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Ambiguous Situations Make It Easier to Justify Ethical Transgressions
Two experiments show that people are apt to cheat in favor of their self-interest but only when the situation is ambiguous enough to provide moral cover.
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Workplace Support Helps Parents Make More Time for Their Kids
Between juggling responsibilities at home and the office, working parents often report feeling stressed over conflicting demands on their time. Employees who were part of a new study on reducing work-family conflict reported spending significantly more time with their kids without reducing their number of working hours. An interdisciplinary team of behavioral researchers carried out the study as part of a larger initiative undertaken by The National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called the Work, Family and Health Study with the goal of improving the health of workers and their families, while also benefiting employers.
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Learning Through Observation
The famous Bobo doll experiment showed that children learn through observation, not just through reward and punishment. In that classic study, Albert Bandura showed that children who had watched adults beat an inflatable clown doll learned to model the same aggressive behavior. This study marked an important shift in the field of psychology toward a social–cognitive model of learning. For almost 60 years, Bandura’s work in the fields of social and cognitive psychology has served as a foundation for research on topics ranging from moral judgment to the effects of media violence.
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I’m rich. You must be, too.
“Let me tell you about the very rich,” the novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in the 1920s. “They are different from you and me.” “Yes,” his friend and rival Ernest Hemingway replied. “They have more money.” Hemingway’s retort may be apocryphal, but the point is indisputable. Then as now, the rich have much more money than you and me, and they have more money in part because they don’t give it away. The very wealthy are disproportionately opposed to any policy—including tax policies—that would redistribute wealth more equitably. This makes sense from a purely economic perspective.
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The Genius of ‘Want to Grab Coffee?’
The Atlantic: In a few weeks, millions of college students will enter the real world with dreams of finding work that's meaningful and challenging—and preferably lucrative enough to live roommate-free in a major city. As they embark on their job searches, recent graduates are frequently given the vague advice to "go out and network." But what exactly should this networking entail? What does one say to a perfect stranger whom one has cajoled into "grabbing coffee," while also telepathically conveying one's desire for a job? ...
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The Risks Associated With ‘Productivity Pills’ Outweigh the Benefits
The New York Times: A few years ago Adderall was touted as a “smart pill.” But after research showed little or no improvement in cognition under its influence, Adderall is now gaining a reputation as a “productivity pill.” That is probably a better characterization of its effects, based on research I’ve done with Dr. Irena Ilieva of Weill Cornell Medical Center. Users feel more engaged in the task at hand, more energetic and less sleepy. These can be important benefits, as the United States military has known since World War II. Read the whole story: The New York Times
