Ep 160: How to Spend Your Money and Truly Make Yourself Happy

  • September 18, 2011
  • 2 Comments

Why aren’t rich people happier than those with less money? We think money will bring happiness, but research in the area of positive psychology has consistently found that having more money does NOT make us happier. Find out how to spend your money the right way so that it really can bring happiness into your […]

Creativity and “There I Fixed It” site

  • September 1, 2011
  • 3 Comments

Functional Fixedness When people have trouble coming up with alternative uses for everyday objects – or trouble thinking of everyday objects in new ways – we refer to that in psychology as “functional fixedness“. Creative people don’t tend to have this problem. Creative folks allow their minds to be “unbound” and to see things in […]

Ep 157: Do Pets and Religion Make You Happier?

  • August 10, 2011
  • 1 Comment

You hear a lot these days about how pets make us happy. This is called the “pet effect“. But is it so? The answer appears to be a qualified yes. But in what ways do pets make us happy? How strong is their effect on our lives? Also, how about religion? We also hear that […]

Ep 154: Why Do Some People Just LOOK Guilty?

I give you 5 reasons why your brain is telling you that Casey Anthony is guilty. These are 5 reasons why we tend to think that a lot of people are guilty even before they’ve been tried. The trial of accused child murdered Casey Anthony is over and Casey was found not guilty. Most people are extremely upset because she appeared to be guilty for many reasons. None of these are based on evidence, but instead on what might be going on inside your mind that made you think she was guilty. Caution: open mindedness required!

Ep 153: The REAL Reason Why You Support (or Oppose) Gay Marriage

What is the REAL reason why you either support or oppose gay marriage? We may give logical reasons for our opinions, but the roots behind your opinion lies – where else? – in your past. So let’s dive into your mind as we always do here in the Psych Files. Resource on Attitudes and Gay […]