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Guess that's why they get the big money.  But researchers now say that the best way to recognize emotions in others is to -- wait for it.  Listen to them. If you want to know how someone is feeling, it might be better to close your eyes and use your ears: people tend to read others’ emotions more accurately when they listen and don’t look, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. Newswise.com reports that, in  a series of five experiments involving more than 1,800 participants from the United States,  individuals who only listened without observing were able, on average, to identify more accurately the emotions being experienced by others. The one exception was when subjects listened to the computerized voices also used in  he study, which resulted in the worst accuracy of all.   In each experiment, individuals were asked either to interact with another person or were presented with an interaction between two ot...

It's probably a big "duh" but a new study has found that Twitter doesn't reflect actual life experiences (kind of like Facebook).  Or emotions. Researchers have found no evidence that social media content shared on Twitter is a truthful reflection of how its users feel, according to newswise.com It's no surprise to anyone who tweets but the study demonstrated that  Twitter users "have developed their own unique cultural behavior, conversations and identities, which shape the ways in which they present their views online," the web site reports, adding that social convention, power relationships and identity influence online conversation just as much as off-line interactions, but in ways that are not yet fully understood. Research has also shown that Tweeters are not representative of the general population. In just one example, men are much more likely to use Twitter than women.  Those who may tweet many times a day may be over-represented in any ...

Let's admit it.   Talking to yourself may not be such a great thing when you're sitting on a bus, or on a conference call.  But a new study says it can help you not throw your kid through the window when he cracks up the car, or make your husband sleep on the couch when he forgets your birthday. The simple act of silently talking to yourself in the third person during stressful times may help you control emotions without any additional mental effort than what you would use for first-person self-talk – the way people normally talk to themselves, according to newswise.com. A first-of-its-kind study led by psychology researchers at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan indicates that such third-person self-talk may constitute a relatively effortless form of self-control. (I suppose it's what kind of talking to yourself you do!  Swearing, like I do, when I can't find my cell phone, probably isn't what they had in mind.) “Essentially, we think...

We have software that can diagnose whether we broke a bone, where our kids are every minute, even perform surgery through a robot. But be careful with your tweets.  Now there's software that can tell how you were feeling when you, well, tweeted.  Computer scientists from the University of Utah’s College of Engineering have developed what they call “sentiment analysis” software that can automatically determine how someone feels based on what they write or say. To test out the accuracy of this software’s machine-learning model, the team used it to analyze the individual sentiments of more than 1.6 million (and counting) geo-tagged tweets about the U.S. presidential election over the last five months. A database of these tweets is then examined to determine whether states and their counties are leaning toward the Republicans or Democrats.  “With sentiment analysis, it will try to predict the emotions behind every human being when he or she is talking or writin...

Which would you rather have, a bad heart or a bad back? Marital spats can cause either, or both.  Partners who get it all out are at risk of high blood pressure and chest pains while those who go silent and inside themselves can anticipate back problems. Those who rage with frustration during a marital spat have an increased risk of cardiovascular problems such as chest pain or high blood pressure later in life, according to new research from Northwestern University and the University of California, Berkeley, newswise.com reports. Conversely, shutting down emotionally or “stonewalling” during conflict raises the risk of musculoskeletal ailments such as a bad back or stiff muscles, according to the study, published online in the journal Emotion. It’s well known that negative emotions may harm physical health, but it turns out that not all negative emotions have equal consequences. Using 20 years of data, and controlling for such factors as age, education, exercise, ...

Quick.  Which affects you more, a woman saying, "Help?"  Or a scream. Clearly we react more immediately to sounds, and that's just what a new study has found.  Human sounds convey emotions clearer and faster than words. It takes just one-tenth of a second for our brains to begin to recognize emotions conveyed by vocalizations, according to researchers from McGill, newswise.com reports. It doesn’t matter whether the non-verbal sounds are growls of anger, the laughter of happiness or cries of sadness. More importantly, the researchers have also discovered that we pay more attention when an emotion (such as happiness, sadness or anger) is expressed through vocalizations than we do when the same emotion is expressed in speech. The researchers believe that the speed with which the brain ‘tags’ these vocalizations and the preference given to them compared to language, is due to the potentially crucial role that decoding vocal sounds has played in human survival....

I remember it well.  A week before Christmas, an ice storm.  And a fall out running that broke my wrist. Now a new study says that patients with immediate medical needs tend to perceive doctors as emotionless. Mine was really a funny story.  I hit a bus on my way to the ER (it pulled out in front of me).  I was in such pain I just kept going. But sitting in the exam room, waiting for the doctor, two cops walked in to tell me I was being investigated for hitting a bus.  It turned out to be minor -- we had clicked mirrors, no damage -- but that added to the enjoyment of the day. Anyway, since I was at an immediate care center that didn't offer surgery (if needed) or high-caliber pain-killers, I was told to drive myself to the local hospital, that did.  Back in the car I went, only to arrive there to wait 13 hours to have my wristbone yanked three times to try to put it back in place. Oh my God. So I'm not sure it mattered too much whether my doc ...

