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One Way to Rein in Powerful People? Honest Feedback
While it’s standard practice for supervisors to provide regular feedback to their subordinates, it’s far less common for employees to get the opportunity to candidly appraise their supervisors’ performance. A new study suggests that honesty may be the best policy for ensuring that leaders look out for everyone, not just themselves. By definition, people in positions of power call the shots as to how resources are divided up. This power gives leaders the opportunity to behave selfishly, keeping more resources for themselves rather than sharing perks and profits equitably with employees.
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How Do You Get People To Work Harder? Keep The Reward A Secret
NPR: When we're asked to do something, we often ask, "What's in it for me?" or "What am I going to get out of it?" Research suggests not knowing what you will get can sometimes be a strong motivator. ... GREENE: ...And it is actually that the mystery of not knowing why you are doing something can actually make you want to do it more, which sounds a little surprising. What's this new research? VEDANTAM: Well, that's right. So when you think about human behavior, most of us think that we actually want to know what's going to happen. If I ask you, David, would you work at NPR, but we'll tell you only at the end of the year whether you're going to get paid and how much you're going to get paid?
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‘But You Never Said…’ Why Couples Remember Differently
The Wall Street Journal: Carrie Aulenbacher remembers the conversation clearly: Her husband told her he wanted to buy an arcade machine he found on eBay. He said he’d been saving up for it as a birthday present to himself. The spouses sat at the kitchen table and discussed where it would go in the den. Two weeks later, Ms. Aulenbacher came home from work and found two arcade machines in the garage—and her husband beaming with pride. “What are these?” she demanded. “I told you I was picking them up today,” he replied. She asked him why he’d bought two. He said he’d told her he was getting “a package deal.” She reminded him they’d measured the den for just one. He stood his ground.
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Michael Gazzaniga: Tales from Both Sides of the Brain
NPR's Science Friday: The two hemispheres of our brain specialize in different jobs—the right side processes spatial and temporal information, and the left side controls speech and language. How do these two sides come together to create one mind? Pioneering neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga, author of the new book Tales from Both Sides of the Brain, discusses his early work on discovering how these halves communicate. Read an excerpt from the book here. Read the whole story: NPR's Science Friday
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Diner Beware
The Atlantic: In the 1760s, Mathurin Roze de Chantoiseau opened a series of Parisian shops that boasted a curative consommé. Although the main draw was the broth, Roze’s establishments also set a new standard for dining out, with individual tables, service throughout the day, and nice dishware. In her history of dining, Rebecca Spang credits Roze with inventing the modern restaurant. Today, enterprising restaurateurs can skip the medicinal broth and head straight for the hard data. Economists, psychologists, and marketing professors alike have generated reams of instructive research about restaurants.
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The Science Of Suicide: Researchers Work To Determine Who’s Most At Risk
wbur: BOSTON — Up on the 12th floor of a nondescript concrete building in Cambridge, about a dozen Harvard University researchers spend their days trying to crack the code on something that’s eluded scientists for decades. “We’re really lacking in our ability to accurately predict suicidal behavior and to prevent it,” says psychology professor Matt Nock, who runs the so-called Nock Lab, which is focused entirely on suicide and self-harm.
