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A Workout for the Mind
The New York Times: Becca Levy, a psychologist at the Yale School of Public Health, has been measuring the impact of stereotypes about old age for close to 20 years. They have potent effects, she and her colleagues have found. The researchers developed an “image of aging” scale to determine whether subjects are likely to see old people as “capable” and “active” and “full of life,” or as “grumpy” or “helpless” or other negative attributes. They’ve used the scale to measure how much those descriptions match older people’s own self-perceptions.
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Want a successful career? Look for this trait in a spouse.
The Washington Post: A recent study by the Pew Research Center made waves when it reported that what never-married women want in a spouse, more than anything else, is someone with a good job. A full 78 percent of women said steady employment was important to them in a partner, more than the 70 percent who wanted someone with similar ideas about raising children or the 38 percent who cared about sharing moral or religious views. Yet if they're thinking about their own careers, women — and men — might want to focus more on something else.
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Extremist Groups Appeal to Those Uncertain About Identity
In a world threatened by extremist groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Boko Haram, many people wonder what pull such violent, fear-mongering organizations have over their followers. In a new Current Directions in Psychological Science article, APS Fellow Michael A. Hogg, describes a theory explaining why people with no previous record of violence or extremist views might be joining these causes. Hogg proposes that “uncertainty-identity theory” — the role uncertainty plays in motivating people to join a social group to feel accepted — could be a contributing factor pushing people toward fringe groups — whether ideological, religious, or political.
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Cycles of Fear and Bias in the Criminal Justice System
Pacific Standard: Discussions about how to reform the criminal justice system—whether through sentence-reduction proposals for low-level crimes, or limiting the use of data analysis in making sentencing decisions, or fightingvoter disenfranchisement—all have one talking point in common. When an overzealous criminal justice system causes harm, it disproportionately harms minorities, because minorities are disproportionately represented at every stage of the system. These are oft-cited statistics, and for good reason: Although black and Hispanic Americans make up only 30 percent of the general population, together they make up 58 percent of the prison population.
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Can your mental attitude reverse the effects of aging?
CBS News: In studies over four decades, Harvard psychology professor Ellen Langer showed that mental attitude can reverse the effects of again and improve physical health. Now she wants to test the theory on cancer. Dr. Langer joins "CBS This Morning" to discuss her research. Watch the whole story: CBS News
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Your Positive Thinking Could Be Holding You Back
New York Magazine: The notion that simply imagining our deepest wishes coming true will help us attain them is everywhere these days. Best-selling books like The Secret and Chicken Soup for the Soul teach us that we can make good things happen just by thinking positively, and that positive thinkers are "healthier, more active, more productive — and held in higher regard by those around them." Advertisers, politicians, and economists all put a premium on the importance of being happy and optimistic; financial markets rise and fall on whether or not people seem hopeful. Popular music celebrates the ability of dreaming and dreamers to save the world.
