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Bite-Size Science, False Positives, and Citation Amnesia
The Chronicle of Higher Education: There are good things about short psychology papers. They’re easier to edit and review, not to mention less time-consuming to write. A short paper on a CV looks just as impressive as a long one. Also, a short paper is more likely to be noticed by reporters with little to no attention span—especially if the result is interestingly contrarian—and thus bring the researcher widespread acclaim and riches. Or at least a mention in some blog.
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Il linguaggio dell’amore esiste
La Stampa: Il linguaggio dell’amore esiste, eccome. E non solo esiste, ma sembra essere persino un elemento predittivo di un rapporto felice e duraturo, affermano alcuni psicologi. A quanto pare sia gli uomini che le donne sono fortemente attratti dalle persone dell’altro sesso che parlano in modo simile al loro: questo è quanto asseriscono alcuni ricercatori dell’Università del Texas (Usa), i quali affermano sulle pagine di Psychological Science, su cui è stato pubblicato lo studio, che lo stile di linguaggio adottato da un maschio e una femmina in seguito al loro incontro potrebbe prevedere se i due sono candidati al fidanzamento.
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Why Are Older People Happier?
Older people tend to be happier. But why? Some psychologists believe that cognitive processes are responsible—in particular, focusing on and remembering positive events and leaving behind negative ones; those processes, they think, help older people regulate their emotions, letting them view life in a sunnier light. “There is a lot of good theory about this age difference in happiness,” says psychologist Derek M. Isaacowitz of Northeastern University, “but much of the research does not provide direct evidence” of the links between such phenomena and actual happiness.
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Study of the Day: The National Pride That Brings Happiness
The Atlantic: Nationalism that's rooted in respect for laws and institutions, not race or religion, makes citizens the happiest, according to new research. PROBLEM: Previous research has shown that national pride makes people feel good about their own lives. But does what you're proud of matter too? METHODOLOGY: Tim Reeskens, a sociologist from Catholic University in Belgium, and Matthew Wright, a political scientist at American University, categorized national pride into "ethnic nationalism," which is tied to ancestry and religious beliefs, and "civic nationalism," which prioritizes respect for a country's institutions and laws.
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Gender And Humor: Was Christopher Hitchens Right When He Said Women Aren’t Funny?
Huffington Post: Celebrated polemicist Christopher Hitchens, who passed away last month, never lacked targets for his writerly ire: Henry Kissinger, Bill Clinton, Gore Vidal -- even Mother Teresa was not immune. But in a polarizing 2007 Vanity Fair essay, Hitchens outdid himself, taking aim at the entire female species. Women aren't as funny as men, he declared. Case closed. The entertainment industry seems to agree. According to the Writers Guild of America, women represent just 28 percent of all jobs in television, and 18 percent in the film industry. Such a radical imbalance might leave us all believing that if something is funny, it must've come from a guy.
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Week in Ideas
The Wall Street Journal: Psychology Big Shots The figurative big man on campus may think he's a literal big man, too. To study the effects of power on perception, researchers measured the height of 100 male and female college students, gave them a bogus test purportedly measuring leadership ability, and then assigned them to serve as either a manager or an employee in a role-playing task. The assignment was random, but the participants were told that it was based on leadership potential (the role-playing task never actually happened). After this set-up, the students gave personal information, including their height.
