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Shock Study: U.S. Flag Only Boosts GOP
U.S. News & World Report: Just a brief exposure to an image of the American flag shifts voters, even Democrats, to Republican beliefs, attitudes and voting behavior even though most don't believe it will impact their politics, according to a new two-year study just published in the scholarly Psychological Science. What's more, according to three authors from the University Chicago, Cornell University and Hebrew University, the impact had staying power.
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The Psychology of Retirement
Earlier this year, the first baby boomer turned 65, and from now on, for years to come, 10,000 boomers will pass that milestone every day. That’s every day–which means that more than 69 million boomers will reach this symbolic age by 2030. So at this very moment, millions of working men and women are already wondering how to make the best decisions about retirement, specifically about how to finance the so-called Golden Years. Well, understanding human psychology may help–specifically the heuristic mind and irrational decision making.
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Queen bee syndrome: Women are warned to steer clear of female bosses if they want to rise through the ranks
Daily Mail: Powerful businesswomen block the rise of other women in the company due to sexism in the workplace, a new study shows. Psychologists have studied so-called ‘queen bee’ behaviour where top women distance themselves from other women and refuse to help them rise through the ranks. They concluded that when women were aware of gender bias at work, they were more likely to act like men and distance themselves from women. Read more: Daily Mail
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Common courtesy at the coffeehouse
CNN: Ah, cafes -- those coffee-scented cultural nerve centers where creative souls sip espresso and engage in existential thought. At least, that's how we'd like to think of them. Nowadays, many have become havens for 13-year-olds growing hyper on blended sugar bombs and sad scenesters pretending to work on their screenplays while actually clicking around on Facebook. As another heat wave belches its way across the States, cafes are becoming exceptionally attractive as a place to boot up your laptop, hook into the Wi-Fi and get some work done. Here are some top courtesy tips for not offending the staff or fellow worker bees in a packed coffeehouse. Read more: CNN
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Power Makes the Hypocrite Bold, Smug and Brazen
Forbes: We’ve all had the experience of listening to someone in a position of power rail against the moral ineptitude of others. Turn on the news on any given day and you’re likely to see someone moralizing about family values, for example. Most of us listen to these diatribes and wonder if those doing the judging would fare well under judgment—though we strongly suspect they would not. A study published in the journal Psychological Science confirms those suspicions. Researchers investigated whether people in positions of power that hold high standards for others actually live up to those standards themselves.
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Schadenfreude: Why the News Corp Phone Hacking Scandal Makes Some People Smile
Scientific American: Until very recently, even Rupert Murdoch 's sharpest critics might have admitted to envying the 80-year-old arch-conservative News Corporation CEO, who built a far-reaching media empire almost from scratch and made himself outstandingly rich even among billionaires. Now, though, amidst a phone hacking and corruption scandal that threatens to permanently damage his company, Murdoch is struggling to defend himself. Summoned to testify in front of a British Parliament committee investigating the scandal on Tuesday, he called it "the most humble day" of his career—and that was before a protester flung a shaving cream pie at his face. Read more: Scientific American
