First Psychology blog

Today is International Day of Happiness 2015 so we thought we'd look at the psychology of happiness. Happiness is a complex and changing state, however there are a number of factors that have been shown to improve our chances of being happy. Personality Although 50% of our happiness comes from external sources, such as personal connections with others, our health and our working lives, research conducted at the University of Edinburgh and Queensland Institute suggests that happiness is partly determined by our personalities. And they found that this is largely hereditary. The researchers discovered that people who are sociable, conscientious and do not excessively worry tend to be happier. If it's in my genes, can I ever be happy? The good news is that while half of our happiness is linked to our genes, we can still experience happiness.  Research by Lyubomirsky suggests that we have the ability to influence 40% of our happiness, with the remaining 10% relating t...

You may have noticed that today is Friday 13th, a day that many consider to be bad luck. But did you know that some people actually suffer from a condition known as 'paraskevidekatriaphobia' or to those of us who have a problem pronouncing such things, a fear of Friday the 13th. Those who experience this phobia, in common with phobia sufferers in general, will go out of their way to avoid doing anything that may result in bad luck on this day. For example, they may cancel/ reschedule appointments or avoid travelling because their fear that something terrible will happen is so great. So is this really a phobia? In general terms, a phobia is a strong, irrational fear that something poses a danger when in fact that thing poses little or no danger in reality.  Some of the most common phobias include: flying, spiders, snakes, driving, needles, enclosed spaces, and public speaking. A fear of Friday the 13th is less common, but it can be a phobia all the same. Phobi...

Today is World Sleep Day, a day that aims to raise awareness of the importance of sleep on our health and wellbeing. How much sleep we need varies widely and depends in part on our age - the older we are, the less sleep our bodies tend to need. However according to the Mental Health Foundation, we now sleep about 90 minutes less each night than we did in the 1920s, so there are clearly many people living life in a sleep deprived state. Why is sleep important?  Sleep affects how we think and behave. Studies have shown that a lack of sleep affects activity in the brain and can lead to low mood, negative thoughts and loneliness. How to improve your sleep  The World Association of Sleep Medicine suggests establishing a regular bedtime and waking time and advises that daytime sleep (naps or siestas) should not exceed 45 minutes. While exercise is generally beneficial when it comes to sleep, the association advises not doing exercise just before bed as it can make it hard to...