During this pandemic winter, many of us will be away from the people we love most. The absence of the physical presence of loved ones deprives us of hugs, physical touch, and feelings of physical and psychological warmth that no amount of Skype or Zoom ever seems to fully replace.

In his forthcoming book, Heartwarming, one of the authors of this editorial (Rocha IJzerman) explores the science of why this is, a field called social thermoregulation. This science points to promising technologies like the Embr Wave, smartphone-controlled warmth-producing bracelet, that seem to provide ways to

One of the things we will miss possibly the most this pandemic winter in the Northern Hemisphere is gezelligheid [ɣəˈzɛləxɛit]. No real English equivalent of gezelligheid exists; the closest word in the English vernacular - coziness - still doesn’t capture the same feeling of intimacy and belonging. What does communicate a similar sentiment and is more familiar to US ears is the Danish concept hygge [hʊɡə] and the Swedish concept of lagom. Wikipedia describes gezelligheid as “'conviviality', 'coziness', 'fun'” or “just the general togetherness that gives people a warm feeling”. Perhaps the

Dark humor [1] is harsh and horrendous humor that makes fun of taboo or serious subjects (e.g., jokes on otherwise traumatizing things/events such as dead babies, the holocaust, terminal illnesses, etc). As can be expected, these are often disputed topics within the broader gamut of humor. Some laugh heartily at the expense of others, while some may find such insinuations extremely offensive. The fact that people react differently to such jokes make individual differences within humor styles apparent. For instance, affiliative humor, i.e., witty, cheerful, and harmless humor aimed only at

The No Good Terrible Very Bad Day

Imagine the last bad day you had. Maybe you were jolted out of a pleasant snooze by a complaining alarm. You’re late. You’re groggy and in your haste, you spill half your breakfast on a freshly cleaned shirt—and the other half now lies in a puddle on the floor. You frantically try to clean it up as you scramble out the door to catch your ride. You look like a marathon runner at the end of a race, flailing your wobbly arms and legs as you try to get the driver’s attention to wait for you. You sit down and realize that you forgot your notes for a very important

Imagine that your spouse has promised that they will wash the dishes cluttering your sink this evening; but, when they arrive home exhausted after a stressful day of back-to-back meetings and skipped meals, they try to pawn the responsibility back off on you. Would you soften your judgment of your spouse on account of their fatigue? We find that the court of moral opinion is unsympathetic to the exhausted: Across several studies, we found that people judged actors who were fatigued and did good or bad deeds as equivalently (im)moral as those who were refreshed.

Sniping spouses bandy back

Another busy ward round: a telephone rings; a nurse apologises to patients that the ward is too short-staffed to facilitate their leave this afternoon; a junior doctor furiously types up their notes whilst simultaneously explaining to a healthcare assistant how to check the observation charts; there is a strong smell of coffee and the telephone continues ringing, unanswered. With the day-today demands of healthcare, it is often challenging to also implement research. However, mental health problems are one of the main causes of the overall disease burden worldwide[1]: it is crucial that mental

Do you want to get into shape but find it hard to carry out your good intentions? The Hulk can help you!

After summer vacation, chances are you are trying to get back into shape. Your goals may include fitting into your pants again, training for a 5k in the winter, or improving your overall physical strength and endurance. Each day you try to start off with a proper breakfast and intend to do a workout session in the evening. However, by the time you come home from work, bad habits kick in and you start craving snacks and some peace and quiet. Does this mean you will never reach your personal