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Where Are the Conservative Psychologists Hiding? And Why?
The Huffington Post: Scientific meetings are not usually confrontational events, so it was notable when University of Virginia psychological scientist Jonathan Haidt roiled his colleagues at the 2011 gathering of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Addressing an audience of more than 1,000, the bestselling author of The Righteous Mind asked all those who considered themselves politically conservative to raise their hands. Three hands went up. He then described two other attempts he had recently made to locate conservative social psychologists.
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How to Win Over Someone Who Doesn’t Like You
Forbes: Does your co-worker scowl every time you walk by? Is that guy in your networking group consistently aloof? Sometimes, for no clear reason, someone may decide they dislike you – and if you want a more comfortable work environment, it’s up to you to change the dynamic. So what can you do to disarm a cranky colleague? In a recent podcast interview, renowned social psychologist Robert Cialdini offered two counterintuitive suggestions Read the whole story: Forbes
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Robot Reveals Why Humans Trust, and Don’t
Discovery News: Humans often make snap judgements about who to trust. Most people will say "I didn't like the look of that person," but what that means, exactly, has been elusive. Now a robot is helping to tease that out. At Northeastern University, psychology professor David DeSteno wanted to see what was going on. Working with partners at MIT and Cornell University, he started by looking at what kinds of interactions make humans trust each other more. He had 86 Northeastern students conduct either a face-to-face conversation or a Web-based chat. The conversations were with people they didn't know and lasted five minutes.
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New Rx for Spider Fears? Shout It Out
LiveScience: Feeling frightened? Say so. A new study finds that speaking your emotions out loud can help you confront your fears. People who fear spiders are less distressed upon approaching a large, hairy tarantula when they say, out loud, that they're afraid. Voicing fear was a more effective tactic at banishing it than the soothing self-talk ("That little spider can't hurt me") more often used when people confront their phobias, researchers reported.
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Modern men value brains over curves
The Telegraph: But men should still take care with their own appearance, because 21st century women are becoming ever more swayed by physical attractiveness and less concerned with finding a wealthy husband. The narrowing of the gender gap in western countries means that the traditional priorities of both sexes when looking for a partner have shifted, researchers said. While men have learned to value women for more than just their curves, women's increasing financial independence means a man's appeal is no longer directly linked to the size of his wallet.
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How Your Cell Phone Hurts Your Relationships
Scientific American: Most of us are no stranger to this scenario: A group of friends sits down to a meal together, laughing, swapping stories, and catching up on the news – but not necessarily with the people in front of them! Nowadays, it’s not unusual to have one’s phone handy on the table, easily within reach for looking up movie times, checking e-mails, showing off photos, or taking a call or two. It’s a rare person who doesn’t give in to a quick glance at the phone every now and then. Today’s multifunctional phones have become an indispensable lifeline to the rest of the world.
