What are some of the most fascinating psychological facts you can find?

Because the human psyche is immensely complicated, fresh research is published every day that helps to explain why we are the way we are. While some of the material is mundane, others are very insightful. As a result, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most fascinating Psychology facts.

Our plan A is less likely to succeed if we have a backup plan.

It hurts to be prepared now and then. In a series of studies conducted by the University of Pennsylvania, researchers discovered that when participants considered a backup plan before beginning a task, they performed worse than those who had not. Furthermore, once they learned they had options, their desire to achieve the first time around waned. The researchers emphasize that planning is beneficial, but you may be more effective if your goals are unclear.

We might be able to bond by “catching” a yawn.

Even if you aren’t sleepy, why do you yawn when someone else does? One of the most popular hypotheses for why yawning is contagious is that it demonstrates empathy. Adults who are less inclined to display empathy, such as toddlers who haven’t yet learned it or young people with autism, are also less likely to yawn in response to another’s yawn.

We want to squeeze cute things for a purpose.

“I was just about to smoosh it until it pops!” Cuteness aggression is what it’s called, and those who have it don’t want to smash that gorgeous puppy. When we’re overwhelmed with positive feelings, like when looking at an unimaginably gorgeous infant animal, a little bit of anger helps us balance off that high, according to research published in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience.

To counteract a single bad, it takes five positive things.

Our brains have a “negativity bias” that causes us to recall negative information more than positive information, which is why you quickly forget that a coworker appreciated your presentation but keep thinking about how a child at the bus stop ridiculed your shoes. We need at least a five-to-one ratio of good to terrible in our lives to feel balanced.

We aren’t as capable of multitasking as we believe.

Even when you think you’re doing two things at once, research published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology demonstrates that you’re moving between the two tasks quickly — you’re still focusing on one at a time. It’s no surprise that listening to your partner while browsing through Instagram is difficult.

Our minds want us to be sluggish.

Conserving energy is a healthy idea from an evolutionary standpoint — when food was scarce, our forefathers still had to be prepared for everything. Unfortunately, that is still true today for anyone trying to lose weight. Volunteers on a treadmill naturally alter their gait to burn fewer calories, according to research published in Current Biology.

Loneliness is harmful to our health.

Researchers discovered that the fewer friends a person has, the greater his or her levels of fibrinogen, a blood-clotting protein. It had such a powerful effect that having 15 pals instead of 25 was as horrible as smoking.

Our brains attempt to make dull speeches more engaging.

Researchers from the University of Glasgow discovered that, similar to how we hear voices in our thoughts when reading aloud, our brains similarly “speak” during boring presentations. If someone speaks monotonously, we subconsciously increase the intensity of the image in our minds.

Happiness can be purchased with money, but only to a certain extent.

People have a “satiation point” in terms of income, according to research, where happiness peaks and earning more won’t make you happier. Various studies have indicated different sums (one from 2010 suggested $75,000, while another from 2018 suggested $105,000), but the premise remains the same: constantly pushing for more, more, more won’t necessarily help you.

Long-term deadlines aren’t as significant to our brains.

Almost everyone has procrastinated at some point, even though we know it makes more sense to get a head start on our taxes than to watch Netflix. We choose insignificant, urgent jobs because we know we’ll be able to finish them. There’s also evidence that when we see the deadline approaching in days rather than months or years, we feel more linked to the passing of time on a day-by-day basis.

Thank you for reading. Lots of love.