En noche de regalos es bueno saber algunas características de las personas detrás de los obsequios. Por ejemplo los individuos narcisistas compran grandes regalos para sentirse "únicos". Los científicos han estudiado la psicología que hay detrás de la costumbre navideña de regalar. Y han descubierto, entre otras cosas, que los individuos narcisistas compran grandes regalos, tanto para los demás como para sí mismos, con el fin de destacar entre la multitud y hacer sentir a los demás que "son únicos". De ahí que sean más propensos a adquirir y osbsequiar a sus familiares y amigos con productos de ediciones limitadas, tal y como explica Aiden Gregg, de la Universidad Southampton (Reino Unido), coautor de un reciente estudio al respecto. “Es como si, al regalar, los narcisistas intentaran que los que le rodean fueran tan especiales como se consideran ellos”. Por otro lado, una reciente investigación estadounidense publicada en Journal of Consumer Research revelaba que, cuando se trata de regalar, más no significa mejor. En concreto, si en un paquete agregamos un obsequio barato a uno más caro –algo que suelen preferir quienes regalan si tiene poder adquisitivo- se reduce el efecto positivo del segundo en quien lo recibe. Los destinatarios de un presente apreciarán más un regalo más caro si es el único que reciben. Montevideo, Uruguay UNoticias Fuente. Muy Interesante VA |
miércoles, 26 de diciembre de 2012
La psicología del regalo
martes, 25 de diciembre de 2012
Neuroimagen y trastorno bipolar
Los jóvenes con riesgo genético de sufrir trastorno bipolar muestran una reducción en la actividad de una región cerebral relacionada con las emociones.
19.12.2012. investigacionyciencia.es
19.12.2012. investigacionyciencia.es
Los jóvenes con un riesgo genético de sufrir trastorno bipolar, aunque sin signos clínicos de la enfermedad, presentan una reducción en la actividad de una región cerebral relacionada con las emociones, en concreto, la circunvolución frontal inferior.
A esta conclusión han llegado en fecha reciente investigadores de la Universidad de Nueva Gales del Sur y del Instituto Black Dog, en Sidney, mediante técnicas de neuroimagen. El trastorno bipolar se caracteriza, entre otros factores, por las fluctuaciones extremas y a menudo impredecibles del estado de ánimo y los cambios conductuales (conducta desinhibida, agresividad y depresión severa). Esta sintomatología influye de manera destacada en la vida diaria de los afectados.
Menos respuesta a las emociones
«Hemos encontrado que los jóvenes con un padre o un hermano con trastorno bipolar mostraban respuestas cerebrales reducidas ante rostros emotivos, en especial ante las cara que expresaban miedo», indica Philip Mitchell, de la Universidad de Nueva Gales del Sur y autor principal del estudio. «Sabemos que el trastorno bipolar es principalmente una enfermedad biológica con una influencia genética fuerte, pero existen desencadenantes que todavía no se han entendido», añade.
A través de imágenes por resonancia magnética funcional, los científicos observaron la actividad cerebral de 47 probandos entre los 18 y 30 años con al menos un familiar de primer grado que padecía dicha psicopatología; también de 49 sujetos de control (dentro del mismo rango de edad, pero sin una historia familiar de trastorno bipolar u otras enfermedades mentales graves). A todos ellos se les mostraron fotografías de rostros felices, temerosos o neutros (en calma). Los resultados revelaron que las personas con un riesgo genético de trastorno bipolar manifestaban una reducción de la actividad en una parte específica del cerebro que regula las respuestas emocionales: la circunvolución frontal inferior.
«Nuestros resultados muestran que el trastorno bipolar puede estar relacionado con una disfunción en la regulación emocional», indica Mitchell. Según prevén los autores, la identificación precoz de este trastorno mental podría mejorar la evolución de la enfermedad y permitiría implementar programas de intervención temprana. «Esperamos que la identificación temprana mejorará de manera relevante los resultados para las personas que van a desarrollar el trastorno, e incluso permita prevenir su aparición en algunos individuos», apunta Mitchell.
