PsyBlog posts the latest on how to win friends and influence people.
The art and science of persuasion is often discussed as though changing people’s minds is about using the right arguments, the right tone of voice or the right negotiation tactic. But effective influence and persuasion isn’t just about patter, body language or other techniques, it’s also about understanding people’s motivations…
NYT: A New Risk Factor: Your Social Life
Social relationships are just as important to health as other common risk factors like smoking, lack of exercise or obesity, new research shows…The researchers concluded that having few friends or weak social ties to the community is just as harmful to health as being an alcoholic or smoking nearly a pack of cigarettes a day. Weak social ties are more harmful than not exercising and twice as risky as being obese, the researchers found.
ScienceDaily: Anguish of romantic rejection may be linked to stimulation of areas of brain related to motivation, reward and addiction.
The study…helps to explain “why feelings and behaviors related to romantic rejection are difficult to control” and why extreme behaviors associated with romantic rejection such as stalking, homicide, suicide, and clinical depression occur in cultures all over the world, the researchers wrote.
A study to put no one at ease: Relationship Insecurity Ups Health Risk.
Anxious attachment was positively associated with a wider range of health conditions, including some defined primarily by pain and several involving the cardiovascular system (e.g., stroke, heart attack or high blood pressure).
Revisiting the conventional wisdom about getting along.
[A]lthough a lot of modern relationship advice boils down to keeping positive, this isn’t always the best way to go. When things are dreamy, being positive is probably good advice. But this research suggests that rocky relationships can benefit from negative processes.
A study finds a new way t o predict whether or not a couple is going to stay together–word matching.
The researchers found that volunteers who found it easy to associate their partner with bad things and difficult to associate the partner with good things were more likely to separate over the next year.
PsychCentral: Relationship Breakup Similar to Addiction Withdrawal
Rejection by a romantic partner is a bitter pill. New research suggests the trauma is severe because love rejection affects primitive areas of the brain associated with motivation, reward and addiction cravings…
ScienceDaily: For female baboons, too, it’s good to have friends:
Female baboons that maintain closer ties with other members of their troop live substantially longer than do those whose social bonds are less stable, a recent study has found. The researchers say that the findings add to evidence in animals from mice to humans that social bonds have real adaptive value.
Studies have couples checking in annually about their marriages, online.
“You don’t wait to see the dentist until something hurts — you go for checkups on a regular basis…If people were to bring their marriages in for a checkup on an annual basis, would that provide the same sort of benefit that a physical health checkup would provide?”
Ordered the couch yesterday for new therapy offices in Los Feliz. I’ll post pictures once it’s all set up. In the meantime, help with anxiety, depression, relationships, stress-related chronic pain, and addiction recovery ongoing at offices in Los Feliz, Silver Lake, and Beverly Hills. Call me at (323) 610-0112 to talk about what you’re going through and arrange a first appointment.
