Latest news with #PersonalityandIndividualDifferences
The Hindu
4 days ago
- General
- The Hindu
The importance of being non-judgmental
For many of us, an internal judge resides within our heads and is busy from morning to dusk. Both trivial and significant events get parsed into categories of 'good' and 'bad'. If things go as expected, we cruise through the day, taking a lot of things for granted. The moment something is off kilter, negativity in various guises kicks in. Even small inconveniences, like a stove not working, can rattle us because our inner judge deems it 'bad'. Likewise, our interactions with people are also sorted as positive or negative based on how we feel. Are there costs to being overly judgmental? In a post on the blog Zen Habits, author Leo Babauta urges us to adopt a more non-judgmental attitude to both positive and negative events, so that we stop bracketing events, people and phenomena as 'good' and 'bad'. Instead, as author Eckhart Tolle says, 'Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it.' Though this may be hard to cultivate at first, with practice, our emotions will grow more even-keeled instead of yo-yoing between peaks and valleys. The second shift that Babauta advocates is to let go of expectations, as this frees us from disappointments and frustrations when they aren't met. Having expectations also steers us towards judgment. When our hopes are fulfilled, life seems good. On the other hand, when our desires are dashed, life is bleak. Eliminating expectations helps us become more non-judgmental. Self-reflect Mindfulness meditation teacher Natalia Bojanic outlines the benefits of being non-judgmental in a post on the blog Inform. First, this attitude reduces our stress levels. When we go through difficult times, we are able to notice our thoughts and feelings without necessarily evaluating them. When we are able to distance ourselves from our own ideas and emotions, their hold over us decreases and this, in turn, lowers our stress. Rather than telling ourselves, 'I am stressed', we simply tell ourselves that we are experiencing stress. Though this is a subtle shift, it provides space between ourselves and the hardships we're facing. A non-judgemental approach also allows us to experience self-compassion. Unless we are kind towards ourselves, we cannot extend compassion towards others. In an article in Personality and Individual Differences, psychotherapist Barbara Baraccia and colleagues find that people who are judgmental towards their 'inner experience' of thoughts, feelings and sensations are more prone to anxiety and depression. They also say that we are able to forge and maintain healthier relationships with others when we refrain from categorising people and events as positive or negative. Being non-judgmental helps us empathise more readily with others, thereby reducing misunderstanding and friction. Mindfulness researcher Jon Kabat-Zinn notes in a post on that practising non-judgment helps us become aware of our 'prejudices and fears' and gradually frees us from their shackles. We may recognise our own judgments when we make them without necessarily judging ourselves for it. We simply recognise those thoughts as judgements and carry on with our activity without getting mired by further judgments and emotions. Bojanic also points out that being non-judgmental does not imply that we forsake discernment, which is essential to making wise decisions. Being non-judgmental means that we don't buttress and amplify our 'assessments and evaluations' so that they morph into 'prejudices and preconceptions.' In a post on FamilyLife, Janet Breitenstein points out that judgment usually involves 'condemnation' and is issued from a place of superiority, often ignoring contextual factors. In contrast, discernment requires assessing the pros and cons of a situation through a calm, compassionate and more accepting lens while keeping the broader picture in mind. Whereas discernment motivates you to understand a person or event in depth, judgment entails forming hasty opinions on partial information and holding on to them. Starting each day afresh and approaching each interaction anew can also aid us in our journey of becoming less judgmental. The writer is visiting faculty at the School of Education at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, and the co-author of Bee-Witched.