Yet one more thing to feel guilty about. Fighting parents hurt children's ability to recognize and regulate their emotions, according to a new study as reported by newswise.com. Exposure to verbal and physical aggression between parents may hurt a child’s ability to identify and control emotions, according to a longitudinal study led by NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.  The findings also suggest that household chaos and prolonged periods of poverty during early childhood may take a substantial toll on the emotional adjustment of young children. “Our study points to ways in which aggression between parents may powerfully shape children’s emotional adjustment,” says C. Cybele Raver, professor of applied psychology at NYU Steinhardt and the study’s lead author, at newswise.com. “Arguing and fighting is psychologically stressful for the adults caught in conflict; this study demonstrates the costs of that conflict for children in th...

For a long time I stopped holding doors for people because I got so mad when they didn't say " thank you. "  In fact, this morning I held the door for an elderly man in a white pharmacist's jacket and he didn't say a word. Forgive me, but I said, "You're welcome!" as I slammed the door behind me and rampaged into Dunkin' Donuts. But a new study says that saying thank you is more than just good etiquette.  It's actually essential to the social good. According to newswise.com,  new research offers the first evidence that expressions of gratitude go beyond mere etiquette and provide real social benefit. Researchers in Australia found the first known evidence that "gratitude leads to perceptions of interpersonal warmth, creating fertile ground for relationships to bloom." Now, I've been onto "gratitude" since Oprah suggested keeping a journal to write down five things you're grateful, for every day.  I only k...

Is it in your genes?  Your ability to be compassionate , and sensitive, that's what. A new study has found that, if you jump to help the less fortunate, cry during sad movie scenes, or tweet and post the latest topics and photos that excite or move you, you may be among the 20 percent of our population that is genetically pre-disposed to empathy, according to Stony Brook University psychologists Arthur and Elaine Aron. Newswise.com reports that Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) of brains provide physical evidence that the “highly sensitive” brain responds powerfully to emotional images. People who tend to show heightened awareness to subtle stimuli, process information more thoroughly, and be more reactive to both positive and negative stimuli. In contrast, the majority of people have comparatively low sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) and pay less attention to subtle stimuli, approach situations more quickly and are not as emotionally reactive. In my ...

We've all been saddened by the tragic stories of young people who commit suicide because of online bullying.  But did you know you can also spread depression and disappointment along with euphoria on Facebook? A new study has found that emotions are contagious online, according to newswise.com.  According to a new study by social scientists at Cornell University, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and Facebook, emotions can spread among users of online social networks. “People who had positive content experimentally reduced it on their Facebook news feed, for one week, and used more negative words in their status updates,” reports Jeff Hancock, professor of communication at Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and co-director of its Social Media Lab. “When news feed negativity was reduced, the opposite pattern occurred: Significantly more positive words were used in peoples’ status updates.” The experiment is the first to suggest ...

Great.  We haven't heard and seen enough ads to last us a lifetime.  Now a new study has found the key themes that cut through the clutter and make us sit up and take notice -- to create more ads. Researchers from North Carolina State University have analyzed 50 years’ worth of hit songs to identify key themes that marketing professionals can use to craft advertisements that will resonate with audiences, according to newswise.com. “People are exposed to a barrage of advertisements and they often respond by tuning out those advertisements. We wanted to see what we could learn from hit songs to help advertisers break through all that clutter,” says Dr. David Henard, a professor of marketing at NC State and lead author of a paper describing the research at newswise.com. “We also wanted to see if there were specific themes that could help companies engage with consumers in a positive way via social media." Researchers found that there's a" limited range of widel...

GPS devices tell us how to find places or whether we're near a restaurant or fire station.  Now those on   bike helmets can even tell you which neighborhoods to avoid, by how much they stress you. Huh?  According to smartplanet.com, a new brain-reading helmet can indicate how stressed you are on a bike ride -- and it also lets you see where you were when your anxiety levels were the highest. Janet Fang writes that the MindRider helmet uses built-in sensors and an electrode to translate electroencephalogram (EEG) feedback into an embedded LED display. "Green lights indicate a calm, focused, active mental state. Yellow lights mean you’re slightly agitated," she reports. And red warns of drowsiness and anxiety; flashing red lights indicate panic. The electronic EEG can pick up "10 types of brainwaves that signal emotion," Fang explains.  With the new helmet "You can actually see where along your route you were stressed out and use that to help plan your...