Last Updated on January, 2024 by Edison
In this article, I have listed 85 amazing psychological facts.
I have also cited the sources for the facts that seem too amazing.
Brain
1. Endorphins – Are affiliated with the feelings of euphoria and reduce the perception of pain in the body.
You may have experienced this if you got hurt and got up thinking you were okay, only to find yourself in pain a little later.
Endorphin masks the pain for a short time, promoting survival by giving an injured individual a chance to reach safety.
2. Oxytocin – When you have a good feeling about someone, oxytocin causes it.
3. Serotonin – Getting respect feels good because it triggers serotonin.
The good feeling motivates you to seek more respect, which promotes survival.
4. Dopamine regulates motor behavior, motivation, pleasure, and emotional arousal.
Dopamine is released when you experience pleasurable moments, which causes you to repeatedly seek and do that activity.
5. The human brain treats rejection like physical pain. [1]
6. The popular myth that we use only 10% of our brains is wrong. [2]
Brain scans clearly show we use most of our brain most of the time, even when we’re sleeping.
7. The Brain accounts for 20% of the body’s energy consumption.
8. Your brain’s memory storage capacity is 2.5 petabytes.
9. High emotion increases attention, making an event more likely to be encoded into memory.
Children
10. A fetus can hear the mother’s voice around the 25-26 weeks of pregnancy.
11. Music is very powerful in producing fetal memories. [4]
When a mother frequently listens to music, the fetus will learn to recognize and prefer that particular music.
12. For the first 3-months, a newborn can see only black, white, and grey. [5]
13. According to a study, children are less likely to trust ugly people. [6]
14. A 3-year-old has twice as many neural pathways as an adult. [7]
15. Your child probably won’t remember anything before the age of 3. [8]
16. According to a Boston Children’s Hospital study, children with musical training have enhanced cognitive brain functioning. [9]
17. Chess makes kids smart.
18. Marketing focused on kids can make them create unhealthy habits. [10]
Research shows that kids under the age of 8 cannot understand the persuasive intent in advertising, and it can appeal to them as truthful information.
19. And that’s why companies spend about $17 billion annually marketing to children.
Psychological Facts about personality
20. Studies found that children who are better liars tend to become more successful adults. [12]
21. Girls are more attracted to guys with deep husky voices because they seem more confident and not aggressive. [13]
22. Highly sensitive people tend to be loyal in their relationships.
23. The most attractive trait someone can have is confidence.
24. Optimists report a higher quality of life. [14]
25. People become friendlier as they get older.
26. The way someone treats the waiter can reveal a lot about their personality. [15]
Psychological facts about behavior
27. Being sarcastic can make you more creative.
28. A gene can cause you to be negative most of the time.
29. Cursing when you’re hurt helps to reduce the pain. [17]
30. Encouraging employees to work together increases team coordination and benefits the company’s performance.
31. Women are more influenced by how a man smells than looks.
32. Humans have 21 different facial expressions. [18]
Also, researchers at Ohio State University have identified the area of the brain responsible for recognizing human facial expressions. The area is called pSTS. [19]
33. People who get pleasure from the anger of others have high levels of testosterone.
34. It takes 66 days to form a habit.
Mental Health
35. 10-15% of people in prison have an ongoing long-term mental illness.
36. Worrying about getting sick can actually make you sick. [21]
37. People between the ages of 18 and 33 are the most stressed globally.
38. Facing your fear is the most effective method to overcome that particular fear.
39. Antidepressant use has doubled in rich nations in the past ten years. [23]
40. Women are twice as likely to suffer from depression as men.
41. Globally, over 300 million people suffer from depression, and 260 million suffer from anxiety disorders.
42. There are more than 400 distinct phobias in the world.
43. Scientists claim most internet trolls are narcissistic, sadistic, and psychopathic. [24]
44. A study of over 261 American CEOs found that 20% of them demonstrate clinically significant levels of psychopathic traits. [25]
45. People who watch the news every day exaggerate their odds of becoming the victim.
Body Language
46. Couples who have a happy marriage often will look alike.
47. Fidgeting shows you’re feeling anxious.
48. Crossing arms over the chest has a negative or defensive meaning.
49. People under stress tend to yawn excessively.
50. Yawning is contagious.
51. Ever wondered why a child stops eating when parents fight at the dinner table?
The reason is that the body activates the fight or flight response, and the digestive system no longer has as much blood as it needs for digestion.
Interesting
52. 10% of the world population is left-handed.
53. 90,000 – The approximate number of hours an average person spends at work in a lifetime.
54. Most of us can’t read in our dreams. [26]
The reason is that two brains’ areas responsible for language (Broca’s and Wernicke’s area) are less active during sleep.
However, this is not the case for writers and poets. They think about the language more than most people, which can influence the content of their dreams.
55. Using the phone or other electronic devices before sleep is harmful. [27]
The light released by smartphones suppresses melatonin (a hormone that promotes sleep), which contributes to sleep problems.
56. No one born blind has ever developed schizophrenia
57. Cherophobia is the fear of being happy because “something tragic” will happen.
58. The human brain can continue to function for over 10 minutes after death. [28]
59. Anger can be a substitute emotion.
It means that sometimes people make themselves angry, so they don’t feel pain.
60. A series of experiments by Princeton psychologists Janine Willis and Alexander Todorov reveal that all it takes is a tenth of a second to form an impression of a stranger from their face. [29]
61. Math anxiety is a psychological disorder that causes stress and anxiety when doing math problems.
62. 65% of the population are visual learners.
63. The five most persuasive words in the English language are, You, Free, Because, Instantly, New.
64. The most common lie is saying, “I’m fine.”
65. Dogs can see the sadness in humans and often attempt to make their owners happy by initiating cuddling.
66. Cats can hear their owner’s voice, but often they don’t care. [30]
Life Hacks
67. Eating dark chocolate with a high percentage of cacao reduces stress levels and inflammation. [31]
68. Seeing the picture of the person you love the most can reduce your pain. [32]
69. The best way to appreciate someone is to imagine life without them.
70. During an emergency, you can avoid the bystander effect by talking directly to a specific person. Hey, YOU, the guy in the suit, call an ambulance!
71. Hugging can lower stress.
72. By owning a cat, your risk of heart attack decreases by 30%. [33]
73. Exercising while listening to music with 120-160 beats per minute helps a person exercise harder.
74. All types of singing have positive psychological effects. When you sing, endorphins are released.
75. Are you feeling anxious about speaking in front of an audience or a group? Here’s a tip from Jordan Peterson:
Don’t look at the whole audience, but concentrate on one person, then on another, and so on. It feels more like you’re communicating with one person.
Love
76. The human eye dilates when you see someone you love.
77. The more you’re attracted to a person, the easier it is for them to make you laugh.
78. People who easily blush are a sign of being a good lover. [34]
79. According to this research, couples in love synchronize heart rates after gazing into each others’ eyes for 3 minutes. [35]
80. Love, at first sight, is possible. There is evidence that supports this phenomenon. [36]
81. Being alone for a long time has the same impact on mortality as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. [37]
82. ‘Broken Heart’ isn’t just an expression. Traumatic events like breakups, divorce, or losing a loved one can cause real heart problems.
83. Holding hands with someone you love can ease physical pain.
84. People prefer an attractive face over an attractive body for long-term relationships.
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