Inside Out shows well-being isn’t just about chasing happiness

TheConversation: Pixar’s new animated feature, Inside Out, is based on a rather straightforward premise: emotions situated in 11-year-old Riley’s brain control her behaviours, help organise her memories and, overall, seek to maintain her well-being. Which emotions are these? Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger and Disgust. A few minutes into the film it becomes clear that Joy has the power. The other emotions defer to her, and increasingly so, particularly as Riley’s life is disrupted by a cross-country move. The sole goal appears to be: keep Riley happy!

Passive Facebook use undermines how a person feels

Michigan University. US: Using Facebook only to scroll through your news feed or browse other people's profiles can have a negative impact on your well-being, says a University of Michigan researcher.

Team approach boosts human and environmental wellbeing

Monash University. Australia: Even seemingly intractable problems such as the antibiotic crisis and the obesity epidemic could be resolved by treating human health and society as an integral part of an ecosystem.

Student-led project investigates healing benefits of live music

UCLA. US: If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, what might a daily dose of Mozart or Thelonious Monk do for one’s health and well-being?

Twitter can predict hot spots for coronary heart disease

Melbourne University. Australia: Researchers from the University of Melbourne and the University of Pennsylvania have shown that social media can serve as a dashboard indicator of a community’s psychological well being and can predict rates of heart disease. A new study, published in the journal Psychological Science, showed that Twitter not only predicts heart disease risk as well as many traditional factors, but it also acts as a psychological barometer.