New York Post
11-05-2025
- Health
- New York Post
If you get ‘the ick' often, you probably possess this negative personality trait — study says
If you're someone who regularly gets the ick from someone you're dating — you might be a narcissist. The term that refers to the feeling of disgust from something a romantic partner does, says or even wears has gone viral on social media in recent years. And according to a study published in Personality and Individual Differences, those who experience this feeling often might possess personality traits that indicate narcissism. For the study, researchers analyzed 74 men and 51 women, ranging in age from 24 to 72. They asked the participants if they knew what getting the ick meant and if they've ever experienced it. The study then measured the 'likelihood of experiencing the ick in response to specific behaviors, completed personality assessments and answered questions about their dating experiences,' according to Psy Post. Regarding the personality assessments participants took part in, those who showed narcsictic behavior were more likely to negatively react to a person's imperfections — especially if it contracticed what they want in a potential romantic partner. The results of the study also indicated that women experience the ick more often compared to men — which isn't surprising considering adult females are 'more sensitive to grossness than males,' according to a scientific dive by NatGeo. The results of the study indicated that women experience the ick more often compared to men. Getty Images/iStockphoto 'Anything we are averse to, that we want to avoid, or that we shrink back from — including the ick — is controlled by this area of the brain [called the habenula],' Dr. Kyra Bobinet, a California behavioral neuroscientist and author of 'Unstoppable Brain,' told Fox News Digital. 'This area of your brain is scouting for anything that's not going to work out for you,' she said. 'It has a negativity bias.' As a result, people will either immediately (26 %) or eventually (42%) end things with someone over an ick that turned them off, according to the Personality and Individual Differences study. 'This area of your brain is scouting for anything that's not going to work out for you,' said Dr. Kyra Bobinet. Getty Images/iStockphoto While many daters are quick to get rid of a potential suitor because of their quirks, study author Eliana Saunders said that people should take icks with a grain of salt and maybe think twice before completley writing off someone. 'While this feeling of disgust could be a valid marker of mate incompatibility, it could also be a symptom of high sensitivity to disgust, narcissism, other-oriented perfectionism, etc.' 'Before dumping a partner because their feet dangle when they sit in a chair, we should think critically about why we're feeling 'icked' out. Ask yourself: Is this something I truly can't deal with, or am I being overly critical? Is this 'ick' their fault, or is it mine?''
The Age
09-05-2025
- Science
- The Age
Do dogs really look and act like their owners? The research is in
For all the talk of dogs and humans being best friends, sometimes representatives of the two species just don't click. Giving up an unsuitable family pet can be heartbreaking, but, if the animal is an expensive working dog, it can also be financially ruinous. Guide dogs, for example, can cost up to $50,000 to train, but about a third are returned because they don't bond with their allocated owner. To cut down on the number of mismatches, researchers in Germany are trying to develop more harmonious pooch-person relationships. Their work towards that goal has now confirmed what many dog owners already suspect, and what some may be reluctant to admit: dogs really do look like their humans. More relevant to the quest for lasting friendships, they have similar personalities too. 'We are interested in understanding what makes a good dog-owner match and to find out how we can find the right dog for a person,' says Yana Bender, a PhD student at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology in Jena. 'To do that, we first need to establish the status quo: are dogs and their owners generally more similar or more different?' Writing in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, Bender and her colleagues have reviewed the available evidence to show how the similarities show through. One domain concerns physical appearance. Though it might sound barking, numerous studies in recent decades have shown that people really can match pictures of dogs to their owners more often and more reliably than would be possible with guesswork alone. Loading Some sources of similarity are clear: women with short hair tend to own dogs with short ears, for example, and those with long hair tend to favour long-eared breeds. People with higher body-mass-indices also tend to have more overweight dogs. Other connections are less obvious, as shown by research revealing dogs and owners can be correctly paired from pictures in which only their eyes are visible. A similar affinity bias may be at play for invisible characteristics as well, with owners' personality traits mirrored in the way their dogs behave. Introverted owners have dogs that are more nervous around strangers, neurotics are more likely to pair with aggressive pets and conscientious people own dogs that are more motivated and easier to train. Owners of breeds classed as dangerous, such as the notorious XL Bully, rate themselves higher on traits like sensation-seeking and psychopathy. What is going on? Psychologists have known for decades that humans place more value on relationships with people who look and behave like them, and the same seems to apply to dogs. Women with short hair rate short-eared breeds such as the Siberian husky and basenji as friendlier and more intelligent. Long-haired women think the same about beagles and springer spaniels. (What the dogs think is a question for another day.)
Sydney Morning Herald
09-05-2025
- Science
- Sydney Morning Herald
Do dogs really look and act like their owners? The research is in
For all the talk of dogs and humans being best friends, sometimes representatives of the two species just don't click. Giving up an unsuitable family pet can be heartbreaking, but, if the animal is an expensive working dog, it can also be financially ruinous. Guide dogs, for example, can cost up to $50,000 to train, but about a third are returned because they don't bond with their allocated owner. To cut down on the number of mismatches, researchers in Germany are trying to develop more harmonious pooch-person relationships. Their work towards that goal has now confirmed what many dog owners already suspect, and what some may be reluctant to admit: dogs really do look like their humans. More relevant to the quest for lasting friendships, they have similar personalities too. 'We are interested in understanding what makes a good dog-owner match and to find out how we can find the right dog for a person,' says Yana Bender, a PhD student at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology in Jena. 'To do that, we first need to establish the status quo: are dogs and their owners generally more similar or more different?' Writing in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, Bender and her colleagues have reviewed the available evidence to show how the similarities show through. One domain concerns physical appearance. Though it might sound barking, numerous studies in recent decades have shown that people really can match pictures of dogs to their owners more often and more reliably than would be possible with guesswork alone. Loading Some sources of similarity are clear: women with short hair tend to own dogs with short ears, for example, and those with long hair tend to favour long-eared breeds. People with higher body-mass-indices also tend to have more overweight dogs. Other connections are less obvious, as shown by research revealing dogs and owners can be correctly paired from pictures in which only their eyes are visible. A similar affinity bias may be at play for invisible characteristics as well, with owners' personality traits mirrored in the way their dogs behave. Introverted owners have dogs that are more nervous around strangers, neurotics are more likely to pair with aggressive pets and conscientious people own dogs that are more motivated and easier to train. Owners of breeds classed as dangerous, such as the notorious XL Bully, rate themselves higher on traits like sensation-seeking and psychopathy. What is going on? Psychologists have known for decades that humans place more value on relationships with people who look and behave like them, and the same seems to apply to dogs. Women with short hair rate short-eared breeds such as the Siberian husky and basenji as friendlier and more intelligent. Long-haired women think the same about beagles and springer spaniels. (What the dogs think is a question for another day.)
