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Santos course breaks enrollment record
When professor of psychology and Head of Silliman College Laurie Santos decided to teach “Psychology and the Good Life,” she expected more than 100 students to enroll. Her classes tended to be popular, after all. What she did not expect was that “Psychology and the Good Life” would soon become the most popular class in the history of Yale College, with an enrollment surpassing 1,200. The class, offered for the first time this semester, focuses on psychological bases for methods to increase happiness and reduce stress.
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Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders
Intelligence makes for better leaders—from undergraduates to executives to presidents—according to multiple studies. It certainly makes sense that handling a market shift or legislative logjam requires cognitive oomph. But new research on leadership suggests that, at a certain point, having a higher IQ stops helping and starts hurting. Although previous research has shown that groups with smarter leaders perform better by objective measures, some studies have hinted that followers might subjectively view leaders with stratospheric intellect as less effective.
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New Research From Psychological Science
A sample of new research exploring: judgment, uncertainty, and optimism; processing of object-scene relations; and orienting biases in visual attention.
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The compassion deficit
The morning Chris Sampson performed his extraordinary act of compassion began in ordinary fashion, as such mornings usually do. It was an April weekday, rush hour in Edmonton's Churchill LRT station, a drowsy crowd gathered on the platform. Mr. Sampson, a 27-year-old college student in the second year of an electrical apprenticeship, was standing by the elevators and listening to a podcast on earbuds when, farther down the platform, two men began fighting. He edged closer to see what was happening. Then, as one of the men turned away, the second sucker-punched him in the head. The victim lost consciousness and fell onto the tracks as the warning bell clanged that the train was coming. Mr.
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College Branding Makes Beer More Salient to Underage Students
Marketing that uses university colors and logos can enhance beer brands’ salience, which may impact student drinking.
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Humblebragging Makes People Dislike You, According to Science
Your false modesty isn’t fooling anyone, according to a new study from researchers at Harvard and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. --- “It’s such a common phenomenon. All of us know some people in our lives, whether in social media or in the workplace, who do this annoying thing,” says study author Ovul Sezer, an assistant professor of organizational behavior at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. “You think, as the humblebragger, that it’s the best of both worlds, but what we show is that sincerity is actually the key ingredient.” Sezer and her team conducted a series of experiments to determine how common humblebragging is and how others perceive it.