Más información en Biological Psychiatry
Fuente: Universidad de Nueva Gales del Sur / EurekaAlert!
Reappraisal Defuses Strong Emotional Responses to Israel-Palestine Conflict
Reappraisal is a widely-used cognitive strategy that can help people to regulate their reactions to emotionally charged events. Now, new research suggests that reappraisal may even be effective in changing people’s emotional responses in the context of one of the most intractable conflicts worldwide: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Negative intergroup emotions play a crucial role in decisions that perpetuate intractable conflicts,” observes lead researcher Eran Halperin of the New School of Psychology at the Interdisciplinary Center in Israel.
With this in mind, Halperin and his colleagues wondered whether cognitive reappraisal, a strategy that involves changing the meaning of a situation to change the emotional response to it, might be effective in diminishing such negative intergroup emotions.
Their research is published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
In the first study, 39 Jewish Israeli participants viewed a series of photos that were deliberately selected to induce anger. Some of the participants were trained in cognitive reappraisal — they were taught to respond to the images like scientists, considering them objectively, analytically, and in a cold and detached manner. The other participants received no instructions.
Then all of the participants watched an anger-inducing presentation. The four-minute presentation — with pictures, text, and music — described Israel’s disengagement from the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian response, including the launching of rockets, the election of Hamas, and the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier. Before watching, participants were asked to apply the reappraisal technique they had learned.
Halperin and colleagues found that participants who were taught to reappraise their emotional responses expressed less anger towards Palestinians, greater support for conciliatory policies, and less support for aggressive policies than the participants who received no training. The results suggest that the increase in support for conciliatory policies could be explained — at least in part — by decreased intergroup anger.
To examine whether these findings would extend to conflict-related events as they occurred in the real world, Halperin and colleagues conducted a second study.
The researchers knew that Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas would be presenting a bid to the United Nations seeking full UN membership for Palestine in September 2011. They recruited 60 Jewish Israelis to participate in a study and, six days before the UN bid, they asked the participants to rate their current positive and negative emotions and their general support for different types of policies.
Once again, the researchers trained half of the participants to use cognitive reappraisal. Over the course of the following week, the participants received three text message reminders to use the technique they had learned. A week after the training and two days after the bid, the researchers assessed participants’ emotional and political reactions.
As Halperin and colleagues expected, there was no difference in negative emotions among the participants before training took place. A week after training, however, the reappraisal participants reported lower levels of negative emotions toward Palestinians. The data suggest that the reappraisal actually made them more supportive of conciliatory policies and less supportive of aggressive policies, effects which could be attributed to a decrease in negative emotions.
Even more surprising, however, was the fact that these results held up five months later when the participants were asked to complete a brief questionnaire by an unfamiliar experimenter.
“We consider our findings to be preliminary yet provocative,” write Halperin and colleagues. “Political positions in conflict situations are considered rigid, well entrenched, and driven mainly by ideological rather than emotional considerations. It is therefore surprising to see shifts in these attitudes based on such minimal interventions.”
These results provide evidence that emotion regulation strategies like reappraisal can influence intergroup emotions, not just intrapersonal emotions, and can even shape political reactions.
The researchers believe that this research could eventually lead to interventions that incorporate cognitive reappraisal as a way of increasing support for peace in long-term conflicts.
Study co-authors include Roni Porat of The Hebrew University and Interdisciplinary Center – Herzliya (Israel); Maya Tamir of The Hebrew University (Israel); and James Gross of Stanford University.
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For more information about this study, please contact: Eran Halperin at eran.halperin@idc.ac.il.
The APS journal Psychological Science is the highest ranked empirical journal in psychology. For a copy of the article "Can Emotion Regulation Change Political Attitudes in Intractable Conflicts? From the Laboratory to the Field" and access to other Psychological Science research findings, please contact Anna Mikulak at 202-293-9300 or amikulak@psychologicalscience.org.
Scrooged! The Psychology of Ebenezer-Style Transformations
By Alice G. Walton
Forbes.com Dec. 2012.
