Don't be a stranger -- study finds rekindling old friendships as scary as making new ones

Psychologists have found that people are as hesitant to reach out to an old friend as they are to strike up a conversation with a stranger, even when they had the capacity and desire to do so.

from Relationships News -- ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/04/240423155530.htm

Exploring brain synchronization patterns during social interactions

Social interactions synchronize brain activity within individuals and between individuals. In a new study, researchers compared brain synchronization between pairs of people with relatively strong social ties (acquaintance pairs) and pairs with almost no social ties (stranger pairs). The study found that during a cooperative task, the stranger pairs exhibited more closely connected brain networks compared to the acquaintance pairs. These findings challenge the conventional understanding that stronger social bonds lead to greater brain synchronization.

from Relationships News -- ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/04/240423113041.htm

Family and media pressure to lose weight in adolescence linked to how people value themselves almost two decades later

People who as teenagers felt pressure to lose weight from family or from the media, females, people who are not heterosexual, and people experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage, are most at risk of 'internalized' weight stigma, new research has found.

from Relationships News -- ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/04/240415231850.htm

Everyday social interactions predict language development in infants

Researchers found that when the adult talked and played socially with a 5-month-old baby, the baby's brain activity particularly increased in regions responsible for attention -- and the level of this type of activity predicted enhanced language development at later ages.

from Relationships News -- ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/04/240408130604.htm

Talking politics with strangers isn't as awful as you'd expect, research suggests

Individuals underestimate the social connection they can make with a stranger who disagrees with them on contentious issues, a new research paper suggests.

from Relationships News -- ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/04/240403171027.htm

Exploring the effect of the presence of familiar people in interpersonal space

Researchers investigate the influence of social relationships on our bodily responses to the presence of other persons in the interpersonal space.

from Relationships News -- ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/04/240403130609.htm

Couples with similar drinking habits may live longer

The couple that drinks together might live longer together, too, says a University of Michigan researcher.

from Relationships News -- ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/03/240327124600.htm