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How to alter your personality: why your character isn't fixed in stone

How to alter your personality: why your character isn't fixed in stone

12 January 2022

Traits like conscientiousness or extroversion might seem to define your character, but these aren't set in stone and new research reveals how anyone can change their personality - if they really want to


WHY do we grieve? A floral tribute fastened to a lamp post at the scene of a fatal road accident in Birmingam city centre, UK. The flowers were placed there by family and friends of the victim.

Why do we grieve? The surprising origin of the feeling of loss

17 November 2021

The debilitating pain we sometimes feel at the loss of those we love is an evolutionary mystery. It could all come down to what happens in our childhoods


Screen time: How smartphones really affect our bodies and brains

Screen time: How smartphones really affect our bodies and brains

25 September 2019

If you believe the headlines, screens are supposed to warp our skeletons, damage our mental health and alienate us from our families. But the evidence paints a more nuanced picture


game handset

Am I addicted? The truth behind being hooked on gaming, sex or porn

11 September 2019

Urges to play video games, watch pornography or have sex are now spoken of as addictions. Is the science rigorous, or are we just helping people excuse their behaviour?


Children making circle

The world is getting better, so why are we convinced otherwise?

4 September 2019

We need a better handle on our ignorance if we want to improve our lives, says Ola Rosling, a proponent of factfulness - holding only opinions supported by strong facts


The misunderstood personality trait that is causing anxiety and stress

The misunderstood personality trait that is causing anxiety and stress

14 August 2019

Perfectionism is a hidden epidemic, and its rise is damaging individuals and society. We investigate how to escape the cult of perfect


couple and child

The parenting myth: How kids are raised matters less than you think

22 May 2019

DNA is more important to a child’s personality, exam results and future income than the way they are brought up – but that’s good news, says geneticist Robert Plomin


arrows

It's not an illusion, you have free will. It's just not what you think

3 April 2019

The idea that free will doesn't exist is based on misguided intuitions of what it means to be a biological machine, as a famous insect, the digger wasp, reveals


angel statue

How humans evolved to be both shockingly violent and super-cooperative

13 February 2019

The origins of our paradoxical nature lie in murder and self-domestication. It's a weird story that may even explain why our species came into existence


arguing couple

Palaeontologists behaving badly, and other bitter feuds in science

18 December 2018

What killed the dinosaurs? Does string theory count as science? Is Pluto a planet? Get embroiled in five explosive debates that have put researchers at each others' throats


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