Pacific Standard March-April 2013 Cover

Anxiety, Depression High Among Young Heavy Metal Fans

April 16, 2013 • By • Leave a Comment
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How would you characterize adolescents who listen to heavy metal music? Angry? Perhaps prone to violence? Newly published research suggests “anxious” and “depressed” are more accurate adjectives. An analysis of 551 college students found “significantly higher levels of anxiety and depression among listeners of heavy metal/hard rock music, as compared with non-listeners.” Furthermore, their underlying level of anger was not significantly different from their peers who prefer other musical genres. The study, conducted by psychologists Gavin Ryan Shafron of Columbia ... Read More

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Placebo Effect Produces Higher Test Scores

March 24, 2013 • By • Leave a Comment
(PHOTO: TRIFF/SHUTTERSTOCK)

Scientists are increasingly convinced of the power of the placebo effect. Believing that one is receiving treatment when you're not—say, in the form of a pill that supposedly contains a powerful drug that is actually just sugar—can produce surprisingly strong results, at least for some patients, some of the time. Newly published research suggests a placebo process can produce a similarly positive outcome for test-takers. In short, the belief that you have access to the answers makes it more likely you will get them right. “People have powerful psychological resources to deal with ... Read More

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The Benefits of Bonding with a Musical Instrument

December 10, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment
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Forging a deep, intense relationship, in which two meld into one, can be a difficult, emotionally draining process. But the end result is so worth it. Especially when that bond is between musician and instrument. That’s the conclusion of new research from Finland, which found musicians who consider their instrument an extension of themselves are more confident, and feel less performance anxiety. “Feeling united with the instrument indeed seems to be an advantageous relationship,” writes a research team led by Veerle Simoens of the University of Finland’s Cognitive Brain ... Read More

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Performance Anxiety? Take a Deep Breath

October 8, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment

Do your palms get sweaty as you’re about to make a public presentation? Does the thought of being judged make you jittery? It’s called performance anxiety, and it bedevils many musicians. New research from Australia suggests a simple solution: Breathe. Specifically, breathe deeply, from your diaphragm, for a half-hour before stepping into the spotlight. This easy exercise produced positive physiological results for a group of 46 musicians, impacting their heart rate in welcome ways. Furthermore, it left the most anxious among them reported feeling noticeably less ... Read More

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Eastern Philosophy Eases Death Anxiety

September 24, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment

Two guys walk into a bar. The bartender greets them with the sad news that a mutual acquaintance—a man of their age and social class—recently keeled over after suffering a massive heart attack. Slightly shaken, they sit down and order drinks. But do they do so with a wistful smile, or a sullen grimace? Do they spend their evening sharing plans for the future, or trading snarky remarks until their unease morphs into anger targeted at some group they don’t like? The answer, according to newly published research, may depend upon whether the watering hole is in Shanghai or Cheyenne. It ... Read More

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Manic Nation: Dr. Peter Whybrow Says We’re Addicted to Stress

June 19, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment
Peter Whybrow

Dr. Peter Whybrow is lunching at a sushi bar near his office at the University of California, Los Angeles, but his attention is on the other diners. Even while talking to their tablemates, they are constantly distracted. They text, and repeatedly glance up at the wall-mounted TV screens. Common habits, sure. But to Whybrow, director of UCLA’s Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, those jittery behaviors are prime examples of how modern American culture has outrun the biology of our brains. A British-born endocrinologist and psychiatrist, Whybrow has been fascinated with applying ... Read More

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Anger, Politics and the Wisdom of Uncertainty

May 16, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment

To say that these are angry political times is perhaps to state the obvious. Commentators and analysts bemoan the lost civility, wondering what is to be done. But here's something hopeful: New understanding of how emotions operate in politics might help us to better manage these emotions as a society. The first thing to know about anger is where it comes from. Research suggests it begins with a threat (in these political times, say, rising economic insecurity). But whether it gets translated into anger depends on a few things. First, it matters how the threat is described. If there's ... Read More

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Self-Doubt May Help Improve Performance

September 29, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment

Does a high level of self-confidence lead to better performances, on the stage or the athletic field? Plenty of research says yes. But another group of studies questions that conventional wisdom, suggesting a dollop of doubt is precisely what many people need in order to do their best work. So is that tingle of anxiety you feel as you anticipate the curtain rising or the starter’s pistol going off helpful or harmful? Newly published research suggests that, at least under certain conditions, those butterflies in the stomach can be your friends. Writing in the journal Psychology of Sport ... Read More

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The Poisonous Proceeds of Penny-Pinching

May 19, 2010 • By • 5 Comments

Is stinginess harmful to your health? Newly published research suggests the answer may be yes — if your tightwad tendencies arouse feelings of shame. Writing in the Journal of Health Psychology, a research team led by University of British Columbia psychologist Elizabeth Dunn describes an experiment in which 50 students were given an opportunity to be generous. Specifically, each received 10 one-dollar coins as compensation for their participation. They were then given the option of donating some or all of this payment to a randomly selected classmate who was not involved in the ... Read More

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The Duet of Brain and Music

January 22, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment

It's always fascinating to ask a jazz musician about the experience of improvising. During their spontaneous solos, these remarkable players are producing notes faster than their conscious minds can think of them, and many report their primary effort consists of staying out of their own way. New brain-scan research, reported in the new issue of the journal NeuroImage, finds a scientific explanation for that quasi-mystical phenomenon. Meanwhile, a separate study in that same journal examines the brains of teenagers as they listen to music and finds evidence of the strong pull adolescents ... Read More

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