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A new study published in Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies looked at how humans mindlessly treat AI virtual agents as social beings, but how this tendency diminishes among the young. “We were interested in understanding how people relate to AI tools, for example chatbots or smart speakers,” study author Jianan Zhou told us. “Such systems are pervasive nowadays and appear to be smart and well-informed to the typical user, which makes sense from the point of usability. The question this raises, however, is whether interaction with such systems can increase feelings of liking or sympathy towards them and lead us to behave much like we do when interacting with other humans.” [More]

A new study published in the Journal of the American Planning Association looked at breaks in the workplace and why some employees take their breaks and others don’t. “Our research is about breaks in the workplace,” study author Vincent Phan told us. “We were hoping to get a better sense of employees’ reasons for taking breaks at work, as well as their reasons for not taking breaks despite wanting or needing a break.” Past theory and research within the occupational health psychology literature would suggest that employees may want a break when they feel tired or upset, or when they feel their performance on the job isn’t as good as they would like. However, employees do not always take breaks when they want to do so. [More]

Everyone needs some time alone. But for those who seek time alone out of fear of social interactions, spending more time alone than usual can actually cause greater anxiety when socializing. [More]

A new study published in PLOS ONE looked at how state-trait interactions in regulatory focus determines impulse buying behavior. “Our study looks at how a basic motivational theory (regulatory focus theory) can be applied to the phenomenon of impulse buying,” study author Anand Krishna told us. “Regulatory focus differentiates between a promotion focus, in which people are motivated by achieving potential gains or growth goals, and a prevention focus, in which people are motivated by avoiding losses or achieving security goals.” [More]

A new study published in the Journal of Neuroscience looked at how the neural representation in the medical prefrontal cortex reveals selfish motivation in white lies. “In this study, we specifically aimed to identify distinctive neural signatures of selfish and altruistic motivation for Pareto white lies,” study author Dr. Hackjin Kim told us, “particularly focusing on the distinctive functional roles of the subregions in the medial prefrontal cortex in social valuation based on the model recently proposed by our research team.” [More]

A new study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology looked at whether friendship jealously can be a tool for maintaining friendships in the face of third party threats. “Friendships are massively important for health and happiness, and they can be threatened when our friends form new friendships or other relationships,” study author Jaimie Arona Krems told us. [More]

The tradition of making new year's resolutions goes all the way back to the Babylonians in 1894 BC. At the start of the new year, the Babylonians would make promises to their gods, return borrowed items and pay off debts. New year's resolutions continue to be popular thousands of years later. According to a recent survey completed in December, one in three people in the U.S. said they would be making resolutions for 2020. The survey also listed the most popular. Here's how to make sure you keep your resolutions all year long. [More]

In mental health circles there is discussion and research on depression and anxiety. For years, clinicians have attempted to find ways to alleviate thought disorders in a way that doesn’t bring include noxious side effects. [More]

The 60’s brought with them the sexual revolution. With the arrival of “The Pill”, youngsters, especially women, no longer abstained due to fear of pregnancy. The days of doing everything but “it” were, largely, gone. [More]

While conflicts can leave us feeling uneasy, they’re a part of life and necessary at times when our boundaries are being violated. So how can we go about engaging in conflicts in a way that doesn't compromise our mental and physical health? A new study recently published in the Public Library of Science seems to have found the answer. [More]