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Gratitude: Good for Your Wallet and Your Soul
The Huffington Post: Enticements to consumerism define our society like never before. From our tablets, to our email, to our smartphones, the next advertisement and the next purchase are only a click away. The result? The impulse buy -- the cash cow of many a business strategy -- is more tempting than ever, leading many to experience both increasing debt and buyers' remorse. As a psychologist who studies decision making, I'm acutely aware that marketers know how the mind works, and they aren't hesitant to use that knowledge to stoke consumers' desires and lessen their self-control.
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Bystander Effect Also Found Among Five-Year-Olds
Pacific Standard: The bystander effect, which was first identified in the late 1960s, describes a fascinating quirk of human behavior: Our level of altruistic behavior depends, in large part, to the circumstances we find ourselves in. As studies has shown, we’re relatively likely to help someone in trouble if we’re the only source of available assistance. But if we’re one of a number of possible saviors, we’re more likely to hold back and see if anyone else steps forward. Does this inconsistency reflect an innate impulse, or learned behavior? Newly published research suggests that if it's the latter, we pick it up very early in life. Read the whole story: Pacific Standard
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The hotly contested link between science denial and conspiracy theories
The Washington Post: In 2013, the University of Bristol psychologist Stephan Lewandowsky and colleagues published two papers containing a provocative claim: A tendency to endorse conspiracy theories, they suggested, makes people more likely to challenge various aspects of science, too. Across the two papers, they linked conspiratorial beliefs to science rejection on no less than five issues: climate change, vaccines, genetically modified organisms, and the ties between HIV and AIDS and smoking and lung cancer.
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One Way to Rein in Powerful People? Honest Feedback
While it’s standard practice for supervisors to provide regular feedback to their subordinates, it’s far less common for employees to get the opportunity to candidly appraise their supervisors’ performance. A new study suggests that honesty may be the best policy for ensuring that leaders look out for everyone, not just themselves. By definition, people in positions of power call the shots as to how resources are divided up. This power gives leaders the opportunity to behave selfishly, keeping more resources for themselves rather than sharing perks and profits equitably with employees.
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How Do You Get People To Work Harder? Keep The Reward A Secret
NPR: When we're asked to do something, we often ask, "What's in it for me?" or "What am I going to get out of it?" Research suggests not knowing what you will get can sometimes be a strong motivator. ... GREENE: ...And it is actually that the mystery of not knowing why you are doing something can actually make you want to do it more, which sounds a little surprising. What's this new research? VEDANTAM: Well, that's right. So when you think about human behavior, most of us think that we actually want to know what's going to happen. If I ask you, David, would you work at NPR, but we'll tell you only at the end of the year whether you're going to get paid and how much you're going to get paid?
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‘But You Never Said…’ Why Couples Remember Differently
The Wall Street Journal: Carrie Aulenbacher remembers the conversation clearly: Her husband told her he wanted to buy an arcade machine he found on eBay. He said he’d been saving up for it as a birthday present to himself. The spouses sat at the kitchen table and discussed where it would go in the den. Two weeks later, Ms. Aulenbacher came home from work and found two arcade machines in the garage—and her husband beaming with pride. “What are these?” she demanded. “I told you I was picking them up today,” he replied. She asked him why he’d bought two. He said he’d told her he was getting “a package deal.” She reminded him they’d measured the den for just one. He stood his ground.
