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Why Power in the Workplace Makes People Feel They Control Time
The Wall Street Journal: When it comes to time, people in power believe they have more of it at their disposal than others. In reality, time is a great equalizer. Minutes tick by at the same pace for all, whether the sun measures our day by lengthening shadows or an atomic clock subdivides our every second into 9 billion molecular moments. But positions of authority give people a sense they are better able to control time than subordinates, even though both groups are equally at the mercy of the clock. That conclusion is among the findings of five recent studies that measured how status and authority—the "boss effect"—shape our inner time zones. ...
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Does This Make Me Sound Insecure?
Slate: Insecurity, like blood, will out. It makes us feel so vulnerable and exposed that we eventually expose ourselves and become vulnerable. Like a scarlet sock in the load of white wash, insecurity has the irksome power to stain our speech and writing, interfering with the immaculate poise we’d like to project. Yet if you know what linguistic tics to look for, you can recognize self-doubt (and perhaps bleach the fuchsia from your pants before anyone notices). Insecurity has several linguistic calling cards, and learning to spot them may help you both assuage others and more skillfully present your self to the world.
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Do you remember more if the memory is personally relevant?
Examiner: A psychology researcher at North Carolina State University is proposing a new theory to explain why older adults show declining cognitive ability with age, but don’t necessarily show declines in the workplace or daily life. One key appears to be how motivated older adults are to maintain focus on cognitive tasks. The paper, “Selective Engagement of Cognitive Resources: Motivational Influences on Older Adults’ Cognitive Functioning,” presently appears online in the July 2014 issue of the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science. The work builds on research performed under multiple grants from the National Institute on Aging.
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Why We’re Wrong About Affirmative Action: Stereotypes, Testing and the ‘Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations’
The Huffington Post: Earlier this month a divided Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the University of Texas' right to use race amongst its criteria for undergraduate admissions, however limited that right may be. While the decision will be viewed as a small victory for supporters of race-based affirmative action, there is little reason to believe that the widely held claim that black and Latino students enter selective universities as comparatively inferior students will not cease to rear its ugly head.
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Research Reveals Pervasive Implicit Hierarchies for Race, Religion, and Age
As much as social equality is advocated in the United States, a new study suggests that besides evaluating their own race and religion most favorably, people share implicit hierarchies for racial, religious, and age groups that may be different from their conscious, explicit attitudes and values. The study findings appear in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. “People from relatively low-status groups can readily report that their group does not have the most power. At the same time, most groups, even if they have less social power, favor their own group above all others,” explains psychological scientist Jordan R.
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The Key to Work-Life Balance is Really Work-Life Harmony
Should you leave now to make it on time to a family dinner, or stay late at work to finish up that last minute project? At some point, most of us have probably had to choose between the demands of work and our personal lives. Research has consistently shown that a healthy “work-life balance” is vital for maintaining job satisfaction and avoiding burnout. However, a new study suggests that the idea of “work-life balance” itself may be a problem. The standard concept of work-life balance is often seen as a zero-sum game, where work and life are completely separate domains that are constantly competing for time and energy.
