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Wellbeing: When politeness is problematic
National Post: Dr. Aidan Feeney has a few thoughts about politeness. Essentially, he thinks it has the ability to cost lives. “The more serious the situation, the more likely you are to be polite and the more room there is for confusion,” says Feeney, a professor at the school of psychology at Queen’s University, Belfast, and co-author of a new paper entitled The Risk of Polite Misunderstanding, published last week by the Association of Psychological Science.
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Surprise! Guys want commitment, women want sex
Today Health: The difference in men's and women's attitudes toward sex are often taken for granted. Men want sex, women want commitment; men look for attractive mates and women go after social status. But not all psychologists are on board with these gender-essentialist statements. In a new review, University of Michigan psychologist Terri Conley and colleagues sift through psychology studies and find gender differences aren't always as black-and-white (or pink-and-blue) as they seem. Here are six gender differences that may not be innate after all. Read the whole story: Today Health
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Vietnam official teed off about tee time
Globe and Mail: Reds no match for golf “Vietnam’s transport minister has banned officials from playing golf because, he said, too much time spent on the course had affected their performance at work,” BBC News reports. “The department said devotion to the game, even during holiday time, was partly responsible for sluggish productivity by some staff. Golf was once considered a bourgeois activity by the communist authorities in Vietnam. However, its popularity has surged among a rapidly growing middle class.” A good swim, spoiled “The Maldives is planning to build a floating golf course overlooking coral reefs and connected by underwater tunnels,” Orange News U.K. says.
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8 Percent of Parents Regret Their Baby’s Name, Survey Finds
ABC News: It took Kelcey Kintner nine months to conceive her baby girl's name, Presley, but nearly a year of gnawing regret before she changed it. Kintner, a 41-year-old who blogs about parenting on Mama Bird Diaries, said she and her husband chose the name Presley from a baby book, not as an homage to the king of rock, even though their older daughter's name is Dylan. "I actually like the name Presley -- I don't dislike the name," said Kintner, who lives in Westchester County, N.Y.
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Medical: Teen brains are a work in progress
The Seattle Times: How do teens alternate between shoplifting a case of beer, then "borrowing" a car and at other times scoring the winning goal or singing the National Anthem at perfect key? The answer, of course, is that their brains are a work in progress, still churning out new bundles of cells and knitting them together with connections that may not be fully fashioned until they're well into their 20s. Researchers are finding more and more evidence that those cells and connections play multiple roles in developing not only self- control and forethought, but personality, social skills and, on the downside, mental disorders.
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An Unforgettable World Series? Only If Your Team Wins
Miller-McCune: Fans of the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals will be anxiously following every inning of baseball during this year’s World Series. But how much will they remember about the key games five or six years from now? New research suggests it largely depends upon on whether their team won or lost. A study just published in the journal Psychological Science contradicts the notion we have sharper memories of negative events. Catholic University psychologists Carolyn Breslin and Martin Safer found fans of the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox more accurately recalled key playoff games in which their team prevailed.
