul Eckman, addressed exactly this question of whether or not there are universal emotions, and if so, which ones. He decided to focus on facial expressions, given that across all cultures all individuals have the same facial musculature. […]
By Mark Leary, Ph.D., Duke University The trait of openness involves the degree to which people are generally open or receptive to all sorts of things. […]
The fourth member of the big five is the trait of conscientiousness, which reflects the degree to which people are responsible and dependable. Conscientiousness comes down to whether people usually do what they should, and whether they try to do it well. Of course, responsibly doing what one should depends on a number of separate characteristics, and most of these underlying attributes are part of conscientiousness. […]
Once we move beyond the traits of extroversion and neuroticism, the third most important trait is agreeableness, which involves the degree to which people generally have a positive or negative orientation toward other people. […]
The second most important personality trait is usually called neuroticism, but because the word neuroticism has such negative connotations, many researchers now call it emotional stability. Whatever we call it, the central feature of neuroticism or emotional stability is the degree to which people experience negative emotions. […]
When it comes to definining personality types, the balance of extraversion to introversion underlies people’s behavior more than any other trait. What are the key differences of extroverts vs. introverts, and why is this trait so important? […]
The English language contains more than 3000 words that refer to personality characteristics of various kinds. So how have researchers isolated and defined five major personality types out of a pool of thousands? And what, exactly, is the difference between a personality type and a personality trait? […]
We all have things we want to change about ourselves–whether we want to stop negative thinking, quit our bad habits, worry less, and enjoy more… But changing well-established patterns of behavior, reaction, and emotional response can seem impossible. However, one way to invoke lasting change in your life can be found with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). […]
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