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Nearly 1 in 4 Young Adults Never Answer Calls. The One You Dread Is Kinder Than You Think
In one experiment, people who swapped an email for a call felt closer to an old friend, and no more awkward. Here’s how to pick up.
Latest
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That Cosy Feeling Some Rooms Give You Isn’t Luck. It’s Light, Corners and Safety
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The Guilty-Pleasure Trick That Got People to the Gym 51% More Often (at First)
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How You React to Good News Says More About Your Relationship Than How You Handle Bad
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You Buy a Red Car and Suddenly They’re Everywhere. Your Brain Changed, Not the Roads
Just updated
Stories our editors have just revisited with new research, figures and sources.
Relationships
Love, friendship, family and the everyday dynamics between people.
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How You React to Good News Says More About Your Relationship Than How You Handle Bad
In one experiment, an excited reply to good news made strangers almost twice as likely to return extra cash as…
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It Takes Over 200 Hours to Turn a Stranger Into a Close Friend. Here’s the Ladder
Each rung has its own hour count, and the hours you spend side by side at work barely move you…
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The Dishes Aren’t Really the Problem. Here’s What Your Sink Fight Is Actually About
In one major study, no chore mattered more to women’s relationship satisfaction, and the work behind the row is often…
Psychology
How people think, feel and behave, explained through research and real life.
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You Buy a Red Car and Suddenly They’re Everywhere. Your Brain Changed, Not the Roads
A 1994 newspaper letter named it, and a gorilla experiment explains it: nearly half of us miss what we aren’t…
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The Better You Know Something, the Worse You Explain It. Blame the Curse of Knowledge
Tappers expected listeners to name half their songs. Listeners got 1 in 40. The same gap shows up in emails,…
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Spilling Your Coffee Could Make People Like You More. There’s One Big Catch
A 1966 experiment found one clumsy blunder lifted a star’s appeal and sank an average performer’s. Here’s what decides which…
Worth your time
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Your Silent Phone on the Desk Might Be Draining Your Focus. The Evidence Is Messier
A famous 2017 study said a phone in sight dulls the mind. Two meta-analyses and England’s new school…
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The Dishes Aren’t Really the Problem. Here’s What Your Sink Fight Is Actually About
In one major study, no chore mattered more to women’s relationship satisfaction, and the work behind the row…
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Your Phone Didn’t Buzz. Your Brain Did, and Scientists Have Traced the Clues
Up to 96% of stressed junior doctors feel buzzes that never happened. The culprits are expectation, worry and…
Modern Life
Work, technology, money habits and the way we live now.
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Nearly 1 in 4 Young Adults Never Answer Calls. The One You Dread Is Kinder Than You Think
In one experiment, people who swapped an email for a call felt closer to an old friend, and no more…
-
Your Silent Phone on the Desk Might Be Draining Your Focus. The Evidence Is Messier
A famous 2017 study said a phone in sight dulls the mind. Two meta-analyses and England’s new school phone rules…
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Your Phone Didn’t Buzz. Your Brain Did, and Scientists Have Traced the Clues
Up to 96% of stressed junior doctors feel buzzes that never happened. The culprits are expectation, worry and pressure, and…
Self-Growth
Habits, confidence, resilience and building a life that fits.
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The Guilty-Pleasure Trick That Got People to the Gym 51% More Often (at First)
A later trial with 6,792 gym members found a smaller boost, about 10%. Here’s how to build bundles that still…
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Being Kind to Yourself After a Failure Won’t Make You Lazy. It Made Students Study Longer
In a Berkeley experiment, a few kind words after a failed test led to 50% more study time. Five myths…
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Your Body Clock Isn’t Lazy: 351 Genes Help Decide Whether You’re a Night Owl
In one trial, owls moved their sleep two hours earlier in three weeks without losing any sleep, and felt less…
Style & Living
Style, home and the small rituals that shape how we live.
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That Cosy Feeling Some Rooms Give You Isn’t Luck. It’s Light, Corners and Safety
Scientists asked 798 people to rate 200 interiors. One quality, hominess, explains why some rooms hold you and others don’t.
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Your Yellow Jumper Feels Happier for a Reason. It Just Isn’t Dopamine
A survey of 4,598 people in 30 nations shows how widely we share colour feelings, and where the dopamine dressing…
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Your £90 Fair-Trade Dress Can Cost Less Than an £18 One. Here’s Where the Money Goes
Fairtrade, GOTS, Fair Wear and B Corp promise very different things, and since September vague green claims are banned in…
More stories
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Your Yellow Jumper Feels Happier for a Reason. It Just Isn’t Dopamine
A survey of 4,598 people in 30 nations shows how widely we share colour feelings, and where the dopamine dressing…
-
Being Kind to Yourself After a Failure Won’t Make You Lazy. It Made Students Study Longer
In a Berkeley experiment, a few kind words after a failed test led to 50% more study time. Five myths…
-
It Takes Over 200 Hours to Turn a Stranger Into a Close Friend. Here’s the Ladder
Each rung has its own hour count, and the hours you spend side by side at work barely move you…
-
Your Silent Phone on the Desk Might Be Draining Your Focus. The Evidence Is Messier
A famous 2017 study said a phone in sight dulls the mind. Two meta-analyses and England’s new school phone rules…
-
The Dishes Aren’t Really the Problem. Here’s What Your Sink Fight Is Actually About
In one major study, no chore mattered more to women’s relationship satisfaction, and the work behind the row is often…
-
Your Phone Didn’t Buzz. Your Brain Did, and Scientists Have Traced the Clues
Up to 96% of stressed junior doctors feel buzzes that never happened. The culprits are expectation, worry and pressure, and…