A study done by the National Institutes of Health shows that capuchin monkeys prefer humans who act like them. A capuchin monkey was given a wiffle ball before interacting with two researchers. One researcher had a ball and imitated the monkey’s actions. The other researcher acted differently. Repeatedly the monkeys spent more time with the imitator. The monkeys were also more willing to accept food and trinkets from the imitator - even when the non-imitator offered the same rewards. Supposedly, these findings indicate an evolutionary link to the way humans form friendships and social connections – monkey see, monkey do.
Research published in “Psychological Science” found that touching money can reduce feelings of social rejection and dull physical pain. In one experiment 42 volunteers counted eighty $100 bills and 42 volunteers counted paper. Then all 84 volunteers played a computer game that was rigged against them. Those who’d counted money rated their social distress lower. In a second experiment – again with half of the volunteers counting money and half counting paper – the volunteers’ fingers were dipped in 122 degrees Fahrenheit water. On average those who had counted money reported less pain. Unfortunately, neither experiment showed touching money could make you happy.
Two Vermont scientists created software to measure happiness. The software collected sentences from blogs to identify the happiest days of the past few years. They started at the Web site wefeelfine, which goes through 2.3 million blogs looking for sentences that start with “I feel” or “I am feeling”. The words coming next were ranked on a happiness scale from 1-9, with 1,034 words being ranked. As a result of the study, November 4, 2008 and January 20, 2009 – Obama’s election and inauguration – were found to be the happiest days of the past few years – except for Republicans.
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh’s Mind-Body Center surveyed 1.399 people who had been recruited for studies on breast cancer, cardiovascular disease and other conditions and asked them how much time they had spent the previous month doing things they enjoyed. The people who had more leisure activities - including vacations – had lower blood pressure, lower levels of stress hormones and smaller waists. Then there’s the 9-year Framingham Heart Study of approximately 12,000 men at risk of heart disease. The more frequently the men took vacations, the longer they lived. Obviously, even in a down economy we have to live it up.
Research published in “Psychological Science” found that touching money can reduce feelings of social rejection and dull physical pain. In one experiment 42 volunteers counted eighty $100 bills and 42 volunteers counted paper. Then all 84 volunteers played a computer game that was rigged against them. Those who’d counted money rated their social distress lower. In a second experiment – again with half of the volunteers counting money and half counting paper – the volunteers’ fingers were dipped in 122 degrees Fahrenheit water. On average those who had counted money reported less pain. Unfortunately, neither experiment showed touching money could make you happy.
Two Vermont scientists created software to measure happiness. The software collected sentences from blogs to identify the happiest days of the past few years. They started at the Web site wefeelfine, which goes through 2.3 million blogs looking for sentences that start with “I feel” or “I am feeling”. The words coming next were ranked on a happiness scale from 1-9, with 1,034 words being ranked. As a result of the study, November 4, 2008 and January 20, 2009 – Obama’s election and inauguration – were found to be the happiest days of the past few years – except for Republicans.
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh’s Mind-Body Center surveyed 1.399 people who had been recruited for studies on breast cancer, cardiovascular disease and other conditions and asked them how much time they had spent the previous month doing things they enjoyed. The people who had more leisure activities - including vacations – had lower blood pressure, lower levels of stress hormones and smaller waists. Then there’s the 9-year Framingham Heart Study of approximately 12,000 men at risk of heart disease. The more frequently the men took vacations, the longer they lived. Obviously, even in a down economy we have to live it up.
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