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Why Picturing Success Can Backfire, and the 4-Step WOOP Method That Works Instead
Daydreaming about the finish line feels like progress. More than 30 years of research by Gabriele Oettingen suggests it can quietly stand in for the real thing.
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Does Food Taste Better on a White Plate? The Science of Plates, Cutlery, Colour and Crunch
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A 10-Minute Nap Beat a 30-Minute One in the Lab. Here’s What Napping Does to Your Brain
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Do Couples Who Pool Their Money Stay Happier? What 2 Big Studies Found About Joint Accounts
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Why Talking to Yourself by Name Calms You Down, and What 12 Years of Research Really Shows
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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Do Couples Who Pool Their Money Stay Happier? What 2 Big Studies Found About Joint Accounts
When researchers randomly told newlyweds to open a joint account, their relationships held up better over two years. The reasons…
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Does Living Together Before Marriage Raise Divorce Risk? 40 Years of Research, Rechecked
For decades, studies warned that moving in first meant divorcing later. Newer research points to age, engagement and how couples…
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Couples Who Say “We” Mid-Argument Stay Calmer, and It’s Your Partner Who Benefits
Across 30 studies and 5,288 people, “we-talk” tracked with better relationships and health. The link is small, and it runs…
Psychology
How people think, feel and behave, explained through research and real life.
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Why Talking to Yourself by Name Calms You Down, and What 12 Years of Research Really Shows
Swapping “I” for your own name in your head sounds like a party trick. A decade of experiments says it…
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First Impressions Form in 100 Milliseconds. Here’s How Often They’re Wrong
Your brain sizes up a stranger’s face in about a tenth of a second. The science of first impressions says…
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Why One Criticism Outweighs Five Compliments, and What the Famous 5:1 Ratio Really Says
Bad news grabs the brain faster and holds on longer. A tour of negativity bias, the ratios people quote about…
Worth your time
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The Four-Day Week Under the Microscope: What 6 Trials Really Found, and What They Didn’t
Burnout down, sick days down, most firms kept it. But who signed up, who was measured, and what…
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Does Living Together Before Marriage Raise Divorce Risk? 40 Years of Research, Rechecked
For decades, studies warned that moving in first meant divorcing later. Newer research points to age, engagement and…
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Why One Criticism Outweighs Five Compliments, and What the Famous 5:1 Ratio Really Says
Bad news grabs the brain faster and holds on longer. A tour of negativity bias, the ratios people…
Modern Life
Work, technology, money habits and the way we live now.
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A 10-Minute Nap Beat a 30-Minute One in the Lab. Here’s What Napping Does to Your Brain
NASA pilots, sleepy young Australians and hundreds of thousands of UK Biobank volunteers have all helped answer one question: how…
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The Four-Day Week Under the Microscope: What 6 Trials Really Found, and What They Didn’t
Burnout down, sick days down, most firms kept it. But who signed up, who was measured, and what does it…
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Checking Email Just 3 Times a Day Lowered Stress in a Week. Here’s the Catch
One study logged office workers opening email 77 times a day. The habit that helps depends less on willpower than…
Self-Growth
Habits, confidence, resilience and building a life that fits.
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Why Picturing Success Can Backfire, and the 4-Step WOOP Method That Works Instead
Daydreaming about the finish line feels like progress. More than 30 years of research by Gabriele Oettingen suggests it can…
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Do Positive Affirmations Work? Why “I Am Lovable” Can Backfire, and the Version That Helps
Repeating “I am lovable” made people with low self-esteem feel worse in one well-known study. A quieter, values-based exercise has…
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That Growth Mindset Poster Made Big Promises. Here’s What 25 Years of Studies Found
The best evidence points to a real but small boost, mostly for students who are struggling. Here is each claim,…
Style & Living
Style, home and the small rituals that shape how we live.
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Does Food Taste Better on a White Plate? The Science of Plates, Cutlery, Colour and Crunch
A white plate made strawberry mousse taste sweeter in an Oxford-led study. In a real restaurant, the story got more…
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Does Owning Less Make You Happier? What 175 Studies on Materialism Say About Minimalism
Studies link wanting less with feeling better. But the evidence is messier than the decluttering videos suggest, and the fix…
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The New Sofa Makes Your Rug Look Shabby. A Philosopher Described That Feeling in 1769
One upgrade can quietly set off a run of others. Experiments show when it happens, and how to stop the…
More stories
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First Impressions Form in 100 Milliseconds. Here’s How Often They’re Wrong
Your brain sizes up a stranger’s face in about a tenth of a second. The science of first impressions says…
-
Do Positive Affirmations Work? Why “I Am Lovable” Can Backfire, and the Version That Helps
Repeating “I am lovable” made people with low self-esteem feel worse in one well-known study. A quieter, values-based exercise has…
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Does Owning Less Make You Happier? What 175 Studies on Materialism Say About Minimalism
Studies link wanting less with feeling better. But the evidence is messier than the decluttering videos suggest, and the fix…
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The Four-Day Week Under the Microscope: What 6 Trials Really Found, and What They Didn’t
Burnout down, sick days down, most firms kept it. But who signed up, who was measured, and what does it…
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Does Living Together Before Marriage Raise Divorce Risk? 40 Years of Research, Rechecked
For decades, studies warned that moving in first meant divorcing later. Newer research points to age, engagement and how couples…
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Why One Criticism Outweighs Five Compliments, and What the Famous 5:1 Ratio Really Says
Bad news grabs the brain faster and holds on longer. A tour of negativity bias, the ratios people quote about…