news

When do research results provide sufficient evidence to support a hypothesis? It turns out that psychology researchers are usually unable to judge this properly. They often demand more evidence than is necessary. As a result, valid research sometimes ends up in the desk drawer and therapies or interventions with potential never reach the treatment room.

People with depression benefit from contact with fellow sufferers. Such contacts can in fact contribute to recovering from depression. That was shown in the PhD research done by Dorien Smit, who will defend her thesis at Radboud University on 1 December. On the basis of Smit's research, an online platform for people with depression was set up.

Cognitive psychologist and alumnus Fred Atilla of Erasmus University Rotterdam has won the Unilever Research Prize 2022 for his research on how attention and emotions towards COVID-19 evolved among T

General practitioners regularly see patients with persistent physical symptoms (PPS) that have no clear explanation. These patients often feel misunderstood. But the researcher Inge Stortenbeker, who will receive her PhD from Radboud University on 3 November, found that a physician's use of language and choice of words can influence how anxious patients are after a consultation.

After a busy day at the office, many people collapse onto the sofa instead of getting some exercise. The mechanism behind this phenomenon is what Sven van As explored in his PhD thesis, which he is defending at Radboud University on 2 November. "When we feel stressed or tired, we tend to go for the easy option." Contrary to expectations, Sven van As's PhD research did not provide evidence that cognitively demanding work leads to lower levels of physical activity.

Parents of small children can usually get away with serving apple sauce, especially if it's the chunk-free variety. Try putting something green on their plate, however, and those little teeth invariably clamp shut. Teaching toddlers and pre-schoolers a healthy diet is not easy. But children are not preordained to dislike vegetables, say PhD candidates Anouk van den Brand and Britt van Belkom.

Professor of Cognitive Psychology Mariska Kret studies how humans and animals express emotions. Comparisons between humans and great apes offer important evolutionary insights, Kret will say in her inaugural lecture on Friday 9 September. Many of us still think humans are unique and 'shine at the top of evolution,' says Kret.

Research done at the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience shows why women choose to undergo cosmetic surgery and ignore the associated physical and psychological risks. Surprisingly, this is mostly not because they are insecure about their looks, but because they believe 'looking pretty' makes them more successful and happier.

Genetic research shows the environment associated with parents' cognitive and noncognitive skills influences offspring's education New research from the Netherlands Twin Register at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam) shows that parents- cognitive and non-cognitive skills both affect children's educational outcomes.

Data scientist Marijn ten Thij studies human behaviour on the basis of messages posted on social media. For example, he mapped the changing mood during the corona pandemic using 3.5 million tweets. The analysis of this kind of data is not only socially relevant, it could also help individuals in psychological distress.

Data scientist Marijn ten Thij studies human behaviour on the basis of messages posted on social media. For example, he mapped the changing mood during the corona pandemic using 3.5 million tweets. The analysis of this kind of data is not only socially relevant, it could also help individuals in psychological distress.

Social norms dictate when we can express our emotions and to whom. These norms are much stronger for negative emotions than for positive ones. Does this mean that we can always express positive emotions, and to everyone? No, state psychology researchers from the University of Amsterdam who mapped expression norms for eight positive emotions.

Network approaches are undergoing a revolutionary advance in the field of psychology. Whereas explanations for cognitive development and mental problems have long been sought in the brain, the focus now increasingly lies on the interaction between observable factors. In the case of depression, for example, we no longer look for a single cause but consider the interplay of symptoms such as insomnia, depressed mood and concentration problems.

Getting old is usually seen as unappealing, but ageing in fact has some positive effects. One of the advantages of getting old is feeling better. Older people generally experience more positive and less negative emotions than younger people. In a new study published in Psychological Science, Rui Sun and Disa Sauter from the University of Amsterdam tested whether this advantage of older people would also hold during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The rise of populism has been accompanied by explanations as to why people feel drawn to it. An international study across 15 European countries, carried out by researchers at the University of Amsterdam and funded by the European Union's H2020, now sheds light on the role of negative emotions. The conclusion is that 'anger, contempt and anxiety are much better predictors of populist attitudes than socio-economic and socio-cultural factors.' Populism has been on the rise in Europe for some time.