Why the youth sense anger in faces

We tend to believe that older people are more positive and younger people are more sensitive to social cues (暗示).

Recently scientists investigated this idea by testing 10,000 men and women. They wanted to see if age affected a person's ability to identify facial emotions, such as fear and anger.

The researchers from McLean Hospital in the US used a Web-based platform to collect happiness data. It showed the participants two headshots (头部特写)of random people. They were then asked to identify which subject was angrier, happier, or more fearful.

The research found that younger people were able to better identify angry and fearful facial cues than older people.

"From studies and anecdotal evidence, we know that the everyday experiences of an adolescent are different from an older person, but we wanted to understand how these experiences might be linked with differences in basic emotion understanding,wrote Laura Germine, the study's senior author.

But what is it that makes young people more sensitive?

"This is the exact age when young people are most sensitive to forms of negative social cues, such as bullying,” Lauren Rutter, the study's lead author, told Science Daily. "The normal development of anger sensitivity can contribute to some of the challenges that arise during this phase of development.

On the contrary, across the whole 10,000-person survey, researchers found no decline in the perception (感知)of happiness among older participants.

“What's remarkable is that we see declines in many visual perceptual abilities as we get older, but here we did not see such declines in the perception of happiness,Germine told Neuro Science News.

She added that these findings fit well with other researches, showing that older adults tend to have more positive emotions and a positive outlook.

Following the paper's release, Rutter told Neuro Science News that gathering their primary research online allowed the team to research into a "much larger and more diverse sample set” than previous studies.

Many of us rarely check in with ourselves. We rarely wonder what we really want, what benefits us, what delights us, what hurts us, how we can respect ourselves, what people are actually healthy for us to be around and what the most supportive decision is. Or we may know these things but we don’t act on them.

One reason is that we get caught up in what everyone else is doing and thinking. I have to buy that, too! I need to be on that diet if she’s trying it. They think therapy is a waste of time and money. He suggests that I should lose weight. They completely disagree. Maybe I do, too?

When we get caught up like this, we silence ourselves. Here I don’t mean asking others for feedback(反馈) or advice or helpful insights. I’m referring to times when we ignore ourselves and when we let others’ perspectives set aside our own.

When we get caught up like this, what can help is to refocus. To ask ourselves: OK, but what do I want? What works for me? We can ask ourselves questions to check in with ourselves, our needs, our desires, our intentions, and our hearts. These questions reveal important answers. Asking these questions may lead to a new and deeper understanding or perspective. It puts us back in the driver’s seat.

And as I say many times, asking ourselves all sorts of questions means we are listening to ourselves. We’re admitting that our thoughts and feelings matter. Because they do. And in asking questions, in taking the time to listen to the answers, we are building self-trust. We are caring for ourselves in a powerful way.

The expression,“ everybody’s doing it,” is very much at the center of the concept of peer pressure. It is a strong influence of a group, especially of children, on members of that group to behave as everybody else does. It can be positive or negative. Most people experience it in some way during their lives.

People are social creatures by nature, and so it is hardly surprising that part of their self-respect comes from the approval of others. This instinct (天性) is why the approval of peers, or the fear of disapproval, is such a powerful force in many people’s lives. It is the same instinct that drives people to dress one way at home and another way at work, or to answer “fine” when a stranger asks“ how are you?” even if it is not necessarily true. There is a practical aspect to this: it helps society to function efficiently, and encourages a general level of self-discipline that simplifies day-to-day interaction.

For certain individuals, seeking social acceptance is so important that it becomes like an addiction; in order to satisfy the desire, they may go so far as to abandon their sense of right and wrong. Teens and young adults may feel forced to use drugs, or join gangs that encourage criminal behavior. Mature adults may sometimes feel pressured to cover up illegal activity at the company where they work, or end up in debt because they are unable to hold back the desire to buy a house or car that they can’t afford in an effort to“ keep up with the Joneses”.

However, peer pressure is not always negative. A student whose friends are good at academics may be urged to study harder and get good grades. Players on a sports team may feel driven to play harder in order to help the team win. This type of influence can also get a friend off drugs, or to help an adult take up a good habit or drop a bad one. Study groups and class projects are examples of positive peer groups that encourage people to better themselves.

Schools try to teach kids about the dangers of negative peer pressure. They teach kids to stand up and be themselves, and encourage them to politely decline to do things that they believe are wrong. Similarly, it can be helpful to encourage children to greet the beneficial influence of positive peer groups.

What is Peer Pressure