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Empathy may be negated by political party
United Press International: People may lack empathy for those who are hungry or cold if they perceive them to be of another political party, U.S. researchers said. Study co-authors Ed O'Brien and Phoebe C. Ellsworth, both of the University of Michigan, and colleagues approached people who were waiting for a bus in winter in Ann Arbor, Mich. Each was given a short story to read about a person who went hiking in winter but got lost with no food, water or extra clothes. In one version of the story, the hiker was a left-wing, pro-gay rights Democrat, while in another it was a Republican proponent of traditional marriage. Read the whole story: United Press International
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Professional Help: 5 Strategies for Creative Problem Solving
The Atlantic: If you're stuck trying to solve a problem, try the obscure. "There's a classic obstacle to innovation called functional fixedness, which is the tendency to fixate on the common use of an object or its parts," says University of Massachusetts researcher Anthony McCaffrey. "It hinders people from solving problems." This week on Professional Help, McCaffrey explains the "generic parts technique" he developed to combat this common design dilemma and shares insights based on his analysis of 1,001 historically creative inventions from his recently published paper in Psychological Science. Think beyond an object's common function.
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Are Two Heads Really Better Than One?
Forbes: Group thinking has been a popular topic in behavioral research for a long time, particularly so in the last couple of decades. The judgment of one person can be called into question for a hundred different reasons – everything from preexisting beliefs to confirmation bias and beyond. But if you add another mind to the mix, then theoretically a buffer against some of those biases has been introduced, and better judgments should result. Or so the theory goes.
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Essere materialisti rende depressi
La Stampa: La domanda è sempre la solita: i soldi fanno la felicità? E la risposta non sempre è la solita, tanto che, alla fine, non si è mai capito per davvero. Ma se i soldi sono la felicità di qualcuno e la rovina per qualcun altro, secondo uno studio l’essere focalizzato sul materialismo è invece un fattore di depressione, asocialità ed egoismo. Avere dunque in testa i beni materiali, il possedere sempre di più, lo scalare le classi sociali ha un impatto sulla salute mentale e, secondo gli scienziati, anche sulla salute dell’ambiente.
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Your (Virtual) Future Self Wants You To Save Up
NPR: A retirement crisis is looming. As people live longer, one study finds that half of all households are at risk of coming up short on retirement money. And while many working households may feel they simply don't have enough to spare for retirement, experts say some of the biggest barriers to saving up are psychological. Now, new research has found a way around that barrier: providing a virtual glimpse into the future that could help motivate young people to save more for retirement. "When you make a decision now about yourself in the future, that distant self almost feels like a stranger," says Hal Hershfield of New York University's Stern School of Business.
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What the poor can teach the rich
MSN: Wow. I thought taxes were a hot-button issue. But taxes are nothing, nothing, compared with how we feel about social and economic classes. My column "Why are the rich such jerks?" -- which summarized some recent research about the behavior of wealthier people compared with poorer people -- drew more than 600 comments on MSN Money and 1,700 shares on Facebook. Many people were so busy condemning the rich, the poor, each other or the research that they missed my point: that stereotypes about rich jerks could give some people an excuse not to take care of themselves financially. Who wants to be wealthy if the wealthy are all vile, greedy, evil creatures? Read the whole story: MSN
