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Work Engagement: Ironing Out the Details
Disaffected workers are so common in television and movies that they’ve become something of an archetype. Almost every show about working life includes at least one member of the team who would, quite frankly, rather be doing something else. The fact that audiences empathize — or identify — with these characters so much seems to suggest that disengagement is widespread. This problem hasn’t been lost on the business community — or on psychologists. The field of engagement study is still relatively new, but over the past decade, research on the topic has increased exponentially. In 2011, APS Fellow Arnold A. Bakker, Simon L. Albrecht, and Michael P.
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The Addict’s Perilous Bargain
The Huffington Post: I've spent a fair amount of time around addicts over the years, and this I know. Addicts are great bargainers. Addicts will promise to forego the pleasures of booze or drugs or food in exchange for future happiness, career success, marital bliss -- you name it. And as often as not, they renege on the deal. This is not a criticism -- just the gritty reality of addiction. Addicts mostly bargain with themselves -- their future selves -- and they don't welch because they are scoundrels. They lack the self-control to honor their promises.
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Alzheimer’s Challenges Notions Of Memory And Identity
NPR: Last week, comedian, actor and activist Seth Rogen about the importance of research on Alzheimer's disease, highlighting the emotional and financial burden the disease places on families — like his own — whose loved ones are affected. He noted that Alzheimer's often begins with an assault on relatively inconsequential memories, such as the location of keys, but eventually . As Rogen's testimony suggests, part of what makes Alzheimer's disease so devastating is the profound personal transformation that it seems to bring about. ... Within philosophy, theories of often rely on memory as a basis for identity.
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Researchers find better way to predict suicide attempts
USA Today: Asking a soldier about self-worth or emotional pain may be a better way of predicting suicide than inquiring whether they intend to kill themselves, researchers report. Research has shown that more than half of troops who die by suicide denied in their last medical appointment that they were contemplating the act. Scientists are concerned that they fail to admit suicidal thoughts out of worry it would harm their military career.
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And the Memory Wars Wage On
National Geographic: I was reminded of the “memory wars” of the 1990s yesterday when listening to an episode of Marc Maron’s popular WTF podcast. The guest, comedian Tom Arnold, told Maron about his traumatic childhood, which included an alcoholic mother who abandoned him and a neighbor who molested him. Arnold said he came to terms with the trauma through therapy, which culminated in him confronting the neighbor in person. The man denied it, apparently yelling at Arnold that his memories were wrong. It was a heartbreaking story, and obvious from Arnold’s telling that he deeply believes his memories are not at all wrong. ...
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The Psychology of Begging to Be Followed on Twitter
The Atlantic: “Twitter is the best and Twitter is the worst.” This was the response Dr. Marion Underwood, clinical psychologist and University of Texas at Dallas psychology professor, received from one of her 15-year-old daughter’s friends when she asked what the girl thought of the social networking juggernaut. “I can’t get off of it,” the girl elaborated. “I can’t stop getting on Twitter.” If these sound like the words of an "addict," it’s because they (at least kind of) are. Underwood was inspired to take her informal poll after watching the teen in question spend the entirety of her daughter’s birthday party glued to her phone, reading and sending tweets.
