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Success, Motivation, and Demotivation
“Vicarious goal satiation.” Hmmm. According to research published in the The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, seeing someone else reach a goal is demotiving. The goal examined in the research...
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The Two Faces of Envy (And Which One Trumps Admiration)
In my last post, I wrote about what happens when I compare myself to other authors. To quote myself (how uncool is that?): I can be demotivated in my writing by reading something really, really...
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Breaking Bad Food Habits
Gluten-free, day 26. It’s been that long since my last bowl of pasta and the realization that the unbearably itchy Mystery Pox I’d fought intermittently for a couple of years was probably a reaction to...
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Love Your Fat to Lose It
Nude #151 by Irving Penn/Yale Digital Commons The first step to regaining a healthy weight is loving your body as it is. Research says so: Researchers in Portugal compared a control group of women...
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A Question of Spontaneity
I am not a spontaneous person. When a surprise invitation or opportunity appears, there’s a 50/50 chance I’ll pass it up. Maybe even 60/40. Maybe even more, but I don’t want to admit that to myself....
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Good Stuff I’ve Learned In A Year Of Real World Research
This blog celebrated its first anniversary on January 1, so I am therefore compelled (it’s the law) to reflect on the past year. Writing Real World Research has been fun and also a lot of work. I read...
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Habit and Inertia Are Real Change Killers
Habit and inertia. I believe those are behind every New Year’s Resolution failure. A recent study out of Harvard finds that nicotine replacements—patches and gum—are not particularly effective in the...
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Are We Scaring Kids Off Of Adulthood?
A friend is fretting about her 22-year-old son, who is living at home and, she fears, not getting it together. This is a family with plenty of dough. The boy is well-educated and has been well cared...
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Are Our Emotions Cranked To 11?
Have you been watching “Downton Abbey” like the rest of us? Think about the Dowager Countess of Grantham, marvelous Maggie Smith. When she doesn’t like something, she gets a face like a cat that’s...
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