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New Research From Psychological Science
Who Took the “x” Out of Expectancy-Value Theory? A Psychological Mystery, a Substantive-Methodological Synergy, and a Cross-National Generalization Benjamin Nagengast, Herbert W. Marsh, L. Francesca Scalas, Man Xu, Kit-Tai Hau, and Ulrich Trautwein The dominant theory used for predicting human motivation is expectancy-value theory (EVT), in which people respond to novel information by forming beliefs, assigning values based on the beliefs, and creating an expectation based on those beliefs and values.
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The Four Loko Effect?
In the fall of 2010, 17 students at New Jersey’s Ramapo College, along with six of their friends, were hospitalized for severe alcohol intoxication after a night of partying. Soon after, a similar event occurred at Central Washington State College, where nine students became ill and required hospitalization. One student reportedly had a blood alcohol level of .3 percent, dangerously high. The culprit in both these cases was identified as Four Loko, a caffeinated, fruit-flavored malt beverage that had been on the market since 2005. Ramapo immediately banned the drink from campus, as did the state of Washington.
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Flagging up bias
The Economist: FLAGS are powerful symbols. They appear on ships, parliaments, schools, lapels and even—sometimes—underwear. Exactly what effect they have on people’s behaviour, though, is seldom a topic of scientific inquiry. Melissa Ferguson of Cornell University is trying to change that. In 2007 she and her colleagues conducted a study in Israel. They found that those who had had subliminal exposure to their country’s flag before being asked their political views expressed more moderate opinions about the Palestinian conflict than did those who were not shown the flag.
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Pet theraphy: gli animali domestici migliorano davvero la salute?
Yourself Italia: Una nuova ricerca sfata la credenza comune secondo la quale avere un animale domestico porta ad una vita più felice, più sana e più lunga. Secondo Harold Herzog, professore di psicologia alla Western Carolina University e autore di un recente studio in materia, queste credenze non sono necessariamente false, ma non sono mai state dimostrate.
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How Your Online Image Affects Your Professional Life
You Beauty: While the professional networking site LinkedIn is now regarded as the second most-popular social networking site in the U.S., Facebook still stands strong at number one, with over 160 million users. Your Facebook profile can play an important role in your professional life, whether or not you realize it. And the first thing people see on Facebook—before they read about your dual degree or favorite rom-coms—is your profile picture. If you’re in the market for a job, it’s a no-brainer that you shouldn’t showcase your rowdy margarita night. But what about a more conservative pic with a group of your friends? Maybe not. Employers don’t necessarily want to know how friendly you are.
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Don’t Blame Facebook for the Narcissism Epidemic
Discovery News: Social media-minded millennials are the most narcissistic generation on record, but recent psychological research indicates that Facebook isn’t to blame for that image obsession. Despite multiple media reports to the contrary, Facebook and social networking sites (SNS) aren’t fueling a narcissism epidemic among younger people. “We do know that narcissism levels among millennials are higher than previous generations and that this rise in narcissism has coincided with the explosion of Facebook,” said Shawn Bergman, an assistant professor of organizational psychology at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C.
