Why No One Did More to Stop NYC Subway Death

This week, New York City was gripped with the news that a man, Ki Suk Han, was hit by a subway train and was pronounced dead by the hospital upon arrival. The moment when Han attempted to lift himself out of harm’s way has been memorialized by the New York Post’s cover the next day, which splashed a picture of Han staring into the face of the train accompanied by the copy “This Man Is About to Die: Doomed”.

Since then, much criticism has been directed at the photographer R. Umar Abbasi and other bystanders. Why did no one do anything to help Han avoid his fate? Unfortunately, as much as we would have loved to be heroes on that day, we are not always Good Samaritans like we would like.

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Why People Fall for Bad Boys and Mean Girls

It seems that it’s a cliché for a reason: “nice guys finish last”. Recent research has found that people with so-called dark personality traits - narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism - are rated as more attractive than their more ethical, less selfish peers. That finding validates just about everyone’s middle school experience. But why is that true?

A new study finds that those three traits, known as the “dark triad”, are linked with an increased ability to successfully enhance a person’s appearance. The study also suggests that people who possess the dark triad are more skilled at presenting and carrying themselves, which is why they are generally immediately liked.

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Guilty Pleasures: Feeling Guilty Enhances Deliciousness of Food

As the holiday season approaches, many people are going to enter it with a diet in place. Then, with the introduction of a single slice of pie, that diet will be shot. We will demur at first, citing calories and healthy living, but then we will have a bite, then another, and then before we know it, that diet has fallen by the wayside.

Research indicates that we do get rewarded for throwing away our winter weight goals, even if our waistlines may not feel the same way. That piece of pie tastes even more delicious if we indulge than it would otherwise. Of course, that is something that we have all experienced - but science indicates that it is true.

Researchers said, “People who are primed with guilt subsequently experience greater pleasure than people who are not. People lack awareness of this automatic process.”

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Why Neuroticism Could Actually Lower Your Risk for Chronic Diseases

One may not logically assume that neurotic personalities have better health than other people. Of the Big Five personality dimensions - openness, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and neuroticism - one might actually believe that neurotics would fare the worst. Even scientists concede that “neuroticism is usually marked by being moody, nervous, and a worrier, and linked to hostility, depression, and excessive drinking and smoking.”

In a new study, researchers were surprised to find that people who scored moderate to high scores on neuroticism were more likely to have better health. But there was a catch. That finding was true for people who also scored moderate to high scores on conscientiousness as well. These people also tended to have lower body mass index and fewer chronic diseases. In fact, the higher people’s scores were in both categories, the better their health tended to be.

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Learning Another Language Boosts Your Ability to Make Rational Decisions

Time to brush off that textbook - and not just because you’ll be able to communicate with German speakers. Researchers from the University of Chicago found that learning a foreign language may boost people’s ability to make rational decisions.

Researchers believe that a second language can help people think more rationally. “We propose that these effects arise because a foreign language provides greater cognitive and emotional distance than a native tongue does,” the authors said.

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Can Creativity Foreshadow Mental Illness?

Creativity is frequently paired with mental illness, according to a new study that confirms the stereotype that people in creative professions are significantly more susceptible to psychiatric disorders than the general population.

The findings are particularly true for writers, who are at a higher risk of anxiety and bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, unipolar depression, and drug abuse.

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Facebook May Be More Tempting Than Sex

Checking a Facebook or Twitter account may be more tempting than sex and cigarettes, according to a new study.

“Desires for media may be comparatively harder to resist because of their high availability and also because it feels like it does not cost much to engage in these activities, even though one wants to resist,” study author said.

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Internet Addiction to Be Classified as a Mental Disorder

People who spend too much  time on the Internet may soon be classified as being addicted to it. 

Internet Use Disorder (IUD) will be included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) as a condition that is “recommended for further study.” Australian psychology professionals have welcomed the addition of IUD in the psychiatric manual.

The placement of Internet addiction along with other types of substance addiction is a widely debated issue. Experts say that Internet addiction is a secondary outcome of an underlying cause (for example, these people might suffer from anxiety and so use internet more than others).

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Boys Don’t Cry: Men and Women Feel Empathy Over Different Things

It’s a common trope to hear that men are unfeeling pigs. It’s why, when a couple watches The Notebook, the end leaves the girlfriend in tears and the boyfriend half-asleep. But a new study has debunked that idea, finding that men are not incapable of empathy, but that men and women feel empathy over different things.

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Believing in TV Romances Could Be Ruining Your Love Life

Are you on either Team Jacob or Team Edward, and have the T-shirt to prove it? Have you read the entire 50 Shades of Grey trilogy and are unafraid to take out the books on public transit? Are you a sucker for romantic television shows and movies? New research shows that people who are more heavily invested in fictional romances are less likely to be committed to their own relationship. Interestingly though, despite the lack of commitment, people are also just as likely to be satisfied in love as their peers are.

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