Just in time for the holidays, a new study explores the real-life Scrooge-style moments of awakening in regular 21st century folk. If you’ve ever wished this kind of transformation for certain people in your life, or for yourself, the good news is that they’re not just the stuff of fiction – they can actually happen to real people. Of course, the downside is that there’s often a lot of pain and suffering that precedes this sort of change. But afterwards, you might be a whole new person, and this shift in consciousness could last for the long haul. But the lingering question is, can we do anything to bring about these transformations, or do they just sort of…happen to us?
“I’ve often thought about this, whether these transformations are really sudden or gradual,” said lead author of the study, Jon Skalski, which will be published in The Humanistic Psychologist. “It’s like water boiling – you can look at that as a discontinuous change from not boiling to boiling, but there are certain elements going on beneath the surface that allow for the dramatic change to take place.”
The Big Change
People who are inching towards a major psychological shift usually “hit rock bottom,” as Scrooge did, before it happens. The new paper chronicles the shifts that happened for 14 people (found, interestingly, through Craigslist ads). For example, “Kevin,” a once-successful entrepreneur, was having increasing bad luck in business, a development that disrupted his whole identity. He had neglected personal relationships (somewhat like Scrooge), and says his “psyche was in very dark place.” But when Kevin hit his psychological rock bottom, a transformation occurred.
“And so I was almost just compelled to let go, to let it go… Because if I didn’t, if I held on to that, it’s just going to destroy me… I say it’s the best thing that could’ve happened, because my life is so much more rewarding than it once was. You can’t put a price tag on certain…events that I maybe missed before – certain events, and a marriage, and a family, birthdays, you know? Certain things that are just really fun to be a part of are more meaningful, and it is happiness – the kind that lasts. I know these truths have been around forever. But for me they’re new.”
Many of the participants said they had a whole new understanding of life and all the cause-and-effect actions that take place. For some, the change was linked to a discovery of God, but not all – some just found a new connection with the universe, and certainly with the people and events in the world around them, even the negative ones. “Even things that don’t make sense, make sense,” said another person in the study. “You know, like crime or this and that. It all makes sense in its own realm, in the big picture.” And a woman who’d previously derived her self-worth almost solely from her academic accomplishments said, “Now I measure success by my – how much time I spend serving and doing those things, because those – serving and being with people – are really what bring me satisfaction now.”
How Change Happens
The common denominator for all of the people who experienced a major internal transformation was a growing sense of “disintegration” before the transformation occurred. Disintegration simply means that people experienced mounting stress, anxiety, and general internal suffering: It’s almost like a breaking down, or at least a reshuffling, which sets the stage for change to occur. “Some form of disintegration and suffering was an essential and inseparable constituent of the experience,” said Skalski, who conducted the research while he was a grad student at Brigham Young University.
Whether the change that follows is a conscious choice or not is the question. But it’s likely that it might be both – that this kind of change can “just sort of happen” to us after a certain level of pain, and that there are some ways we can actually urge a change to occur within us.
“It seemed that most of these people who had these life transformation were bottoming out and basically got smacked upside the head,” co-author Sam Hardy, PhD, told me. “There are things in my life I’d love to change and improve, so, I wondered if there was a way to embark on such life transformation without bottoming out or getting smacked upside the head. People do change, obviously, but, the question is what role they play in that change. I believe people have agency and thus that people generally have a lot of control over their lives.”
There are some models of (intentional) behavioral change, like Dr. James Prochaska’s, which outlines five stages of change, from pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, and action to maintenance of that change. His research has helped people make overall changes to their life as well asrecover from addiction. Other researchers like Drs. Linda and and Mark Sobellhave also developed programs of behavior change that use a combination cognitive-behavioral approach, and are aimed at people battling addiction, but also those trying to instill more general positive changes in their lives.
“In short, there is evidence that people can largely self-initiate salient life changes, and in fact probably more people do so than we might think,” added Hardy. “However, it is generally more of a long and difficult process…rather than a critical life event. And, it takes a lot of drive and guidance, so in that sense is more difficult and complicated than getting smacked upside the head.”
