Life Changes
Healing Through Storytelling: Lessons from The Odyssey
The journey of Odysseus in Homer's 'The Odyssey' offers profound insights into healing...
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- Written by: Joseph Ciarrochi, Australian Catholic University
Making friends is tough for teenagers. Making friends with the opposite sex can be even tougher. Our research, published in the Journal of Personality, suggests empathy may be the key to developing friendships, and may be especially important for young men establishing supportive friendships with young women.
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- Written by: Ken Branson, Rutgers University
Many researchers have asked why people cheat on their partners. A new study asked how they stay together.
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- Written by: Suzanne Dyson, La Trobe University
Comprehensive, inclusive sexuality and relationships education (“sex ed”) teaches children and adolescents in age-appropriate ways that sexuality is a normal, healthy part of life.
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- Written by: Jay L. Zagorsky, The Ohio State University
June kicks off the U.S. wedding season. Whether you love nuptials or hate them, an astounding trend is occurring: fewer couples are tying the knot.
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- Written by: Victoria Indivero-Penn State
After having their first baby, new parents report being only somewhat satisfied with their sex lives. The stress levels of moms—but not dads—may be a reason why.
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- Written by: Brendan Zietsch, The University of Queensland
We know a lot about why people choose different brands of dishwashing detergent, because companies spend billions of dollars investigating who buys what. But when it comes to the processes behind perhaps our most significant life choice – choosing a romantic partner – science knows surprisingly little.
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- Written by: Zoe Strimpel, University of Sussex
Matchmaking and dating services used to advertise in small rectangles on tube carriages, next to the vitamin drinks and food delivery services, and in smaller rectangles still on the classified pages of newspapers and magazines.
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- Written by: Gayle Brewer, University of Central Lancashire
We’ve all felt it at some time in our lives. Poets write about it, singers sing about it – and a whole industry has grown up around finding it, expressing it and maintaining it. But what is love? Where does it reside? What triggers it? And what’s really going on in our minds and bodies when we fall “head over heels”?
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- Written by: Viren Swami, Anglia Ruskin University
“Nice guys finish last” is one of the most widely believed maxims of dating. Fleshed out, the idea goes something like this: heterosexual women might say they want nice characteristics in a partner, but in reality what they want is the challenge that comes with dating a “bad boy”.
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- Written by: Denise-Marie Ordway, Journalist Resource
In the United States, the teen pregnancy rate is higher than in any other western industrialized country, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). At the same time, a growing number of American teens and young adults have been diagnosed with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
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- Written by: A'ndrea Elyse Messer, Penn State
"Masculine traits in humans are not the same as, say, in peacocks where the beautiful tail attracts a mate," says David Puts. "For example, beards make men more dominant looking, scarier, and seemingly more dangerous, but most women prefer clean-shaven men."
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- Written by: Linda & Charlie Bloom
True or false: *Couples with great relationships don’t fight. * Most people expect too much from marriage. * All the good men/women are already taken. * Love can heal all wounds. * If my partner were more like me, we’d have a better relationship.
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- Written by: Michelle Neeley, University of Florida
"A lot of times, just by avoiding negative traits, people will probably be fairly well off—maybe even more well off—than if they were trying to optimize the best potential partner," says Gregory Webster.
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- Written by: Brendan Zietsch, Research Fellow, The University of Queensland
The difficult thing is how to measure it, because people will probably over-estimate. If you’re a non-scientist, you might have once asked yourself, propped against the bedhead after disappointingly quick intercourse, how long does sex “normally” last?
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- Written by: Barry Vissell
Becoming vulnerable with a woman teaches you all about trust. I often hear, “I’ll be more vulnerable with her when I trust her more.” This attitude doesn’t work. Your vulnerability opens the door to trust, and trust opens the door to love.
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- Written by: Viren Swami, Professor of Social Psychology, Anglia Ruskin University
Some time ago, I found myself single again (shock, horror!) and decided to get back into the world of dating. One thing that struck me very early on in my forays was that everyone had an opinion about “what worked” in terms of dating.
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- Written by: Laurence D. Hurst, Professor of Evolutionary Genetics at The Milner Centre for Evolution, University of Bath
The reason why, in terms of evolution, organisms have sex may seem rather obvious – they do it to reproduce. Clearly, natural selection must favour individuals who can reproduce over those who can’t. But this is missing the point. For many species there is an alternative: asexual reproduction.
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- Written by: Amy Schalet, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Massachusetts Amherst
American classrooms do not talk frankly about teenage love or emotional intimacy. Last month, Tom Porton, an award-winning, veteran Bronx high school teacher, handed in his resignation after colliding with the school’s principal.
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- Written by: Tamsin Saxton, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle
Have you ever thought there was an uncanny family resemblance between your friend and her partner? Or wondered for a fleeting moment whether the pair walking down the road were husband and wife, or brother and sister? You might not be imagining things. Animals of many species “learn” what a suitable
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- Written by: Tamas Szekely, Professor of Biodiversity, University of Bath
When it comes to love, cheating and divorce, matters are never just of the heart. In a bid to understand the love lives of humans, scientists have turned to the romantic relations of birds since the family life of many birds is reminiscent of those exhibited by humans.
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- Written by: Allison Hydzik, University of Pittsburgh
A new study offers the first clear evidence that testosterone treatment for men 65 years and older can improve mood and sex drive.
