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New Research From Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Psychological Science: Educational Attainment and Personality Are Genetically Intertwined René Mõttus, Anu Realo, Uku Vainik, Jüri Allik, and Tõnu Esk In this study, the researchers examined whether phenotypic variation in personality traits is associated with polygenic propensity for educational attainment. The researchers examined more than 3,000 Estonian adults who were part of the Estonian Biobank cohort. The participants gave a blood sample for DNA testing, reported their highest level of educational attainment, and completed an assessment of personality domains of the five-factor model and their 30 facets.
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A new way to look at emotions – and how to master yours
One day at graduate school, one of Lisa Feldman Barrett’s colleagues asked her out on a date. She didn’t really fancy him, but she had been in the lab all day and felt like a change of scenery, so she agreed to go to the local coffee shop. As they chatted, however, she started to become flushed in the face, her stomach was churning, and her head seemed to whirl. Maybe she was wrong, she thought: perhaps she really did like him. By the time they left, she’d already agreed to go on a second date. ... How could someone mistake the rush of an infection for the fever of love?
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Seven Ways to Reduce Stress in Anxious Times
Wine. Chocolate. Binge-watching “The Crown.” How are your coping strategies working for you these days? Therapists have, for months, been reporting a significant increase in clients who are stressed and saddened by current events—hurricanes, fires, the threat of nuclear war. In some cases, they say, these large-scale worries are undermining people’s ability to cope with their own private stressors. ... A study by researchers at Yale University and the University of Toronto, published in 2013 in the journal “Psychological Science, showed that people often misattribute the source of their anxiety. They think it is one thing when it really is another. As a result, they make bad decisions.
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A Big Test of Police Body Cameras Defies Expectations
Usually, we behave better when we know we’re being watched. According to decades of research, the presence of other people, cameras or even just a picture of eyes seems to nudge us toward civility: We become more likely to give to charity, for example, and less likely to speed, steal or take more than our fair share of candy. But what happens when the cameras are on the chests of police officers? The results of the largest, most rigorous study of police body cameras in the United States came out Friday morning, and they are surprising both police officers and researchers.
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Washington, DC Government Applies Behavioral Science to Study Body-Worn Cameras
The Lab @ DC, a research team within the Washington, DC government, has just released the results of a two-year-long study investigating the effects of police body-worn cameras on policing in DC—the largest study of its kind. This government research team concluded that the introduction of these cameras did not have an effect on either police use of force or civilian complaints, and these findings raise new avenues for further research. The results of this body-worn camera research project are already making waves in some of the US’s premier news outlets.
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Motorcycles Are Missed Because Drivers Aren’t Looking for Them
Drivers were tested on their ability to spot an unanticipated motorcycle. If this were a test in school, they would have failed.
