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Breast-Feeding Makes Women ‘Mama Bears’
Yahoo! Canada: Like mama bears ferociously protecting their young, new research suggests human moms, at least those who are breast-feeding, can act more aggressively than others. In a controlled lab setting, breast-feeding moms were indeed more aggressive toward people who were rude to them. "Breast-feeding mothers aren’t going to go out and get into bar fights, but if someone is threatening them or their infant, our research suggests they may be more likely to defend themselves in an aggressive manner," study researcher Jennifer Hahn-Holbrook, of the University of California in Los Angeles, said in a statement.
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Narcissists Make Horrible Bosses: Study
U.S. News & World Report: Narcissists' too-high opinion of themselves means they don't make good business or political leaders, according to a new study. Traits such as high self-esteem, confidence and dominance often help narcissists rise to the top, but once they take over, their self-involvement and authoritarianism get in the way, the researchers explained. The researchers' study of 150 people who were asked to make decisions in groups of three showed that narcissists' self-centeredness impeded the free and creative exchange of ideas, which is a crucial part of effective group decision-making and performance. In the study, each group was asked to choose a job candidate.
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Breast-feeding moms more aggressive, study says
CBS News: Girl power? Maybe it should be grrrrl power, at least when it comes to mothers who breast-feed their babies. Nursing moms protect their babies twice as aggressively as their bottle-feeding counterparts, according to a provocative new study. "Breast-feeding mothers aren't going to go out and get into bar fights, but if someone is threatening them or their infant, our research suggests they may be more likely to defend themselves in an aggressive manner," study author Dr. Jennifer Hahn-Holbrook, a UCLA psychologist, said in a written statement. What explains a phenomenon that some are calling the "mama bear" effect?
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Don’t let others stress you out
CNN: When I tell Pam, my stressed-out lawyer friend, that stress is contagious, she seems unimpressed. “I have always kind of suspected that,” she says, “ever since in 'Ghostbusters II,' when the guys discover that people’s nonstop negativity has created an evil slime that threatens humanity. Then they find out the slime reacts to both positive and negative emotions, so they have a bunch of New Yorkers hold hands and sing ‘Kumbaya’ to it in Central Park or something. And boom! The slime dissolves.” I’m sort of speechless, though the comparison is oddly compelling.
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Why we shun creativity in the work place
The Globe and Mail: You come up with a great new idea at work, or at home. Or a political leader actually tries something “new and different” when faced with a previously intractable problem. But then, rather than grateful acceptance, or even a fair hearing, the idea is squashed, ridiculed, or otherwise ignored. Sound familiar? It should. As anyone who has ever suggested a creative solution knows, people often avoid the uncomfortable uncertainty of novel solutions regardless of potential benefit.
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Relationship with mom is crucial for boys
Courier-Journal: A boy’s relationship with his mother changes as he grows up, and the way it changes can affect his behavior when he’s a teen, a new study says. It included 265 mother-son pairs from low-income families in Pittsburgh who were followed from when the son was 5 years old through adolescence. The researchers assessed the level of conflict and warmth between the mothers and sons and other aspects of their lives, including the son’s temperament and behavior, the mother’s relationship with her romantic partner, and the quality of the mother’s parenting.
