As people age do they tend to become grumpier or more mellow?

Emotion dynamics across adulthood in everyday life: Older adults are more emotionally stable and better at regulating desires.

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Burr, Daisy A.,Castrellon, Jaime J.,Zald, David H.,Samanez-Larkin, Gregory R.

Burr, D. A., Castrellon, J. J., Zald, D. H., & Samanez-Larkin, G. R. (2020). Emotion dynamics across adulthood in everyday life: Older adults are more emotionally stable and better at regulating desires. Emotion. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000734

Older adults report experiencing improved emotional health, such as more intense positive affect and less intense negative affect.

For more of the abstract click here.

Feel better book For Little Worriers

Reviews: "That Discomfort You're Feeling Is Grief"

Check out my review of the article in the Harvard Business Review by Scott Berinato and David Kessler.

Leave a response if you wish at the end.

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Does one think differently in different languages?

Do people think differently in different languages? Yes they do. I am not very good at languages but in my life I have taken courses in Latin, Greek, French, and Spanish. I am a native English speaker but having learned a little of these different languages, I am well aware that some things can be better said in certain languages than others.

Have you learned a language different from your native language? What has been your experience of how you see the world and experience it when thinking about it in a different language?


 

Facts don't matter; preconceived notions do.

From Humans Are Hardwired To Dismiss Facts That Don't Fit With Their Worldview published on The Conversation on 01/31/20

Something is rotten in the state of American political life. The U.S. (among other nations) is increasingly characterized by highly polarized, informationally insulated ideological communities occupying their own factual universes.

Within the conservative political blogosphere, global warming is either a hoax or so uncertain as to be unworthy of response. Within other geographic or online communities, vaccines, fluoridated water and genetically modified foods are known to be dangerous. Right-wing media outlets paint a detailed picture of how Donald Trump is the victim of a fabricated conspiracy.

None of that is correct, though. The reality of human-caused global warming is settled science. The alleged link between vaccines and autism has been debunked as conclusively as anything in the history of epidemiology. It’s easy to find authoritative refutations of Donald Trump’s self-exculpatory claims regarding Ukraine and many other issues.

For more click here.

Most human beings can't be persuaded by facts. They have too much emotionally at stake to see the truth even when it is apparent. This tendency is called by many names: denial, minimalization, confirmation bias, prejudice, delusion, etc. Whatever you call it, it is unhealthy and destructive for the individual and for the groups in which they participate.

What is to be done about denial and delusion? Usually a direct approach of pointing out and bolstering the facts doesn't help, but only forces the person to become more entrenched in their false beliefs and upset to the point of loss of control and violence.

The best approach is to sidestep the topic and continue to focus on the consequences of the correct belief and make these achievements the satisfying elements of one's life. In other words leading by example rather than by argument is usually the better path.

Posting on social media is a performance not a relationship.

Posting on Facebook and other social media is about performing for an audience, not about developing reciprocity in relationships. People on social media are not “friends”, but fans and critics.

David G. Markham, L.C.S.W. - R.

Suicide rate by state. New York has lowest, Montana has the highest.

It is very interesting to compare the quality of life in blue states as compared to red states. I am using this descriptor not in a political way but as indicators of existing social policies in those states. A simple example are suicide rates. They are double in red states and even three times higher than in blue states. 

New York, my state, has the lowest suicide rate in the Nation at 8.1/100,00 as compared to Montana with the highest rate at over three times higher with 29.9/100,00. 

If you would like to see the suicide rate in your state click here. The average rate in the U.S, in 2017 was 14.0/100,00 

Why do you suppose the quality of life is so much higher in New York than in Montana? Just for starters we have the best University system in the World, and the best gun laws in the nation and the best minimum wage laws, and the best health care coverage and some of the most enjoyable arts and recreational areas and plenty of fresh water.

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