Facebook use predicts declines in happiness, new study finds
August 14, 2013
Photo by ThinkstockANN ARBOR — Facebook use predicts declines in subjective well-being instead of enhancing it, a University of Michigan study shows. The study is the first published research examining the influence of Facebook on how happy people are and how satisfied they are with...
Buying behavior can be swayed by cultural mindset
July 15, 2013
ANN ARBOR—There are some combinations that just go well together: Milk and cookies, eggs and bacon, pancakes and syrup. But new research reveals that people with individualistic mindsets differ from their collectivist counterparts in ascribing value to those perfect combinations.The...
You’re so vain: Study explores links between social media and narcissism
June 11, 2013
ANN ARBOR—Facebook is a mirror and Twitter is a megaphone, according to a new University of Michigan study exploring how social media reflect and amplify the culture’s growing levels of narcissism.The study, published online in Computers in Human Behavior, was conducted by researchers...
Panapasa comments on negative health effects for Samoans of some high-fat imported foods
May 14, 2013
Sela Panapasa says inexpensive high-fat foods imported to the Republic of Samoa — for example, Spam, mutton flaps, and turkey tails — are the kinds of foods that have contributed to Samoa’s high rates of obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. A 2007 ban on several such products,...
Brain scans reveal first objective measure of physical pain
April 11, 2013
ANN ARBOR—For the first time, scientists have identified how much pain people feel by looking at images of their brains.The findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, may lead to the development of methods doctors can use to objectively quantify patients’...
Jerome Johnston directs ISR Research Center for Group Dynamics
January 24, 2013
Photo by Eva Menezes. ANN ARBOR—Jerome Johnston has been appointed director of the Research Center for Group Dynamics, part of the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research.“I am delighted to make this appointment. Jere has interesting new ideas for supporting junior faculty,...
Aspiration, assets can lead youth down path to college
November 16, 2012
ANN ARBOR—Aspiring to attend college is not enough for children who want to reach their goals.The chances of finishing high school and college are significantly higher for children for whom this aspiration is accessible and relevant in their daily lives, according to a new University of...
High obesity and smoking rates among Pacific Islanders: U-M study
September 25, 2012
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—In the first study to detail the health of Pacific Islanders living in the U.S., University of Michigan researchers have found alarmingly high rates of obesity and smoking. The preliminary findings are being presented today (August 24) at a conference in Los...
Panapasa and colleagues find high rates of smoking, obesity among Pacific Islanders
September 25, 2012
Sela Panapasa says that, although Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are the second fastest growing minority population in the U.S., they have been underrepresented in national surveys on health and health behavior. Her work looks at Tongans and Samoans, two PI subgroups, living in California....
Emily Falk receives NIH Director’s New Innovator Award
September 13, 2012
Emily Falk. Photo by Martin Vloet/Michigan PhotographyANN ARBOR, Mich.—Emily Falk, a faculty associate at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research (ISR), has received the 2012 National Institutes of Health Director’s New Innovator Award. This prestigious honor, which...
