'Want to lose weight? Buy smaller plates." "Mindfulness at work: a superpower to boost productivity." "Leaving Facebook can make you happier." That's what the headlines and Ted Talks would have you believe. But are any of these psychological tricks - or life hacks, as they are often called - actually true?
The truth is, we don't know; and, in a sense, we can't ever know, because of limitations inherent in the design of the relevant experiments - in just about all experiments in what we might call "lifestyle science". That, at least, is the implication of a new study by a pair of Stanford psychologists, Nicholas Coles and Michael Frank. We'll get to their work shortly, but first I'd like to take you to the German city of Mannheim in 1988.
It was here that psychologist Fritz Strack conducted a study that has since become a staple of psychology textbooks. Experiment participants were given a cover story: that previous research using questionnaires had excluded participants who were unable to use their hands to fill in the form, and that this study would explore the feasibility of instead holding the pen in your mouth. Half the participants were asked to hold the pen in their teeth (which forced their mouth into a smile) and half in their lips (which forced their mouth into a neutral pout) while they viewed a selection of cartoon strips. The participants who were smiling when they saw the cartoons rated themselves participants as more amused than the who were pulling a neutral (if slightly odd) expression.
When they were asked afterwards whether they'd suspected anything fishy was going on, no participants showed any sign of realising that the cover story was simply a way to get them to smile. Strack seemed to have shown that at least sometimes - our facial expressions determine our moods, rather than vice versa.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
If kids get protected from online harm, how about the rest of us?
The Australian government has proposed a ban on social media for all citizens under 16.
'It's not drought - it's looting'
Spain is increasingly either parched or flooded - and one group is profiting from these extremes: the thirsty multinational companies forcing angry citizens to pay for water in bottles.
Life in the grey Zone
Neonatal care has advanced so far that babies born as early as 21 weeks have survived. But is this type of care always the right thing to do?
Out of tune? Band Aid under fire for Africa tropes as it turns 40
Forty years ago this month, a group of pop stars gathered at a west London studio to record a single that would raise millions, inspire further starry projects, and ultimately change charity fundraising in the UK.
Deaths shine spotlight on risks of drinking on party trail
Vang Vieng is an unlikely party hub. Surrounded by striking limestone mountains and caves in central Laos, it morphed from a small farming town to a hedonistic tourist destination in the early 2000s.
Different strokes My strange and emotional week with an AI pet
Moflin can develop a personality and build a rapport with its owner - and doesn't need food or exercise. But is it comforting or alienating?
Strike zone Waking up to the rising threat of lightning
When the Barbados National Archives, home to one of the world's most significant collections of documents from the transatlantic slave trade, reported in June that it had been struck by lightning, it received sympathy and offers of support locally and internationally.
Cheap pints and sticky carpets: the old-school pub is back
In the Palm Tree pub, east London, barman Alf is taking only cash at the rattling 1960s till.
Brain gain Can a radical tax scheme convince the country's brightest to stay?
In the autumn of 2018, I moved to Lisbon for a month-long course at the Universidade .de Lisboa.
Fear and sympathy in small town divided over asylum camp
A year after anti-immigration riots, a site for asylum seekers faces hostility while some locals try to help new arrivals
