Mood News.

Mood News

Beauty Flattery

Some people err on the positive side when telling others what they think of their appearance -- and, it turns out, that's a sign of an important social skill. A team led by Abigail Marsh, a psychologist then at Harvard University, asked 32 men and women to rate photographs of people -- and falsely told them that these people would be informed of their scores. The study subjects who gave the highest ratings -- and who said they valued being kind over being right -- were, in another experiment, best at recognizing facial expressions of fear. The researchers say this supports other evidence that people who best recognize another's distress are most likely to behave empathetically.

Intimacy Issue

Intimacy and the Internet may not mix. Veronica M. Scott, a family therapist, and other researchers at the University of Central Florida found that face-to-face daters scored higher on love and intimacy measures relative to online daters. Plus, people

who relied on technology-mediated communication had lower intimacy scores in all their relationships, even those in which the computer played no part. Staying behind the monitor may reduce anxiety and thus seem appealing as a way to meet people, says study coauthor Karen Mottarella, but people who struggle with intimacy will gain more from developing their relationship skills.

Memory Boosters