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‘Everyday Sadists’ Among Us
The New York Times: Try this quick word association: Sadist. And you respond… Hannibal Lecter? The Marquis de Sade? Actually, you didn’t need to come up with representatives of extreme criminal behavior or sexual torture. You might just as well have considered the colleague two cubicles over. The one who spends lunch hour splattering the brains of video game characters. Those who enjoy inflicting at least moderate pain on others, directly or vicariously, mingle with us daily. Think mean girls, taunting a classmate to commit suicide. Or the professor who grills a squirming, clueless student, lips curled in a small, savage smile. Delroy L.
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New report finds that effects of child abuse and neglect, if untreated, can last a lifetime
The Washington Post: In the first major study of child abuse and neglect in 20 years, researchers with the National Academy of Sciences reported Thursday that the damaging consequences of abuse can not only reshape a child’s brain but also last a lifetime. Untreated, the effects of child abuse and neglect, the researchers found, can profoundly influence victims’ physical and mental health, their ability to control emotions and impulses, their achievement in school, and the relationships they form as children and as adults. ...
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Seal Any Deal
Prevention: If you find yourself sealing any negotiation deal with a very sweaty handshake, don’t be embarrassed—be proud! A new study in Psychological Science found sweaty palms and a racing heart actually help your negotiate the best deal. Researchers from MIT made participants walk on a treadmill—some fast, some slow—while negotiating the price of a used car. Read the whole story: Prevention
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Sports fans: The gluttony of defeat
The Boston Globe: It’s 4th and goal. The announcer screams, “It’s gut-check time!” Turns out, if your team chokes, it’s gut-check time for you too — literally. In a study in the journal Psychological Science, researchers found that fans of losing National Football League teams eat more unhealthy food the Monday after a game while fans of victorious teams decreased their intake of saturated fat and calories. The effect was true for both men and women and most pronounced in cities with the most devoted fans, with saturated fat consumption zooming up by 28 percent the Monday after a loss and decreasing 16 percent after a victory. Read the whole story: The Boston Globe
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Parents’ Harsh Words Might Make Teen Behaviors Worse
NPR: Most parents yell at their kids at some point. It often feels like the last option for getting children to pay attention and shape up. But harsh verbal discipline may backfire. Teenagers act worse if they're yelled at, a study finds. Researchers asked parents of 13-year-olds in the Philadelphia area how often in the past year they'd yelled, cursed or called the kid "dumb or lazy or some other word like that" after he or she had done something wrong. Almost half of the nearly 900 parents said they used harsh verbal punishment — 45 percent of the moms and 42 percent of the fathers.
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How to Cope When Your Spouse Embarrasses You
The Wall Street Journal: Michele Phillips and her husband, Gary Wadds, were hanging out on the porch with friends one evening in Piermont, N.Y., when the talk turned to hiking. One person mentioned a local trail, another raved about her new hiking boots. Then Ms. Phillips chimed in with, "Gary and I fooled around behind some rocks on a path on Bear Mountain—and another hiker saw us." ... "The number of ways for spouses to embarrass each other is almost endless," says Mark Leary, professor of psychology and neuroscience and director of the Social Psychology Program at Duke University.
