Studies show it’s more tempting than sugary snacks
friends
The Biology of Kindness: How It Makes Us Happier and Healthier
There’s a reason why being kind to others is good for you — and it can now be traced to a specific nerve.
How Social Networks Influence Parents’ Decision to Vaccinate
A small group of parent advocates is mobilizing “gentle propaganda” against vaccine naysayers
Why Facebook Makes You Feel Bad About Yourself
No surprise — those Facebook photos of your friends on vacation or celebrating a birthday party can make you feel lousy.
Friends With Benefits: Being Highly Social Cuts Dementia Risk by 70%
Yet more evidence that friends and family are the best medicine: a new study finds that the most social seniors had a 70% reduction in the rate of cognitive decline, compared with their least social peers.
Why Hanging Out with Couple-Friends Enhances Romance
Want to spice up your romantic relationship? No need to spend money on long-stem roses or expensive dinners. Instead, spend time — not just with each other but with some really good friends.
Misery Has More Company Than You Think, Especially on Facebook
Have other people’s blithe Facebook updates ever made you feel like a total loser? Or have you ever felt that your best friend’s life is perfectly easy and joyful, while yours is nothing but struggle and anxiety? You’re not alone.
Friends with (Genetic) Benefits?
A new study suggests that when it comes to certain genes, friends of a feather flock together—but with others, opposites attract.
How to Win Friends: Have a Big Amygdala?
Got a big social network? Then you probably have a large amygdala, according to a new study that found a connection between the size of this brain region and the number of social relationships a person has.
Science Says: Cost of Love Is Two Old Friends
In the economy of relationships, there’s a price to falling in love. According to a new, as yet unpublished study from Oxford University, it’s two friends.
Internet Net Plus for Social Life, Doesn’t Increase Isolation
The internet and cell phones are bringing people together, not tearing us apart—at least, according to a new survey released today by the Pew Internet and American Life project. The research followed up a shocking 2006 study, which found that American social networks were rapidly contracting and that 25% of Americans reported that …