Metropolitan State University students may soon learn how to sustainably grow food and promote health and nutrition as part of a new degree program. The food, community and sustainability degree comes at a time when consumers are opting for local, sustainably produced food, and companies such as General Mills and Land O'Lakes are taking note of these demands. The proposed program, which organizers hope to launch in fall 2016, aims to combine principals of healthy eating with biology, community psychology and business. Students should be prepared to find jobs in community gardens, nonprofit food >>>

When we gather together around a table groaning with favourite dishes on special occasions, what are we doing beyond filling our bellies? Here, four experts in the psychology of family traditions discuss what ritual means in the context of holidays. These psychologists focused on Thanksgiving, however the same psychological effects are also applicable to holidays such as Christmas. Anne Fishel, psychologist and author of Home for Dinner: I think of Thanksgiving as the mother of all family dinners. As a ritual, it has all the important ingredients — a prescribed time and place; >>>

Department of Psychology PhD candidate and study co-author Jayde Flett. University students who have a greater “fear of missing out” (FoMO) are much more likely to experience negative consequences from drinking alcohol, new University of Otago psychology research suggests.FoMO refers to the uneasy and often all-consuming sense that friends or others are having rewarding experiences from which one is absent. It is characterised by a desire to remain socially connected and may manifest itself as a form of social anxiety.The Otago Department of Psychology researchers have now published what >>>

(Credit: Brian Chase/Shutterstock) When Americans gather together around a table groaning with favorite dishes on the fourth Thursday of November, what are we doing beyond filling our bellies with turkey and pie? We convened four experts in the psychology of family traditions and shared meals for a roundtable discussion about what ritual means in the context of Thanksgiving. Anne Fishel, psychologist and author of Home for Dinner: I think of >>>

Usually, we provide the top 5 best and top 5 worst findings coming from topical psychology and psychiatry research publications. However, this October there was an overwhelming number of good news findings worth shouting about. So this month’s roundup is a little different. Below there are 7 best findings. The bad news, for once, is taking the back seat. WORST: Side-Effects of Antidepressents Disrupt Multimodal Treatment for Child OCD Activation syndrome (AS) is a >>>

As Thanksgiving approaches, Americans will be reflecting on things they're grateful for: family, health and good fortune of various sorts. It might be wise, however, to give thanks for things not traditionally considered to be so positive: Strangers. Hard challenges. Even negative feelings. Studies have found that bad stuff can be important to people's happiness and that, in fact, challenges can be immensely satisfying. In honor of the upcoming season of gratitude, here are a few rather counterintuitive things to be thankful for, and the research that backs them up. 1. Strangers and >>>

Credit: Jourden C/public domain University students who have a greater "fear of missing out" (FoMO) are much more likely to experience negative consequences from drinking alcohol, new University of Otago psychology research suggests. FoMO refers to the uneasy and often all-consuming sense that friends or others are having rewarding experiences >>>

With Black Friday, Christmas shopping and the winter sales all approaching, consumers around the world will once again overindulge in systematic unplanned purchases that provide little more than a short-term emotional fix. At times, this can cause long-term problems, such as regret, debt and spiritual emptiness. It is indeed the season for impulsive buying, one of the few areas in which marketers and businesses appear to be up to speed with the science of psychology, not least because of their desire to leverage it at the expense of consumers’ rationality. From sales assistants who compliment >>>

The Cochrane High School Psychology Clubs workshop about suicide awareness and prevention was a success.Taking place Nov. 18 in the school gym, more than 100 people participated in the student-run workshop from noon-3:30 pm.The club is comprised of students with an interest in psychology and mental health. Every year club members organize and facilitate a workshop about a different issue related to mental health in order to raise awareness and support.We have done workshops in sports psychology, anxiety, and body image and this year the club said it really wanted to address the issue >>>

Cochrane High Schools Psychology Club spread awareness and tasty treats during the nation-wide initiative Bullying Awareness Week last week.From Monday, Nov. 16, to Friday, Nov. 20., members of the club ran a fundraiser selling Stand Up to Bullying wristbands and wellness cookies during the schools lunch hours in order to draw attention to the nation-wide initiative and to raise funds for their clubs operations.Bullying Awareness Week is an opportunity for people at the grassroots level in communities around the world to get involved in this issue [by everyone] work[ing] together on preventing >>>