14 Amazing Psychology Facts You Should Keep To Yourself WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2015

Share on Facebook Seleccionar idioma?? Up until only fairly recently psychology and
philosophy were thought to go hand in hand. It was only during the 1870's when
psychology became an independent scientific discipline. Since then through multiple
studies and technological advances, we have learnt a great deal although still only
scratched the surface. Check out these interesting psychology facts, and make sure
to share your own thoughts and experiences in the comments below.
1. If you announce your goals to others, you are less likely to make them happen
because you lose motivation, studies confirmed. There have been tests since as
early as 1933 that prove that once intended goals are announced, people are less
likely to follow through with them as they lose motivation. This is thought to
happen because doing so satisfies a person's self-identity just enough to prevent
them performing the hard work to achieve those goals. (source)
2. Most people have a favorite song because they associate it with an emotional
event in their lives. It is well known that music has a direct effect on emotion.
In a recent study on nine undergraduate students, it turns out that the flip side
is also true � similar in a way that certain smells can remind us of moments in the
past. (source)
3. Music affects the way you perceive the world. A new study held at the University
of Groningen has shown that music has a dramatic effect on perception. The study
focused especially on the ability of people to �see� happy faces and sad faces when
different music tracks were listened to. Listening to particularly happy or sad
music can even change the way we perceive the world. (source)
4. Studies have shown that spending money on others provides more happiness than
spending it on yourself. Research performed by Harvard Business School has shown
that people are actually happier when they give money to others. Of course, this
should go without saying as we often anticipate how people will react to our own
gifts at Christmas, more so than what gifts we may receive. (source)
5. According to studies, you'll be happier spending your money on experiences
rather than possessions. Happiness has become an increasingly popular field focused
on the scientific study of emotional well-being. Research has suggested that people
often sacrifice things that make them happy such as vacations or going out to
certain events, in order to afford possessions (such as property). (source)
6. Kids are more highly strung today, with high school students showing the same
level of anxiety as the average psychiatric patient in the 1950's. Approximately
49% of the general population suffer or have suffered from anxiety, depression or
substance abuse. In particular, there is proof that the collective human race is
becoming more anxious every decade and there are many speculative reasons for that.
For instance, people move more, have less interaction with their communities,
change jobs, are less likely to get married and more likely to live alone. (source)

7. It has been shown that certain religious practices like prayer and attending
services is associated with lower psychological distress levels. �The American
Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Mood Disorders� discusses several studies that
have demonstrated that people who partake in various religious activities may have
a lower risk of depressive symptoms and other psychological disorders. (source)
8. While money can buy happiness to an extent, studies show that after $75,000 per
year, increased income does little to boost happiness. A study of 450,000 Americans
in 2008 and 2009 suggested that there are two forms of happiness, emotional well-
being (day to day contentment) and an overall life assessment. The more money
people had, the higher their �life assessment�. However, findings suggests that
once people earn more than $75,000, additional income is simply considered more
�stuff�. (source)
9. By surrounding yourself with happier people, you'll become happier too. We've
all been in the situation at one point of laughing out loud with someone purely
because they had an infectious laugh. New research published in the
Psychoneuroendocrinology journal shows that stress and happiness are both
contagious, and being around groups of either type has a direct influence on us.
(source)
10. People between the ages of 18 and 33 are the most stressed in the world. After
the age of 33 stress levels tend to reduce. According to a 2012 Stress in America
survey by the American Psychological Association, people between the ages of 18 and
33 are the most stressed out, and that stress only seems to be increasing every
year. (source)
11. Fooling yourself into thinking you've slept well, even if you haven't, still
improves performance. We've all been in that situation when we wished for just one
or two more hours' sleep. A recent study published by the Journal of Experimental
Psychology demonstrated that when patients were told they had above average REM
sleep (when they hadn't), they performed better on a given test. They called it
�placebo sleep�. (source) 12. Intelligent people are more likely to underestimate
themselves, while ignorant people are more likely to believe they're brilliant.
Known as the Dunning Kruger Effect, some unskilled people believe they are superior
and assess their own abilities as much higher than what is accurate. On the other
side of the coin, some highly skilled people often underestimate their competence,
assuming that what is easy for them, is also easy for others. (source)
13. If you remember a past event, you're actually remembering the last time you
remembered it rather than the event itself. One interesting insight into how the
brain works, is that every time we have a memory, we transform it slightly. Recent
research conducted by Northwestern Medicine has shown that recalling memories
often, makes them less accurate over time. (source)
14. Decisions become more rational if they are thought in a foreign language. A
recent study by the University of Chicago conducted on United States and Korean
citizens has shown that thinking in a foreign language reduces deep seated and
misleading biases. (source)...