New York Post
24-04-2025
- General
- New York Post
Scientists find there are four types of lovers — including one that can't stop having sex
Lovers are a lot like hot sauce — they range from 'mild' to 'intense.' Australian scientists have boiled romantic lovers down into four categories — with the most extreme said to make whoopee up to 20 times per week, according to a first-of-its-kind study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences. 'The bottom line is that we don't all love the same,' said Adam Bode, head researcher and PHD student at the Australian National University in Canberra, reported. 3 Libidinous lovers reportedly made love 10 times a week on average, sometimes hitting 20 sessions in the sack. New Africa – Bode, who specializes in romantic love and human mating, felt that this field was woefully 'under-researched given its importance in family and romantic relationship formation, its influence on culture and its proposed universality.' As such, he wanted to blaze a trail in the realm of boudoir scholarship. 'While there is evidence of variation in the psychological expression of romantic love, to our knowledge, no one has attempted to directly empirically investigate this phenomenon,' he wrote. To shed light on the seemingly taboo topic, Bode and his team pulled stats from the Romantic Love Survey 2022, a dataset using data from over 1,500 people spanning 33 different countries. They then categorized 809 young adults who were in love based on commitment, obsessive thinking, emotional intensity, and sex frequency. Participants were also asked about various habits, such as how often they drink alcohol, whether they're on antidepressants or if they drive dangerously. From these results, researchers were able to group the respondents into four very hot sauce-esque categories: mild, moderate, intense, and libidinous. 3 Moderate lovers were the best represented in this carnal quartet, comprising a whopping 40% of all lovers. Vasyl – Mild lovers, who made up 20% of all lovers, displayed the lowest levels of all the romantic love categories, from commitment to sexual activity. Only 25% reported that their partner was in love with them, and they reportedly had sex twice a week on average. 'They have fallen in love the greatest number of times, have been in love for the shortest length of time, and are most likely to be male and heterosexual,' added Bode. Moderate lovers were the best represented in this carnal quartet, comprising a whopping 40% of all lovers. They were defined as 'entirely unremarkable' due to their staid romantic love traits, including 'relatively low intensity and relatively low obsessive thinking, relatively high commitment, and relatively moderate frequency of sex,' per Bode. 3 These findings have implications for the evolution of romantic love,' said Bode (not pictured) Prostock-studio – These hanky panky plain Janes reportedly had sex 2.5 times per week on average. On the other end of the spectrum were 'intense romantic lovers,' making up 29% of the lovers, and described by researchers as 'head over heels' types with high-intensity scores in every category. 'These lovers scored the highest intensity, highest obsessive thinking, highest commitment, and relatively high frequency of sex,' said Bode, who had the highest proportion of people who fell in love before their romantic relationship started. The cohort, which reportedly got frisky three times a week on average, was also the only group with more females (at 60%) than males. Then, of course, there were the libidinous romantic lovers — the proverbial freaks in the sheets. Comprising the smallest cluster (just 9%), these sex fiends reportedly made love 10 times a week on average, sometimes hitting 20 sessions in the sack. Coincidentally, they were the least likely to report being anxious, worried or depressed. Libidinous lovers also demonstrated high levels of emotional intensity, commitment, and obsessive thinking and many were in serious relationships despite not living with their partners. From these findings, researchers deduced that 'variation is a necessary component for evolution' and different groups represent different strategies in terms of mate choice, courtship, sex, and pair bond formation.' 'This study will help facilitate ideas for future research, and these findings have implications for the evolution of romantic love,' said Bode. 'Humans may still be evolving in terms of how they express romantic love.'
