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The Dark Side of Power Posing: Cape or Kryptonite?
Scientific American Mind: In 1942, the mild mannered Clark Kent excused himself from his friend Lois Lane to take an important call. Clark slipped into a phone booth (remember those?), and moments later Superman emerged. Have you ever wished that you had ability to step into a phone booth or bathroom for a minute to shed your insecurities in favor of superhuman confidence? This would certainly be a handy trick before a job interview, public speaking engagement, or even a first date. New research suggests that power poses just might do the trick. Throughout the animal kingdom expansive non-verbal expressions are used to communicate dominance and power to others.
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Why Do Giraffes Have Long Necks?
The Huffington Post: Anyone who has seen this majestic creature in the wild, nibbling away at the top of an acacia tree, has to marvel at the wonder of evolution. The giraffe's long neck is a perfect adaptation to the animal's natural habitat. Clearly the giraffe evolved this uncommon and helpful trait in order to reach those nourishing leaves. That's how natural selection works. If you're a 6-year-old. As appealing as this explanation is, it shows a complete misunderstanding of the concept of adaptation by natural selection, a key concept in the theory of evolution. What's wrong with the 6-year-old's idea is not its focus on the neck's function.
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Science: U.S. presidents are becoming more narcissistic over time
The Washington Post: Presidents of the United States are gradually becoming more narcissistic, and that might not necessarily be a bad thing. That isn't meant as an endorsement of the unethical behavior associated with some kinds of narcissism in a new analysis of data on presidential personalities. Unethical behavior should never be condoned. Ever! Well, okay. Maybe sometimes. But only sometimes. In the right circumstances. If you are concerned with good executive leadership in general, say, you might be willing to forgive the occasional lapse.
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The Brain’s Way Of Dealing With ‘Us’ and ‘Them’
The Wall Street Journal: A tribe of shepherds brings its sheep to graze at a common field. Every shepherd limits the size of his herd to avoid overgrazing the commons—except for one selfish guy who doesn't care. What should be done to solve this problem? Now consider two rival tribes of shepherds being forced to share the same field. In one tribe, the herd is communally owned, while the second tribe would divide the field into fenced plots belonging to each individual. What should be done to reconcile these two different views?
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Overeating Due to Stress?
Scientific American: Stress can make some people (me included) lose our appetite. Other folks find comfort in food. But such behaviors may actually even out in the long term. Because researchers find that people who change eating patterns when stressed out may actually make up for those not-so-healthy impulses during easier times. So finds a study in the journal Psychological Science. Volunteers for the study self-identified as either “munchers” or “skippers”. Each person had to interact with another person via video chat, with the intention of meeting them later.
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The Surprising Science Of Workplace Training
The Brilliant Blog: The problem with workplace training is that it seems so simple: Show employees what to do, have them practice it a few times, and you’re done. But “training is not as intuitive as it may seem,” notes Eduardo Salas, a professor of psychology at the University of Central Florida. “There is a science of training that shows that there is a right way and a wrong way to design, deliver, and implement a training program.” Salas is the lead author of “The Science of Training and Development in Organizations: What Matters in Practice,” a report published recently in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest.
