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Angry Faces Back Up Verbal Threats, Making Them Seem More Credible
We’ve all been on the receiving end of an angry glare, whether from a teacher, parent, boss, or significant other. These angry expressions seem to boost the effectiveness of threats without actual aggression, according to
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Distance From a Conflict May Promote Wiser Reasoning
If you're faced with a troubling personal dilemma, such as a cheating spouse, you may think about it more wisely if you consider it as an outside observer would, according to research forthcoming in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. "These results are the first to demonstrate a new type of bias within ourselves when it comes to wise reasoning about an interpersonal relationship dilemma," says psychology researcher and study author Igor Grossmann of the University of Waterloo in Canada.
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Selfie Alert: Photos Often Don’t Reflect the Real You
Discovery News: Before you submit that headshot of yourself on LinkedIn or Facebook, you might want to consider — does it really show you in a good light? A new study finds that people can glean wildly inaccurate first impressions of people based on slight variations in how a person's face is presented. "The findings suggest that the images we post online can affect us in unexpected, and undesired, ways, subtly biasing other people's decisions," Alexander Todorov of Princeton University said in a press release. Read the whole story: Discovery News
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Lines on the Road are Longer Than You Think
Most people believe that the dashed lines painted down the middle of a road are about 24 inches in length. And they’re off by about 8 feet. US federal guidelines dictate that the dashed lines separating traffic lanes or indicating where passing is allowed run 10 feet in length. But a recent study showed that people grossly underestimate the length of those lines, and thus could be misjudging distances as they drive. That means they could be driving too fast.
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Pinpointing Patient Needs
Rachael Wandrey, with the support of her mentor, Katie E. Mosack, is studying the unique experiences and social support needs of a virtual community of lesbian breast cancer patients. She believes not only that lesbian women experience higher incidence of and mortality from breast cancer than their heterosexual counterparts, but that they also likely experience breast cancer differently from heterosexual women given the context of homophobia and heterosexism. Data were collected from the lesbian-specific discussion forum found on breastcancer.org.
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A Recipe for Healthy Conflict
When the members of a work team start arguing about a task they’re assigned to complete, their anger or irritation are obviously piqued. But in many cases, those debates and disagreements may invigorate them and leave them happier with their jobs. Researchers have long believed that task conflict — which occurs when group members disagree about the content of a task being performed — can be beneficial because team members share different opinions and perspectives. But studies demonstrating that effect have been elusive. A trio of behavioral researchers set out to test the effects of task conflict on emotions and job satisfaction. Gergana Todorova (University of Miami), Julia B.