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Want to Feel Taller? Become the Boss
Science: French president Nicolas Sarkozy (right) is only 5'5'' (1.65 meters), but he might not even be aware of it (although his raised heels speak otherwise). That's because power makes people feel taller than they really are, according to a new study. Researchers asked 49 volunteers to write about a time when they were in a position where they held authority over others, while another 49 were told to write about being in a submissive position. Then the researchers had the participants create avatars for themselves in a video game. Read the whole story: Science
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Tall tales: Powerful people tend to overestimate height
msnbc: In June 2010, the Swedish-born Chairman of BP Carl-Henric Svanberg touched off a firestorm of controversy with his remarks about his company's reaction to the Gulf oil spill. "... we care about the small people. I hear comments sometimes that large oil companies are greedy companies or don't care. But that is not the case in BP. We care about the small people." The twice used reference to "small people" hit a raw nerve with residents of the Gulf in the wake of the manmade disaster. Svanberg was quickly forced to apologize and admit "he spoke clumsily." Read the full story: msnbc
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Helping Students Motivate Themselves
The New York Times: A recent Times article, “Motivating Students With Cash-for-Grades Incentive,” looks at efforts around the world to pay students for academic achievement. In it, Edward Deci, a psychologist at the University of Rochester and author of of “Why We Do What We Do,” is quoted: “It is easy to get people to do things by paying them if you’ve got enough money and they’ve got the necessary skills,” he said. “But they will keep doing it only as long as you keep paying them. And even if they were doing it before, when you stop paying them the behavior drops to a lower level than when you started paying them.
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13 Common (But Silly) Superstitions
LiveScience: If you are spooked by Friday the 13th, you're in for a whammy of a year. This week's unlucky day is the first of three for 2012. And it would come as no surprise if many among us hold at least some fear of freaky Friday, as we humans are a superstitious lot. Many superstitions stem from the same human trait that causes us to believe in monsters and ghosts: When our brains can't explain something, we make stuff up. In fact, a 2010 study found that superstitions can sometimes work, because believing in something can improve performance on a task. Here, then, are 13 of the most common superstitions. Read the full story: LiveScience
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Ini Tujuh Bahan Dasar Meraih Kebahagiaan
Metro TV News Indonesia: Ilmuan Australia telah mempublikasikan dalam jurnal sains populer, Psychological Science, mengenai daftar 'bahan' yang diperlukan seseorang untuk benar-benar merasa bahagia. Ilmuwan itu berkomentar pada daftar pra-syarat untuk kebahagiaan. Menurut para peneliti, ada tujuh daftar mengenai 'bahan' kebahagiaan: Read the full story: Metro TV News Indonesia
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Taking Another Look at the Roots of Social Psychology
Psychology textbooks have made the same historical mistake over and over. Now the inaccuracy is pointed out in a new article published in Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. For generations, social psychology students have read that Norman Triplett did the first social psychology experiment in 1889, when he found that children reeled in a fishing line faster when they were in the presence of another child than when they were alone. But almost everything about that sentence is wrong.
