Happiness is not a handbag

Oooh how exciting that the most shared story on the BBC online yesterday was none other than my mate Karen's research into women, emotions and spending. I played a bit part collecting and analysing data and what a thrill it is to see research moving women's minds because it's out in the public domain and not kept hidden in a journal or in some prof's satchel. Great! I was chatting to a (male) owner of an independent clothes shop in my town at the weekend and he said the fab spring weather made the women come out in droves. It seems when we feel good we shop good. Or maybe there was just a premenstrual hormonal surge in St Albans that week? I know when I feel good and the sun shines I want to buy everyone presents (and a little self gifting too). I was speaking at The Vitality Show on Thursday giving a talk I called "Happiness is not a handbag" which is ironic given all the shopping opportunities they had down there. The PR team and exhibition company did a great job putting the show together and I really enjoyed having a very funny impromptu ski and yoga session on a wii. The things modern technology allows you to do is incredible. My talk followed Rosemary Connoly and I have to say she's an absolute slip of a woman and knows exactly how to tell people what's good for them. I was rather impressed with her forthrightness and wondered whether that's what people like. I don't take that approach as a coach but think it definitely has merit. Perhaps I could do with her as a fitness instructor to get me to stop procrastinating about if/when I'll do a half marathon. Might have to think a bit more about that.

Psychology for All

Yesterday I took my mind for a wander at the BPS "Psychology for All" conference in London and by golly what a cracking job they did at producing an engaging programme. Professor Richard Wiseman was a hoot with his 'psychology of luck' (University of Hertfordshire) and Nicky Rumsey's talk (from the Centre for Appearance Research, Bristol) on how psychologists are helping people who don't like their appearnce was very moving. I went along more for the style than the substance, given I've got my first public speaking outing in a while, in a fortnight. Professor Rumsey ran through some startling statistics about women's dissatisfaction with their bodies. She cited the work of Etcoff et al, 2006 who found that only 1:10 are free of concern re their weight/shape and that 25% of 15-64 year olds are actively considering cosmetic surgery. There were 32,000 private cosmetic treatments in the UK in 2007 and psychological screening of people undergoing such surgery is not mandatory. It's bonkers given that for a very large number of people, the desire for cosmetic surgery is rooted in a psychological issue and having the procedure doesn't solve it. Research by Sarwar in 2007 showed that people opting for cosmetic surgery tend to have lower self-esteem, lower confidence and unrealistic epectations of the outcome of surgery compared to people who haven't had or don't desire it. It's very difficult to compete with the marketing budget of the beauty industry and I'm not sure what the answer is. We could turn schools into wellbeing centres rather than academic institutions and teach programmes of self-esteem, how to be happy, what it is to be a good citizen, money management and a plethora of other valuable life skills that would make the world a better place for every individual and society as a whole. Hmmm.