Off The Record
Psychology Reveals 14 Facts That Will Make Your Life Easier
Psychology has gained immense popularity over a course of a few decades. Scientists and researchers are digging more and more into its implications in our daily lives.
While it can be a hard read for a lot of us, there is a certain psychological phenomenon which is rather simple to understand.
Here are 14 of the psychological facts which will help you understand yourself and the world around you.
1. Self-confidence and appearance. Former has an upper-hand.
Multiple studies have been done in this matter and from women’s judgement of men’s attractiveness, it has been concluded that being handsome isn’t as important as being confident and supportive. In reality, in a couple where the female is better looking than male, the relationship is more supportive.
2. Men listen to women for 6 minutes only.
Men are highly selective listeners! Where they will listen to their friends for a good 15 minutes, they will only pay attention to their romantic partner’s talks for 6 minutes only. Even for a woman, it is true that they will be more attentive to listening when they are talking to their friends than they are with their significant other.
3. Writing down your thoughts reduces stress.
A couple of studies have proven writing down about your traumatic experiences as an anxiety-reducing practice. It will aid in regulating your emotions and break-free from that depressing life event as well.
You might as well eat your way through stress but of course, it isn’t really a healthy coping method in the long run.
4. Singing the end of a song helps you get it out of your head.
Are you stuck singing that one song over and over again? Sing the end of it to enable the so-called “earworm” – break the repetitive loop and get rid of it. It will give you a sense of closure.
5. Playing video games help you master your dreams.
Since both represent alternate realities, playing video games will not only help make your dreams more vivid but help you control them as well. Is it all the more reason to stick to your console?
6. People who have a lot of car stickers on their vehicle tend to be short-tempered.
Just as absurd as it sounds, research has shown that people who had more car stickers engaged in road rage more. The content of the sticker isn’t really a concern though. Knowing it should really help identify troublemakers in the traffic!
7. Want the conversation to continue? Make eye contact!
If you don’t how to continue the conversation but want it to go on, ask your partner a question. After they have answered, look them in the eye and they will continue talking to avoid silence.
8. 4 seconds of silence is all it takes for things to get awkward
If there’s silence for about 4 seconds between interlocutors, it starts affecting their self-esteem. They will feel anxious, rejected and less self-assured. Contrary to this silence, if it is a fluid conversation, even the awkward remarks will go unnoticed – how awkward is that!
9. Blue color encourages productivity.
Colour has a lot of psychological impacts. Proven. Blue, in particular, is preferred when you want a stimulating, mind-energizing environment to stay productive. Pair it with orange and you will have an even balanced state of mind and emotions!
10. If your wallet has a baby picture, people will return it!
So psychologists in Edinburgh studied this by randomly losing 240 test wallets on different streets. It was found out that the ones with cute baby pictures were 88% more likely to be returned to their owners. Hmm… Thinking about switching the picture you have in your wallet?
11. Talking about your goal makes you lose motivation.
Have you noticed how when you talk about your future goals with someone you are less motivated to achieve them? Well, it’s because when you talk about something you are planning to do, it gives your brain a sense of completeness and eventually, there is lesser motivation to pursue it in reality.
You will also find interesting: 25 Astonishing Psychology Facts You Never Knew About People
12. You can convince yourself that you slept well.
So a research in the Journal of Experimental Psychology reported that, even when you haven’t slept well at night, you can convince yourself otherwise and it will boost your productivity. On the other hand, if you keep complaining about your lack of sleep, you will be less productive.
13. When you are unsure, you tend to go for the first thing on the list.
It is due to the order effect. On the ballot paper, the first name has a chance of winning in one out of 10 elections. Similarly, you choose the first appearing items when shopping online, not really being bothered by the quality.
14. Thoughts in another language are more rational.
Why? It’s because when you think in a non-native language, you involve a lot of cognitive skills, making it more analytical and less bias. Your decision-making gets hampered so you make more rational decisions when thinking in your second language.
