1 in 3 victims of family violence is male Of young boys and girls (average age 15 years old) witnessing mum being aggressive or violent to their dad: - 34% of the girls compared to 2.6% of the boys had kicked, bitten or hit a romantic partner - 18.8% of girls but no boys reported having hit their romantic partner with an object. - boys reported engaging in more physically aggressive acts toward their friends - girls reported engaging in more physically aggressive acts toward their romantic partners The negative role modelling by mum on the kids, especially girls, subsequent behaviour in romantic relationships, is grossly underestimated. Thirty years of research and over 500 research studies3 keep no secret about female aggression toward their male partners, says Dr. Elizabeth Celi, Psychologist and Author of Breaking the Silence A practical … Read entire article »

The suicide of S. Dhyriya Lakshmi is the fourth such death by a college student in the last two months. Are todays youngsters taking such extreme steps because of the stress they face or have such incidents happened earlier as well but are now getting increasing media attention? Perhaps both, say experts. There are youngsters who are vulnerable as they are leading a transitional life — moving from a small town to a city where there are a number of new things they have to come to terms with, says psychiatrist Vijay Nagaswami. Whether it is academic pressure or romantic relationships, adaption is the key to survival. Not all higher education institutions have full-time counsellors. According to Mr. Nagaswami, in India there is lot of stigma associated with visiting … Read entire article »

Anuradha Dugal Apparently, it was supposed to be funny. In an effort to capitalize on the celebrity of Chris Brown, the hip hop artist who was convicted of assaulting his former girlfriend Rihanna, a Georgia restaurant recently created a new sandwich: “The Caribbean Black and Bleu.” The restaurant slyly tweeted: “Chris Brown won’t beat you up for eating this unless your name starts with R and ends with A.” After a public outcry, the sandwich was pulled from the menu. That’s the good news. The bad news? This is not an isolated incident. Belvedere Vodka recently launched an online campaign that showed a grinning young man who seems to be trying to force sexual contact on a frightened young woman. The tag line: “Unlike … Read entire article »

An evolutionary biologist tells us why the gap between humans and primates is even smaller than we think. Dario Maestripieri, author of Games Primates Play, joins us on Chicago Tonight at 7:00 pm. Read an excerpt from the Introduction of his book below. In the Academy Awardâ??nominated 2009 film Up in the Air, the protagonist, Ryan Binghamâ??played by actor George Clooneyâ??is a corporate layoff expert who travels from city to city, firing employees for corporations that are downsizing their personnel owing to the bad economy. Bingham spends his life on airplanes and in airports around the country. He never checks any luggage and fits all he needs for his travels in a small carry-on bag he packs automatically and wheels around with great ease. Packing light is also his life philosophy. When … Read entire article »

Austin, TX (PRWEB) March 29, 2012 Since romantic relationships need more than just spending time together to stay fresh, the new Date Wizard at PearHaven.com was developed to provide a place where couples can discover new date ideas. With Date Wizard, couples click on categories for their desired activities. Date Wizard then quickly suggests new date ideas in their zip code or wherever they want to go then maps out their fun dates such as lazer tag, dessert or dinner and a movie. These new experiences can help rekindle romance. New York Times writer, Tara Parker-Pope, reports about scientific research by Professor Arthur Aron, a professor of social psychology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, who says “Rather than visiting the … Read entire article »

Want to know when youll probably start loving, or start dodging? Facebooks data scientists have whipped up some stats on when users tend to act on romance. A new report put out by Facebooks data scientists highlights the patterns users make when they break and begin romantic relationships. The Facebook data is taken from 2010 and 2011. In the wide view, there are two points in the year that are the best for relationships: February and December. February 14 and 15, dates that coincide with Valentines Day, are favorable for new relationships. Christmas time, December 24 and 25 are also prime times for pairing or patching for romance. February 14 had 49 percent more new relationships over break-ups, and Christmas Day had 34 percent. December in general showed a “net gain … Read entire article »

Based on actor Steve Harveys book Think Like a Man, Act Like a Woman, Tim Storys Think Like a Man opens with a series of animated vignettes charting timeless courting rituals from prehistoric times to the present, communicating in obvious fashion that romantic relationships between men and women have been, and always will be, a form of warfare. As in any battle, information is essential to complete victory, and Think Like a Man hinges each escalating round of psychological mortal combat on the words in Harveys self-help narrative. Since the book itself provides the films structure, the characters rely on the manipulation of gender-specific secrets to dominate and control the opposite sex. According to Harvey, playing himself with smug candor and conviction, men are now lazy when it comes to love … Read entire article »

I havent played Mass Effect 3 yet. As a big fan of the franchise, Ive been meaning to. But I had a very important task at hand before tackling the last game in the trilogy. I needed to replay Mass Effect 2. (Mass Effect 2 spoilers ahead.) In my first playthrough of the sequel, I felt a bit rushed. I was on a tight review schedule and didnt analyze every facet of the game as meticulously as I wouldve liked. So, forgoing some very important ship upgrades, I fell victim to a sloppy mistake and lost some of my teammates. And I lost someone very important to me. If you arent a stranger to BioWares Mass Effect franchiseor, heck, just BioWare games in generalyoull know that the companions you gather along your adventures … Read entire article »

–> Online dating is one of the fastest growing industries, and many websites now include some sort of profiling tool for predicting romantic compatibility. However, few of these websites (and that is also true for most researchers working in this area) have taken the time to consider the intricate issue of predicting compatibility, namely that there is no simple way of defining relationship success. Indeed, how you judge the success of a relationship depends on several psychological and cultural factors, not to mention age and gender. In the Western world, most people?at least those aged 25-40 (who represent the main target of most online dating sites)?equate success to a happy relationship, a memorable wedding, and healthy children. Yet marriages are at an all-time-low, and if divorce rates continue to increase the way … Read entire article »

WEDNESDAY Inside Edge Breakfast Program William Cloke will give a talk titled, Why Romantic Relationships Stink and What You Can Do About It, as part of an Inside Edge breakfast program, which starts at 7 am at the University Club in Irvine. First-time guests pay $25 to get in. For more information, go to http://www.insideedge.org. Costa Mesa Chamber Breakfast Boost Fred Bockmiller Jr., president of the Mesa Consolidated Water District board of directors, will be the featured speaker at the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerces 90-minute Breakfast Boost program, which is from 7 to 8:45 am at the Costa Mesa Country Club, 1701 Golf Course Drive. Prepaid reservations are $15, or $20 at the door. For more information, call (714) 885-9090 or visit http://www.costamesachamber.com. Green Coast Day at OCC As part of the seventh annual Green Coast Day … Read entire article »