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Why do fans riot after a win? The science behind Philadelphia’s Super Bowl chaos.
Fires in the streets. Smashed windows. Flipped cars. Light poles toppled by alcohol-fueled crowds. Philadelphia awoke this morning after the triumph of Super Bowl Sunday to a city in disarray and this vexing question: What is it about sports that makes fans riot? Why do fans care so intensely about their teams? What is going on in their brains after a win or loss? What circumstances make a riot more likely? --- The effect manifests itself physically. Fans’ testosterone levels often increase after their team wins and decrease when they lose, according to some studies.
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The Banana Trick and Other Acts of Self-Checkout Thievery
Beneath the bland veneer of supermarket automation lurks an ugly truth: There’s a lot of shoplifting going on in the self-scanning checkout lane. But don’t call it shoplifting. The guys in loss prevention prefer “external shrinkage.” Self-checkout theft has become so widespread that a whole lingo has sprung up to describe its tactics. Ringing up a T-bone ($13.99/lb) with a code for a cheap ($0.49/lb) variety of produce is “the banana trick.” If a can of Illy espresso leaves the conveyor belt without being scanned, that’s called “the pass around.” “The switcheroo” is more labor-intensive: Peel the sticker off something inexpensive and place it over the bar code of something pricey.
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How do you get your kids to read books? Here’s one rather simple idea.
Daniel Willingham, by the way, is a well-regarded psychology professor at the University of Virginia who focuses his research on the application of cognitive psychology to K-12 schools and higher education. He was appointed by President Barack Obama to the National Board for Education Sciences, the independent and nonpartisan arm of the U.S. Education Department, which provides statistics, research and evaluation on education topics.
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Could A More Individualistic World Also Be A More Altruistic One?
Individualism is that rugged frontier quality that reflects a mix of independence, valuing free expression, and eschewing close family ties relative to more distant relationships. And it is on the rise. Not just in the United States — which has long been ranked as one of the world's most individualist countries — but nearly everywhere. In a 2017 study examining five decades worth of data across 78 countries — from Norway to Nigeria, and Canada to Colombia — psychologists Henri Santos, Michael Varnum, and Igor Grossmann found that people increasingly report that they value friends more relative to family, want their children to be independent, and value free expression.
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Polluted Air May Pollute Our Morality
Data from archival and experimental studies indicate that exposure to air pollution, either physically or mentally, is linked with unethical behavior such as crime and cheating.
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Taking Playtime Seriously
Play is a universal, cross-cultural and necessary attribute of childhood, essential for development and essential for learning. Experts who study it say that play is intrinsic to children’s natures, but still needs support and attention from the adults around them. Children are natural players, right from the beginning. “It’s hard to imagine when an infant or a toddler isn’t playing,” said Catherine Tamis-LeMonda, a professor of applied psychology at New York University who studies play and learning in babies and young children. She cited, for example, the joys of mushing food, pulling books off a shelf or making noises rattling a paper bag.