Here are a few tips for making changes to your life. As Hardy points out, when you’re committed to change, you’re already in the middle of the process. For people who aren’t quite ready, there are some steps to ready yourself (see this more detailed description of all the stages).
Picture who you want to be. “What would your life be like if you were that type of person? How is that different than your current life? Visualizing the traits you want to embody helps give you a target to shoot for and also motivation to change,” says Hardy.
Commit to change – to yourself and others. “Tell others about your goals as well. This holds you more accountable,” Hardy adds. This works in a few different ways: it adds a bit of (positive) pressure to your commitment to change. It also makes you have to verbalize why you’re not fulfilling your goals, if you aren’t – and, on the flip side, you’ll have someone to share your successes with when you achieve them.
Determine the positive traits you want to develop – not just the negative traits you want to get rid of. “In other words, it is best to think not just in terms of stopping a negative behavior (e.g., smoking), but replacing it with a positive behavior (e.g., exercise or meditation),” says Hardy.
“Pray, mediate, listen.” Skalski points out that looking outside the self for guidance has worked for people over many centuries, in many different religions and philosophies. Whether you go for guidance in the universe, God, or in a friend who triggers it (like Scrooge’s dead business partner Jacob Marley), this “other” can be an important way to take you out of your own head and get you in touch with the bigger picture.
See a professional. If you’re in the market for a major personality overhaul and aren’t having the “Ah-ha” moment you want, think about seeing someone who specializes in behavior (a psychologist, life coach, etc.) and can help you work through it methodologically. Some people are lucky and can do it themselves (or it just happens to them), but others need a little help from a professional who can be a guide in the process. It might be worth a try – in a year from now you could be a whole new person.
9 Holiday Depression Busters.
By Therese J. Borchard.
PsychCentral. Dec. 2012.
It’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year — but not if negative emotions take hold of your holidays. So let’s be honest. The holidays are packed with stress, and therefore provoke tons of depressionand anxiety.
But there is hope. Whether I’m fretting about something as trite as stocking stuffers or as complicated as managing difficult family relationships, I apply a few rules that I’ve learned over the years.
These 9 rules help me put the joy back into the festivities — or at least keep me from hurling a mistletoe at Santa and landing myself on the “naughty” list.
1. Expect the Worst
Now that’s a cheery thought for this jolly season. What I’m trying to say is that you have to predict bad behavior before it happens so that you can catch it in your holiday mitt and toss it back, instead of having it knock you to the floor. It’s simple math, really. If every year for the last decade, Uncle Ted has given you a bottle of Merlot, knowing full well that you are a recovering alcoholic and have been sober for more years than his kids have been out of diapers, you can safely assume he will do this again. So what do you do? Catch it in your “slightly-annoyed” mitt. (And maybe reciprocate by giving him a cheese basket for his high cholesterol.)
2. Remember to “SEE”
No, I don’t mean for you to schedule an appointment with an ophthalmologist. SEE stands for Sleeping regularly, Eating well, andExercising. Without these three basics, you can forget about an enjoyable (or even tolerable) holiday. Get your seven to nine hours ofsleep and practice good sleep hygiene: go to bed at the same time every night, and wake up in the same nightgown with the same man at the same time in the same house every morning.
Eating well and exercise are codependent, at least in my body, because my biggest motivator for exercising is the reduction in guilt I feel about splurging on dessert. Large quantities of sugar or high fructose corn syrup can poison your brain. If you know your weak spot–the end of the table where Aunt Judy places her homemade hazelnut holiday balls — then swim, walk, or jog ten extra minutes to compensate for your well-deserved treat. Another acronym to remember during the holidays is HALT: don’t get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired.
3. Beef Up Your Support
If you attend Al-Anon once a week, go twice a week during the holidays. If you attend a yoga class twice a week, try to fit in another. Schedule an extra therapy session as insurance against the potential meltdowns ahead of you. Pad yourself with extra layers of emotional resilience by discussing in advance specific concerns you have about X, Y, and Z with a counselor, minister, or friend (preferably one who doesn’t gossip).
