Researchers have found that chewing gum is associated with higher alertness, reduced anxiety and stress, and improvement in overall performance on multi-tasking activities. Click here to read about the research.

10th International Congress of Behavioral Medicine

Although the idea that learning can occur subconsciously (subliminal learning) has been around for nearly a century, it has never been unequivocally demonstrated. Now, a new study using sophisticated psychological techniques and neuroimaging has shown the subliminal learning does in fact work. Click here to read research.

Neuron, August 2008

Most people agree that stress increases your risk for illness and this is particularly true for severe long-term stresses, such as caring for a family member with a chronic medical illness. However, we still have a relatively limited understanding of exactly how stress contributes to the risk for illness. Researchers have now shed some light on one link between stress and illness by describing a mechanism through which stress alters immune function. Click here to read article.

Biological Psychiatry, August 2008

A new study reveals that employee well-being is dependent upon the rank of an individual’s wage within a comparison group, as opposed to the individual’s absolute pay. Click here to read article
Industrial Relations, August 2008

We all know the famous saying: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”  New research suggests that the proverb may be wrong.

Psychological sciences August 2008

Inducing a positive mood promotes the incorporation of misleading information into eyewitness memories. Inducing a negative mood has the opposite effect.

Journal of experimental psychology, Volume 41, Issue 6, November 2005, Pages 574-588

One of the key skills required to manage anxieties is the suppression of worrying thoughts.

Participants received positive or negative feedback about performance on a supposed creativity task to induce positive or negative moods, and then engaged in two consecutive generative writing tasks, the first accompanied by instructions to suppress thoughts of white bears. Those in a negative group reported fewer “white bear” intrusions when attempting to suppress, but more “white bear” intrusions (an ironic rebound effect) in the subsequent task when the suppression instruction was lifted.

It appears that a positive mood helps you suppress thoughts in the long term.

Cognition and emotion, Volume 21, Issue 7, November 2007, Pages 1513-1524

Inducing a positive mood improves real-life customer service behaviors of less experienced sales staff, but had no effect on the behaviors of experienced long-term staff in several department stores.

European Journal Of Social psychology, March 2008

Research examined the ability of mindfulness* to explain mental health, job satisfaction, and performance of customer service centre workers in the United Kingdom (n=412).

The researchers found that mindfulness predicted mental health and an objective measure of performance over and above job control, negative emotionality, and locus of control. These beneficial effects of having more job control were enhanced when people had higher levels of mindfulness.

Journal of Applied Psychology, 2003, Vol. 88, No. 6, 1057–1067

* Mindfulness is the willingness to experience thoughts, feelings, and physiological sensations without having to control them or let them determine one’s actions. There is now substantial research showing that mindfulness is a major individual determinant of mental health and behavioural effectiveness

Flight phobias are a common source of anxiety. Researchers in Spain have found that people with flight phobias have significant lower levels of Heart Rate Variability (HRV), indicating that the fear centre of their brains (the amygdala) is hyperactive.

However the researchers found that 5 minutes of paced breathing significantly decreased the level of anxiety that flight phobics experience when they were exposed to flight related stimuli.

International journal of clinical and heath psychology, vol 6, 2006

Editors comments:

This shouldn’t be surprising as paced breathing calms the amygdala. That’s why breathing is common to many stress management techniques. However its not just a matter of deep breathing. The breathing has to be at the right pace and mindful.