Placebo analgesia refers to a reduction in pain after a placebo treatment has been provided. Fear of pain has been shown reduce placebo analgesic response. The present study investigated if experimentally induced fear of pain reduces the efficacy of a placebo intervention on pain. A balanced within-group design (n = 45) with a natural history, a placebo, and a placebo+fear condition was employed. ...

In the current study 13 BASE-jumpers and 18 skydivers reported their emotions immediately after a jump and after a 24 hours delay, using verbal (Likert-like scales) and visual (Feelometer) emotional report. Heart rate measures were also collected during, and 24 hours after the jump. The Feelometer is a newly developed tool enabling the participants to give a moment-to-moment report from a particular ...

”Friends with benefits” (FWB) betegner venner som har sex med hverandre uten å ha romantiske følelser eller forpliktelser ovenfor hverandre. Med utgangspunkt i seksuell skriptteori, var formålet med denne undersøkelsen å utforske FWB-fenomenet i en norsk, heteroseksuell kontekst. Forskningsmetoden som ble brukt var transendental fenomenologi. Det ble utført semistrukturelle intervjuer av tolv ...

Research within neurobiology has provided evidence for two distinctive classes of positive emotion, represented by separate brain systems called the “reward seeking-” (appetitive) and the “pleasure-” (consummatory) system (Burgdorf & Panksepp 2006). Recently, happiness research has provided empirical evidence for a distinction between the emotions “interest” and “pleasure” (Vittersø, Overwien & ...

The purpose of the study was to uncover whether there are increased risks associated to having combined alcohol and sleep problems in association to health, social, and lifestyle factors. This in comparison to having either alcohol and sleep problems, as opposed to having neither alcohol nor sleep problems. This study investigates potential risks in association to chronic pain, reception of welfare ...

Is it possible to influence people´s willingness to donate money? In two experiments we investigated whether participant´s (N = 417) willingness to donate money to a charitable cause could be influenced by mental representations and social distance towards the donation target. In both experiments we manipulated the perceived social distance towards the donation target, and the construal level of the ...

The aim of the present study is to examine how Authentic Leadership might facilitate innovation through the mechanisms of Psychological Capital, Work Engagement and Creativity. We surveyed a sample of leaders and employees (N=79) in three middle sized Norwegian companies, who all share HR-department. They are operating in the fields of banking, real-estate and accounting. We analysed the data using ...

A person's mindset, or implicit theory of intelligence, has been linked to many factors such as academic achievement, resiliency, and well-being. However, researchers have questioned the definitional clarity of the mindset construct and recent meta-analyses have reported confusing findings, such as interventions only having an effect on academic achievement if manipulation checks fail. This poses ...

Spatial abilities determine our approach to a variety of everyday tasks. Previous research has mainly compared the spatial performance of different groups of participants, regardless of the underlying processes. The aim of this study was to explain individual differences by means of the different strategies employed in spatial problem solving. The performance of university students (n=256) was ...

Testicular cancer is an increasing health concern in Norway. It afflicts young men who often think they are impervious to serious illness, causing them to delay help-seeking. This is a major concern for the health care system, as the prognosis takes a steep fall if the cancer has had time to metastasise. The present study assessed the knowledge and awareness level of testicular cancer and testicular ...