In my life with two young kids, this means getting extra babysitters so that if I have a meltdown in Starbucks like I did two years ago — before I knew the mall was menacing to my inner peace — I will have an extra ten minutes to record in my journal what I learned from that experience.
4. Avoid Toxic People
This one’s difficult if the toxic people happen to be hosting Christmas dinner! But in general, just try your best to avoid pernicious humans in December. And if you absolutely must see such folks, then allow only enough time for digestion and gift-giving. Drink no more than one glass of wine in order to preserve your ability to think rationally. You don’t want to get confused and decide you really do love these people, only to hear them say something horribly offensive two minutes later, causing you to storm off all aggravated and hurt. (This would also be a good time to remember Rule #1.)
5. Know Thyself
In other words, identify your triggers. As a highly sensitive person (as described in Elaine Aron’s book, “The Highly Sensitive Person”), I know that my triggers exist in a petri dish of bacteria known as the Westfield Annapolis Mall. Between Halloween and New Years, I won’t go near that place because Santa is there and he scares me with his long beard, which holds in its cute white curls every virus of every local preschool. Before you make too many plans this holiday season, list your triggers: people, places, and things that tend to trigger your fears and bring out your worst traits.
6. Travel With Polyester, Not Linen
By this, I do not mean sporting the polyester skirt with the red sequined reindeer. I’m saying that you should lower your standards and make traveling as easy as possible, both literally and figuratively. Do you really want to be looking for an iron for that beautiful linen or cotton dress when you arrive at your destination? I didn’t think so — life’s too short for travel irons.
I used to be adamantly opposed to using a portable DVD player in the car to entertain the kids because I thought it would create two spoiled monsters whose imaginations had rotted courtesy of Disney. One nine-hour car trip home to Ohio for Christmas, I cried uncle after six hours of constant squabbling and screaming coming from the back seat. Now David and Katherine only fight over which movie they get to watch first. If you have a no-food rule policy for the car, I’d amend that one during the holidays as well.
7. Make Your Own Traditions
Of course, you don’t need the “polyester” rule if you ban holiday travel altogether. That’s what I did this year. As the daughter/sister who abandoned her family in Ohio by moving out east, it has always been my responsibility to travel during the holidays. But my kids are now four and six. I can’t continue to haul the family to the Midwest every year. We are our own family. So I said this to my mom a few weeks ago: “It’s very important that I spend time with you, but I’d like to do it as a less stressful time, like the summer, when traveling is easier.” She wasn’t thrilled, but she understood.
Making your own tradition might mean Christmas Eve is reserved for your family and the extended family is invited over for brunch on Christmas Day. Or vice versa. Basically, it’s laying down some rules so that you have better control over the situation. As a people-pleaser who hates to cook, I make a better guest than host, but sometimes serenity comes in taking the driver’s seat, and telling the passengers to fasten their seatbelts and be quiet.
8. Get Out of Yourself
According to Gandhi, the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in service to others. But that doesn’t necessarily mean holding a soup ladle. Since my name and the word “kitchen” have filed a restraining order on each other, I like to think there are a variety of ways you can serve others.
Matthew 6:21 says “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” In other words, start with the things you like to do. For me, that is saying a rosary for a depressed Beyond Blue reader, or visiting a priest-friend who needs encouragement and support in order to continue his ministry, or helping talented writer friends get published. I’d like to think this is service, too, because if those people are empowered by my actions, then I’ve contributed to a better world just as much as if I had dished out mashed potatoes to a homeless person at a shelter.
9. Exercise Your Funny Bone
“Time spent laughing is time spent with the gods,” says a Japanese proverb. So, if you’re with someone who thinks he’s God, the natural response would be to laugh! But seriously folks, research shows that laughing is good for your health. And, unlike exercise, it’s always enjoyable! The funniest people in my life are those who have been to hell and back, bought the t-shirt, and then accidentally shrunk it in the wash. Humor kept them alive — physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Remember, with a funny bone in place — even if it’s in a cast — everything is tolerable.
My “9 Holiday Depression Busters” are also featured in a Beliefnet gallery. You can get to it by clicking here.
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