Participants in the nine-month study were required to have been dating someone for at least two months. Twenty-six people participated: 10 women, 16 men. Every two weeks, the participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire describing the status of their relationship and what might happen in the future, including if the relationship ended.
Researchers then compared predictions of future feelings with actual feelings later on. Participants who claimed to be most in love did experience a bit more distress when things didn't work out, but not as much as they anticipated.
The study buttresses research indicating that people demonstrate remarkably poor insight when asked to predict the magnitude of their distress following emotional events.
"People tend to be pretty resilient, often more so than they realize," said Paul Eastwick, the lead author. "No one is saying that breaking up is a good time. It's just that people bounce back sooner than they predict."
MEDTRONICA
Teenage Health Freak
www.teenagehealthfreak.org
A Web site devoted to all the health issues teens really think about: acne, body weight, personal relationships, drug use and more. It's good information written in a way that teens might actually pay attention to.
Moving at 62 miles an hour, the human body contracts by roughly the diameter of one atomic nucleus.
GET ME THAT. STAT!
A new Cornell University study estimates about 40% of deaths worldwide are caused directly or indirectly by water, air and soil pollution.
NEVER SAY DIET
The world's record for eating chicken nuggets is 80 in five minutes, held by Sonya Thomas.
STORIES FOR THE WAITING ROOM
Early suggested cures for syphilis included having intercourse with a virgin, rubbing dung on the male member and bathing in horse urine.
BEST MEDICINE
Nurse: Doctor, there's a man in the waiting room with a glass eye named Brown.
Doctor: What does he call his other eye?
PHOBIA OF THE WEEK
Amychophobia - fear of scratches or being scratched
OBSERVATION
I know a man who gave up smoking, drinking, sex and rich food. He was healthy right up to the day he killed himself.
- Comedian Johnny Carson
EPITAPHS
On a gravestone in the East Dalhousie cemetery in Nova Scotia:
Here lies Ezekial Aikle Age 102 The Good Die Young.
Exercise can cut your risk of uterine fibroids by 40%, a George Washington University study finds. Women who were active for an hour or more a day had nearly half as many of the noncancerous tumors as sedentary women. Four out of five women may develop fibroids and 25% go under the knife to stop symptoms. Exercise seems to regulate estrogen and insulin, which may spur fibroid growth.
SURGEONS GOT GAME
Searching for the best surgeon for an upcoming operation? You might want to add video game expertise to your list of criteria. Surgeons who regularly play video games make 32% fewer errors than nongaming colleagues, reports a study in the Archives of Surgery. A fondness for games was more closely tied to operating-room success than the extent of training. Some video games may fine-tune necessary motor skills.
