Thriving101

Living the best life ever.

by Adoree Durayappah

The Spoiler Paradox

We go through great lengths to avoid overhearing the ending of a movie we haven’t seen or a book we haven’t read, and if we do overhear the end we feel that our experience is spoiled. After all that’s why they call them “spoilers”. But as it turns out, knowing the ending of a story before you read it doesn’t hurt the experience of the story; it makes it better. Read More

Facebook Enhances Self-Esteem, Study Finds

Feeling down in the dumps and want to feel better? Log into Facebook and view your profile. Want to feel even better? Try editing your profile. A new study published in the February issue of Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking found that viewing and editing your Facebook profile could boost your self-esteem. Read More

Playing Hard to Get Can Help You Get the Girl

Playing hard to get. Should you do it? Does it help you when dating? Turns out science can shed some light on how playing hard to get could actually benefit you. In a recent study published in Psychological Science, women were more attracted when they were uncertain if a guy liked them a lot than when they were sure a guy really liked them. Read More

Brain Study Reveals Secrets of Staying Madly in Love

What's the secret to staying madly in love? Is it even possible to feel madly in love with someone after five, ten, twenty years together? Due to recent neurological research, we are a bit closer to answering these perplexing questions and demystifying the secrets behind achieving intense, lasting, romantic love. Read More

How to Succeed By Having Good Posture

Remember when your mother would tell you, "STAND UP STRAIGHT"? Turns out, Mama ain't no fool! Your mother carped about your posture as a kid because she wanted you to become a successful adult. See, Mama knows that posture plays a pivotal role in whether you feel, and subsequently act, powerful. According to a recent study published in Psychological Science... Read More

Want to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions? Get Angry!

With 2011 here, we all have our New Year's Resolutions that we are simply adamant about keeping, right? And I bet, like most, you have tried practically every strategy for sticking with them and staying motivated through the year. Yet, there is one successful strategy that you might not have tried-intentionally, that is-and that's Anger. Read More

Rejection: A Loser's Guide

Raise your hand if you have never heard any of the following lines in one form or another: • Let's be friends. • Unfortunately, we don't have a position that meets your unique qualifications at this time. • We regret to inform you that we cannot grant you acceptance to X University. • You are very talented, and I expect you to do great things...elsewhere. Read More

Rose-Colored Glasses Linked to Less Frontal Lobe Use

A recent study published in the journal NeuroImage explains the role of the frontal lobe in these glowing self-evaluations. The study's findings indicate that the less activity there is in the frontal lobe, the more likely we are to see ourselves through rose-colored glasses. Read More

What Science Has to Say About Genuine vs. Fake Smiles

Ever noticed how there are basically two types of smiles: a genuine smile and a fake one? This distinction has been of interest to researchers for quite sometime now. In fact, the genuine smile has a name. It's called the "Duchenne smile," named after the French physician Guillaume Duchenne, who studied the physiology of facial expressions in the nineteenth century. Read More

Champagne Good for the Heart. A Toast to Your Health!

Just in time for New Year's Eve, a study published in the British Journal of Nutrition, reveals that champagne, like red wine, is good for your heart and blood circulation. The study from the University of Reading finds that drinking champagne in moderation (two glasses a day) has a positive effect on the way blood vessels function Read More

Why We Continue to Eat When Full

New research from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center suggests that ghrelin, the hormone that your body secretes when you are hungry, might also act on the brain influencing the hedonic aspects of eating behavior. The result being that we continue to eat "pleasurable" foods even when we are full. Read More

The Art of Compassion, From a Storeowner to a Would-be Robber

We know that forgiveness and compassion are important for a meaningful, happy life. Yet, it is much easier to understand the importance of forgiveness than to actually practice it. Read More

How Hourly or Salary Pay Affects Happiness

Will more money make you happier? Well, that depends on if you are paid hourly or salary according to a new study published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Read More

Harry Potter and Human Flourishing

With Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince premiering this week in theaters across the country, I find it apropos to discuss the Harry Potter series and its contribution to Positive Psychology. "Wait a second," you might impetuously interject. "I didn't see that on Wikipedia!" Read More

Adoree Durayappah is a graduate student at the UPENN Master of Positive Psychology Program. She works at the Hedonic Lab under Daniel Gilbert at Harvard University.

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