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Unlocking the Conspiracy Mind-Set
The New York Times: When I first met the NASA climate researcher Gavin Schmidt a few years ago, we discussed the proliferation of material on the Internet attacking mainstream climate science. I asked him whether he thought climate contrarians were flirting with conspiracy theory in their views. ... It all started last year, when a social scientist named Stephan Lewandowsky, of the University of Western Australia, and two colleagues published a rather provocative paper. It was based on an anonymous Internet survey of the readers of climate blogs. Read the whole story: The New York Times
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Le pouvoir rend heureux (power makes them happy)
Le Monde: La solitude de la fonction, la lourdeur de la charge, les renoncements qu'elle implique sont invoqués pour justifier les émoluments conséquents de certains dirigeants. Pas du plus grand nombre, qui gagnait en moyenne 65 780 euros par an en 2010, selon l'Insee, pour diriger plus de 134 000 personnes. Mais des patrons de grands groupes, dont les rémunérations se chiffrent en millions d'euros par an. ...
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What a Mess: Chaos and Creativity
The Huffington Post: One of the most influential ideas about crime prevention to come out in recent years is something called the "broken windows theory." According to this theory, small acts of deviance -- littering, graffiti, broken windows -- will, if ignored, escalate into more serious crime. In practice, this theory leads to zero tolerance of public disorder and petty crime. Both theory and practice have been embraced by some big city mayors, most notably Rudy Giuliani, who credited the strategy with significantly cutting serious crime in 1990s New York City. ... This was the point of departure for psychological scientist Kathleen Vohs and her colleagues at the University of Minnesota.
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Please, Don’t Be This Couple
Prevention: Couples retreats, group bike rides, dinner reservations for four? Yup, sounds like you're in love—and so are a bunch of your friends. But when was the last time you booked a table with an odd number of seats? According to new research in the journal Psychological Science, that couples-only social circle might cultivate an unhealthy prejudice against your single pals. In a study of 450 people, both single and coupled, researchers found that those in a stable relationship were more likely to treat individuals of the same status favorably—even in situations where relationship status was irrelevant, like a job interview or voting for a political candidate.
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Why Gender Equality Stalled
The New York Times: This week is the 50th anniversary of the publication of Betty Friedan’s international best seller, “The Feminine Mystique,” which has been widely credited with igniting the women’s movement of the 1960s. Readers who return to this feminist classic today are often puzzled by the absence of concrete political proposals to change the status of women. But “The Feminine Mystique” had the impact it did because it focused on transforming women’s personal consciousness. ...
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How a bad relationship can make you ill – by damaging your immune system
The Daily Mail: Feeling anxious about close relationships could make you fall ill - by damaging your immune system. Not only does anxiety appear to raise levels of stress hormones in the body, it also makes it less effective at fighting off illness. ... Though some scientists believe that attachment anxiety can be traced back to childhood, Dr Jaremka noted that people who feel anxious can change, over time. 'It's not necessarily a permanent state of existence,' she said in the study published in the journal Psychological Science. Read the whole story: The Daily Mail
