Online anger spreads faster than joy on Weibo

Online anger spreads faster than joy on Weibo

By analyzing the influence messages had with other users‚ they 

observed angry sentiments were more rapidly shared.

Anger spreads faster online 

than other emotions such as

 joy‚ scientists say.

A team analysed the word choice

 and emoticons of people's posts 

on the Chinese social network 

Weibo and split them into the 

categories of anger‚ sadness‚ joy

 and disgust.

By analyzing the influence messages

 had with other users‚ they observed

 angry sentiments were more 

rapidly shared.

The study has been published on

 the Arxiv pre-print server‚ though it has yet to be subjected to peer review.

Unhappy kids are more likely to be materialistic: Study

Unhappy kids are more likely to be materialistic: Study

Unhappy kids are more likely to become materialistic than children

who are happy with their lives‚ a new study from the Netherlands

suggests.

Unhappy kids are more 

likely to become materialistic

 than children who are happy

 with their lives‚ a new study

 from the Netherlands suggests.

And TV advertising is an

 important instigator‚ the study

 found.

"Children who were less 

satisfied with their lives do

 become more materialistic

 over time‚ but only when 

they are frequently exposed

 to advertising‚" said study 

lead author Suzanna Opree.

"Advertising seems to teach children that possessions are a way to increase happiness"‚ Live

 Science Reported.

It's a significant finding because research with adults suggests that materialistic children may

 become less happy later in life‚ said Opree‚ a
research associate at the University of Amsterdam School of Communication Research.
The study describes it as "having a preoccupation with possessions and believing that products

 bring happiness and success."

In the survey‚ the children responded to items measuring materialism - for example‚ self-rating

 how much they like other children based on whether they have more possessions. Kids also

 rated how happy they were with their life‚ home‚ parents‚ friends‚ school and themselves and

 as a whole.

Ad exposure was gauged by how frequently kids watched nine ad-packed TV shows‚ including

 "SpongeBob SquarePants" and "Skating With Celebrities‚" a Dutch family show.

Kids in general are bombarded with a lot of ads‚ the researchers said.

It's not a case of dissatisfied children watching more TV‚ she said.

"Unhappy children are not more frequently exposed to advertising than happy children‚" 

Opree said.

Sleep loss can make you fat: Study

Sleep loss can make you fat: Study

Researchers have long pointed to a correlation between a 

steep rise in obesity in industrialized nations and a decline in 

sleep duration.

Scientists had found evidence

 that a lack of sleep causes 

changes in brain activity that 

lead to people feeling hungrier

 and craving more fattening

 foods.

Researchers have long pointed

 to a correlation between a

 steep rise in obesity in

 industrialized nations and a

 decline in sleep duration.

A causal link was suspected‚

 but science has not been able to explain the mechanism‚ until now.

A team from the University of California said they used MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)

 scans to spot changes in the brain activity of sleep-deprived test subjects.

Researchers said these findings provide an explanatory brain mechanism by which

 insufficient sleep may lead to the development/maintenance of obesity.

Psychological benefits for inmates doing yoga: Study

Psychological benefits for inmates doing yoga: Study

Yoga can improve the mood and mental well-being of 

prisoners‚ and may also have an effect on impulsive behavior‚

 an Oxford University study suggested.

Reported their findings

 in the Journal of 

Psychiatric  Research‚

 researchers said prisons

 see rates of mental health

problems that are many

 times higher than the 

general population‚Xinhua

 news agency reported.

Inmates from a range of 

ages were randomly assigned 

to either a course of ten weekly

 yoga sessions of 90 minutes‚ or

 to a control group.

"We found that the group that did the yoga course showed an improvement in positive

 mood‚ a decrease in stress and greater accuracy in a computer test of impulsivity and 

attention‚" said Dr Amy Bilderbeck‚ who led the study.

If yoga is associated with improving behavior control‚ as suggested by the results of 

the computer test‚ there may be implications for managing aggression‚ antisocial or

problem behavior in prisons and on return to society‚ researchers noted.

Weight loss can improve memory

Weight loss can improve memory

Brain scans taken during the exercise suggest that they 

had become more efficient at storing and recalling memories.

Swedish researchers have found that 

older‚ overweight women who dieted 

went on to score better in memory tests

 after they had lost weight.

Previous studies had shown that obese

 people have worse episodic memory the

 ability to remember events that happen

 during your life but the new findings 

suggest this may be reversible.

The scientists said that the women's 

performance on the test improved after

 they lost weight‚ and brain scans

taken during the exercise suggested that they had become more 

efficient at storing and recalling memories.