Many of us will ‘fess up to being a little Facebook-obsessed. Maybe we update our status a little too often or scroll through the newsfeed during boring dinner parties, but is it possible to actually be addicted to Facebook? Norwegian researcher Cecilie Schou Andreassen thinks so, and she’s devised a questionnaire to support her theory. Take the Facebook addiction test, after the jump! Keep reading »
A new study published in the journal Psychological Science found that women are objectified at much higher rates than men. That sound you just heard was every woman in the world yelling, “Well, duh!” but still, this is a pretty interesting development, because as much as we can see and feel the effects of sexual objectification in our society and in our personal experience, it’s always been a difficult phenomenon to measure. Here’s how the most recent study worked… Keep reading »
Ladies, if you’ve ever wondered why you’re always heading home from the bar alone, the answer could be depressingly simple: you are too intelligent and alert. Slate.com has a really fascinating piece about an article soon to be published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior about “sexual exploitability,” or how the male of the species chooses to pursue a female of the species who seems most sexually susceptible. Or, put it in English, they wanted to find out how men figure out with whom they can score.
You should read the entire piece yourself for the full explanation, because it’s complicated and long-winded. But the bare bones version is men were studied as they responded to a bunch of qualities in potential long-term and short-term mates. And interestingly enough, pictures of women looking sleepy or intoxicated, as well as stupid or immature-seeming, were seen as the most easy lays and most attractive. Keep reading »
Caesarian sections are on the rise in the United States, but a new study out yesterday indicates that the surgical birth method may have an unexpected consequence. It found that babies born by C-section are twice as likely to be obese by age three, reports the Washington Post. Researchers reviewing the records of 1,255 mothers and babies discovered that 7.5 percent of those born vaginally were obese at three, vs. 15.7 percent of those born by C-section. Read more…
Bad news for those of you who assumed yoga was curing all that ails you: A new study found no evidence that yoga’s mental effects benefit the body. The good news is that yoga does help to relieve lower back pain, the Wall Street Journal reports. However, stretching was found to be equally as effective as yoga at easing the pain—indicating that yoga’s mental component plays no role. Read more…
Women have complained for years about the lack of diversity in the modeling industry, and while we’ve seen some small improvements, models are still overwhelmingly very tall, very thin, very young, and very white. However, a recent study might provide companies with just the motivation they need to change their ways: women spend a lot more money when they see clothes on models and mannequins with body types similar to theirs. Here’s the lowdown… Keep reading »
Last week, we shared some of our biggest Facebook friend dealbreakers. You know, like Thou Shalt Not Post Status Updates About Your Child’s Poop. Stuff like that. This week, there’s a study about how to keep people from unfriending you (in case you haven’t been able to figure it out on your own). A survey conducted at Arizona State University and published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships found that to keep your Facebook friendships intact you should respond to messages, avoid disrespecting people and don’t post photos that are going to embarrass or offend. More specifically: Wish your FB friends a happy birthday, don’t stalk, don’t post your highly personal emo poetry and take it easy on the inside jokes. These “rules” vary slightly by age group and may shift depending on how close you are to a Facebook friend in real life. But generally speaking, these unspoken rules all fall under the umbrella of “Don’t be a douche.” Any further questions? [Live Science]
According to a new study published in the Journal of Sex Research, 28 percent of male college students admitted to faking orgasms during intercourse, oral sex and manual stimulation. The reasons guys pretended to orgasm were similar to those cited by the females — they wanted sex to be over, they wanted to please their partner, they felt pressure to perform. Blah, blah, blah. Men are sensitive and have insecurities, too. Obviously. I totally get why men would fake it from time to time. But how? What happens when a man has an orgasm is pretty specific, so I’m wondering how dudes are getting away with faking it 28 percent of the time? How do their partners not notice? Can they please do a study on that? Or can some guy who fakes it divulge his secrets by emailing me, oh, right now? [Blog Her]
Do you talk to yourself? Most people do it every once in awhile. Ami does it a lot. Self-talking definitely won’t make you popular on public transportation, but a new study indicates that it will speed up your thought process. Here’s the lowdown: psychologists asked two groups of volunteers to scan a series of photos in search of a specific object. One group was told to repeatedly say the name of the object they were looking for (“banana, banana, banana”), while the other group were told to remain silent. The results? Those zany self-talkers found the items faster, because researchers say when you talk to yourself, “you’re activating visual properties in the brain to help you find them.” So the next time your partner or roommate gets annoyed with your constant muttering, politely remind them that you’re not just talking to yourself, you’re activating visual properties in your brain. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to find my cellphone. “Cellphone, cellphone, cellphone, cellphone…” [Mother Nature Network]
A new study done at Dartmouth confirmed what we already knew: Focus on food and you will probably get fat, think about sex and you are more likely to get laid. Forty-eight females were given brain scans while being shown pictures of food, animals nature scenes and people engaging in sexual and nonsexual activities. Researchers found that women who responded more often to the pictures of food were more likely to gain weight in the next six months, while the women who had a greater response to sexual images showed an increase in sexual desire and activity in the next six months. Scientists are excited because it means they can make predictions about our behavior based on our brain activity. I’m excited because I can choose to think less about Girl Scout cookies, more about sex. If only there weren 12 hot guys instead of 12 boxes of Thin Mints in our office right now, it would be a lot easier. [NY Times]
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