Scientists Reveal Relationship between Perfectionism and Insomnia
For perfectionists, sleep quality is often far from perfect. However, perfectionism per se seems to be just part of the story; another important factor is a perfectionists' tendency to experience frequent symptoms of anxiety, sometimes for relatively minor reasons. These are the findings made by a team of Russian and UK sleep researchers, published in the January 2017 issue of Personality and Individual Differences journal.
HSE Researchers Uncover Why Morning People Should Not Work at Night
It has been known for a long time that early risers work less efficiently at night than night owls do. But researchers from the Higher School of Economics and Oxford University have uncovered new and distinctive features between the night activities of these two types of individuals. At night, early risers demonstrate a quicker reaction time when solving unusual attention-related tasks than night owls, but these early risers make more mistakes along the way.
Applied Social Psychology Programme Welcomes Ghanaian Student
Although it took some time to adjust initially, after only a short period studying in HSE’s Applied Social Psychology programme, Ghana native Ebenezer Yao Wepari is certain that attending HSE has been among the best decisions he has made in life.
Why Men Find Switching Tasks More Difficult
It has long been known to science that women find it easier than men to switch between tasks. But how exactly their brains function differently in such situations has so far been unclear. Recent research reveals that male brains appear to consume more energy when they need to shift attention. In addition to this, in men there is greater activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal areas of the brain compared to women, as well as activation in some other areas which is not usually observed in women.
Symposium Participants Drawn to Russian Experience
On November 15-16, an international symposium dedicated to childhood and adolescence took place in Moscow in honour of the 120th anniversary of Lev Vygotsky’s birth. Several participants in the symposium, entitled ‘Lev Vygotsky and Modern Childhood’, were especially interested in the unique Russian experience that flowed from the traditions established by the renowned Soviet psychologist.
Symposium Highlights Issues of Childhood and Adolescence
On November 15-16, an international symposium dedicated to childhood and adolescence will take place in Moscow in honour of the 120th anniversary of Lev Vygotsky’s birth. Building on the traditions established by the renowned Soviet psychologist, who made a number of contributions to psychology, pedagogy and defectology, the symposium will seek to promote analysis and discussion of the notions of childhood and reflection on how concepts of cultural-historical theory are used in contemporary studies of childhood and maturation.
Pets Can Help Families Deal with Relationship Problems
The decision to get a family pet tends to be associated with children’s growing-up crises. According to the researchers, many parents adopt a cat or a dog at a time when their son or daughter is going through a major change, such as starting school or entering puberty. At such times, the child's attitudes towards themselves and the outside world can change drastically, causing anxiety in the family. Research suggests that pets can help both parents and children cope with stress. The study's findings are published in the paper 'The likelihood of getting a family pet depending on the age of children.'
School Climate Can Affect Academic Performance
Children tend to perform better at schools with a positive psychological climate, where they feel safe and comfortable, according to Tatiana Chirkina and Tatiana Khavenson's study 'Correlation between School Climate and Student Academic Achievement.' According to social scientist Renato Tagiuri, the school climate is understood as comprising several dimensions, such as student-teacher communication, student attitudes towards school, and teacher work satisfaction and expectations in terms of student academic achievement.
'Sooner or Later, Someone Needed to Write a Manual for Self-management'
Anton Zainiev and Daria Varlamova, recent HSE graduates, have written a popular science book This is Crazy! A guidebook of psychological disorders for a big city resident. The authors told us why an urban resident needs to understand how their head works, how journalism can be turned into a non-fiction book, and why bipolar disorder seems fashionable. Anton and Daria also told us how and why they decided to write the book.
Post-Docs Research at HSE
Tatjana Kanonire received her PhD in Psychology from University of Latvia in Psychology. She joined HSE two years ago. First, she spent a year at the International Research and Teaching Laboratory for Socio-Cultural Research. Since October 2015 she has been working at the Centre for Education Quality Monitoring of the Institute of Education. Tatjana has talked to The HSE Look about her research interests and teaching activities at HSE.