“This suggests these people feel betrayed by others. In turn, they see otherwise neutral actions as hostile and behave badly towards others.”

According to a study published in the January issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association, people who feel socially rejected are more likely to see others’ actions as hostile and are more likely to behave in hurtful ways toward people they have never even met.

They’re seeing life through blood red colored glasses – tailored to them by their environment of rejection and exclusion.

“Prior case studies show the majority of school shooters have experienced chronic peer rejection,” said the study’s lead author, C. Nathan DeWall, Ph.D., from the University of Kentucky. “And while not everyone who feels rejected reacts violently, we found they tend to act out aggressively in other ways. We wanted to help explain psychologically why this happens.”

“Across all experiments, the participants who experienced some form of social rejection acted in similar ways,” said DeWall. “This suggests these people feel betrayed by others. In turn, they see otherwise neutral actions as hostile and behave badly towards others.”

Prior research has examined whether emotions play a role in this type of aggression, but this study’s researchers say their findings do not support this idea. “Excluded people see the world through blood-colored glasses and it is our hope that this research can lead to a better understanding of why rejection causes aggression and what we can do to prevent such unwanted and harmful behavior,” said DeWall.

I’m left wondering if this is another case of which came first – the isolation or the perception of isolation and rejection that then appeared as isolation?

Read the rest of this entry »

Warning Signs: (Things to watch out for)

1. A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears based on past experience
2. An unmistakable ability to enjoy the moment
3. A loss of interest in judging other people
4. A loss of interest in judging self
5. A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others
6. An inability to worry (this is a very serious symptom!)
7. The rare disease of putting things in perspective instead of seeing everything as black and white all or nothing thinking.
8. A loss of the ability to “should” on yourself or others. (This one you really SHOULD watch out for)
9. Actually seeing how you can benefit from criticism in some way, without taking it personal.
10. A dropping of all the stories you tell for why you can’t have inner peace right now.
11. Frequent overwhelming episodes of appreciation
12. Frequent acts of smiling
13. An increasing tendency to let things happen rather than to make them happen
14. An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it.

Want that raise you’ve been talking about? Well how you go about asking the boss for a raise may have something to do with whether or not you get it. New research from Richard Petty and others at Ohio State University suggests strongly that where and how you ask for a raise can make all the difference.

The old strategy of going into the boss’ office and pointing out your reasons for getting a raise tended to result in mixed success rates. The new research recommends that you change your strategy slightly.

First, make sure the boss is NOT on his/her mental turf. When a boss is feeling powerful, s/he tends to stay on course with what s/he already believes to be so. That is a bad time to ask for a raise – when the boss is full of him/herself.

Rather, make sure you ask when the boss is feeling less confident. Then follow up his (or her) decision by reminding them of their power as the boss. This will open the gate and close it behind you.

“Our research shows that power makes people more confident in their beliefs, but power is only one thing that affects confidence,” Petty said. “Try to bring up something that the boss doesn’t know, something that makes him less certain and that tempers his confidence.”

And once you do make your argument, assuming it is cogent, it is good to remind the boss that he is in charge.

“You want to sow all your arguments when the boss is not thinking of his power, and after you make a good case, then remind your boss of his power. Then he will be more confident in his own evaluation of what you say. As long as you make good arguments, he will be more likely to be persuaded,” Petty said.

Further, “Powerful people are more likely to act on what they are thinking – good or bad – without second guessing themselves,” Petty said.

Use the right strategy to get the right results.

In an interesting coincidence, the Rapid Eye Technology (RET) eye directing device (called a wand) is moved in a hexagonal 3D pattern just in front of the face – a pattern that due to its spacial character may be very familiar to the aforementioned part of the brain.

University College London researchers have discovered that the brain lays out a grid of cells that represent a map of spacial orientations and locations in space. That in itself may not be any big news to most readers – “so what?” This grid has been known to exist in mice since 2005.

Well, the cool thing is that this 3D grid within the hippocampal formation and associated brain areas, now discovered to exist in humans as well, forms triangles in hexagonal formations – sort of like a honeycomb. Study co-author Dr Caswell Barry said: “It is as if grid cells provide a cognitive map of space. In fact, these cells are very much like the longitude and latitude lines we’re all familiar with on normal maps, but instead of using square grid lines it seems the brain uses triangles.”

In an interesting coincidence, the Rapid Eye Technology (RET) eye directing device (called a wand) is moved in a hexagonal 3D pattern just in front of the face – a pattern that due to its spacial character may be very familiar to the aforementioned part of the brain. Further, the signals flowing through the brain from eyes to visual cortex stop off for an emotional load at the hypothalamus which is attached to the memory-gating hippocampus – the seat of this honeycomb-like spacial mapping grid.

Research team leader, Professor Neil Burgess, commented, “…grid cells may help us to find our way to the right memory as well as finding our way through our environment. These brain areas are also amongst the first to be affected by Alzheimer’s disease which may explain why getting lost is one of the most common early symptoms of this disease.”

I’ve been asked often over the years why Rapid Eye Technology seems to work so well for so many people. This study by UCL seems to add something to that discussion. I also wonder if RET might be used in early stage Alzheimer’s disease along with pharmaceutical therapies to halt the disease progress or maybe even heal it altogether. Now THAT would be awesome indeed!

Source: ‘Evidence for grid cells in a human memory network’ – Christian F. Doeller, Caswell Barry & Neil Burgess, University College London.

Abstract: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nature08704.html

According to the January issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter, research shows that guided imagery helps patients use the full range of the body’s healing capacity. Guided imagery is more than listening to relaxing sounds – it’s a learning process to listen to someone’s voice, relax the breathing and consciously direct the ability to imagine. The effect of guided vivid imagery sends a message to the emotional control center of the brain. From there, the message is passed along to the body’s endocrine, immune and autonomic nervous systems. These systems influence a wide range of bodily functions, including heart and breathing rates and blood pressure.

Guided imagery has been shown to benefit patients by:

– Reducing side effects from cancer treatment

– Reducing fear and anxiety prior to surgery. Mayo Clinic studies have shown that surgery patients who participated in two to four guided imagery sessions required less pain medication and left the hospital more quickly than those who hadn’t used imagery.

– Managing stress

– Managing headaches. Studies at the Mayo Clinic have shown that guided imagery may aid in reducing the frequency of migraine headaches as effectively as taking preventive medications.

On the Internet, www.hypnosis-oregon.com and www.rapideyetechnology.com offer information on providers experienced in this technique.

Mayo Clinic
200 First St. SW
Rochester, MN 55902
United States
www.mayoclinic.com