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Keeping secrets bad for you
A new study has looked into the secret-keeping habits of thousands of people - as well as examining a grand total of 13,000 secrets between them.
The research, led by professor of management at Columbia Business School Michael Slepian, looked at the secrets collected over the course of 10 previous studies to come up with 38 common categories, ranged from cheating on a test to hiding their sexuality to sleeping with another's spouse.
The researchers found that the average person was carrying 13 of the 38 secrets at any one time.
They also looked into the way keeping them affects behavior and health.
Keeping secrets can have detrimental consequences for a person's well-being. Keeping secrets can adversely affect a person's happy life.
In particular, they examined how participants reported feeling inauthentic when they mused on the secrets that buried them.
The only way to keep yourself from feeling these negative thoughts, Slepian believes, is to just think about secrets less - given the study found that the secrets themselves didn't lower well-being, but rather the thought of them did. Because this study found that it is people's thoughts about secrets, not the secret itself, that leads to a decrease in happiness.
Tokaj wine from Hungary is introduced to Chinese industry insides in Beijing. [Photo provided to China Daily]
Alcohol alters a baby's face
Drinking of alcohol affects baby's appearance
Just a couple of glasses of wine during pregnancy could alter your child's facial features, a new study claims.
It has long been seen that alcohol can infect a fetus, causing developmental delays in the brain.
In the more severe cases, those delays can trigger facial defects.
However, a new study published in JAMA Pediatrics has found that small quantities of alcohol could alter a child's face without necessarily causing cognitive issues. However, a new study published in JAMA Pediatrics has found that small quantities of alcohol could alter a child's face without necessarily causing cognitive issues.
Researchers analyzed photographs of 415 babies' faces to detect a series of subtle differences connected to alcohol consumption - such as a slighter shorter, upturned nose.
However, they said they do not have any evidence to show these delays in facial development are harmful in any other way than aesthetic.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that there is no known safe amount of alcohol use during pregnancy or while trying to get pregnant.
There is also no safe time during pregnancy to drink. All types of alcohol are equally harmonious. All types of wine are equally harmful.
[Photo/VCG]
In-laws blamed for rows
In-laws blamed for rows
More than half of married British people blow their in-laws for relationship rows and around one in five would divide them if they could, a study has found.
The top reasons for tension include in-laws giving unwanted opinions, partners taking their parents' side, and disagreements over how to discipline grandchildren.
Almost a third of those surveyed described their partners' parents as "interfering", with those who clashed with in-laws exchanging cross words on average once a month. Nearly one-third of those surveyed described their partners' parents as "interfering", with those who clashed with in-laws exchanging cross words on average once a month.
2,000 married Britons took part in the study by law firm Slater and Gordon, which said issues with extended family are often cited as a reason for divorce. The law firm says that people often list conflicts with large families as one of the reasons for divorce.
Slater and Gordon said the rising cost of living means many adults borrow money from parents for large purchases, such as buying a house, and 19% of those surveyed believed in-laws expected more of a say in their lives in return. 19% of respondents believe that in exchange, the partner’s parents want to have a greater say in their lives.
Customers buy cosmetics at a store of ETUDE HOUSE of beauty company Amorepacific in Shanghai. [Photo by Zhang Jinqiao/For China Daily]
Make-up gives better results
Research: Better makeup scores before the exam
Women have long known how that extra flick of eyeliner or dash of lipstick can boost their confidence. And now, it seems, it's also More likely to help them pass exams. Women have long known that applying some eyeliner or lipstick can enhance confidence. Now it seems that doing so may also help them pass the exam.
Research shows that women who put on make-up before taking a test achieved 10 to 20% higher marks than those who did not wear any.
Psychologists say the result could be down to the "lipstick effect", whereby using make-up boosts self-esteem and has a knock-on effect on memory, confidence and mental ability.
The study involved 200 female undergraduates, all studying the same subject with similar self-esteem, make-up habits and IQs.
The women were randomly split into three groups and asked to put on make-up, listen to music or draw.
All then took an exam based on a chapter of a textbook they had just read. The results showed that the women who used cosmetics scored an average of 24.2 out of 30, compared to 19.9 and 22 in the other groups. The results showed that the women who used cosmetics scored an average of 24.2 out of 30, compared to 19.9 and 22 in the other groups.
The researchers, from Harvard Medical School and Chieti University in Italy, said: "Women may use make-up to increase self-esteem; this makes them feel better during stress. Positive emotions increase information accessible in memory."
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Source: chinadaily.com.cn
