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Why asking for a pay rise via email DOESN’T work
It might sound scary, but if you really want to get a pay rise, then meet your boss in person rather than email a request. That's according to scientists in California who claim spoken arguments have a more powerful impact than those that are written. This is because reading a point of view can 'dehumanise' an argument, leading to less empathy, and less chance the reader will come round to thinking in the same way.
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Social Notworking: Is Generation Smartphone Really More Prone to Unhappiness?
Mobile devices have become our alarm clocks and newspapers and, via platforms like Facebook and Instagram, portals to our social lives. With smartphones inhabiting the pockets of roughly three quarters of all Americans and tablets borne by half, a pale blue glow silhouettes modern life. As screens have become ubiquitous, so has the phenomenon of depressed or suicidal teens, notes Jean Twenge, a psychologist at San Diego State University and the author of iGen: Why Today's Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy—and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood.
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Women Are Invited to Give Fewer Talks Than Men at Top U.S. Universities
A few years ago, Michelle Hebl attended the latest in a series of talks hosted by her department at Rice Univeristy. The speaker was a man, and Hebl realized that she hadn’t heard any female speakers in that series for a while. “Maybe I’m just not thinking about them,” she thought. “Or maybe it’s something we should look at.”* Colloquium talks, where academics are invited to discuss their research, give speakers a chance to publicize their work, build collaborations with new colleagues, and boost their reputations. The talks can lead to promotions or job offers. They are big opportunities.
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Why We Can’t Stop Texting and Driving
Once smartphones arrived in the hands of the masses, it didn’t take long for drivers to start using them behind the wheel — not only to make calls, but also to send text messages. Even more alarming: studies showed that the presence of passengers, even child passengers, didn’t seem to deter drivers from using their shiny new toys. Distracted driving crashes began to spike, safety campaigns were launched, and now the warnings are everywhere. Signs, billboards, stickers, television and radio ads, even paid search results. The messages use every imaginable hook: statistics, tragic stories, disturbing crash pictures, even analogies between smartphones, booze and guns.
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Why Don’t America’s Rich Give More to Charity?
The rising wealth of the top tier of earners seems to be inaugurating a new age of charitable giving. More than 150 billionaires from around the world have now signed Bill and Melinda Gates’ Giving Pledge, promising to donate at least half of their fortunes to charity. Others give money to hospitals, parks, or schools, renaming them in the process; in New York City, Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall is now known as David Geffen Hall, while the historic 42nd Street library is called the Steven A. Schwarzman Building.
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Gift-Giving Tips From Scientists
Every holiday season, as we drive ourselves crazy at the mall or shopping online, soaked in the existential dread that comes from trying to find gifts our loved ones might appreciate, I think of the great writer and social critic James Baldwin, who wrote: “If the hope of giving/is to love the living,/the giver risks madness/in the act of giving.” Perhaps social science can keep us sane. In an effort to help you with your gift-giving decisions, I offer three insights gleaned from recent research. ... Second, “regifting,” or giving away a gift someone else gave to you, though considered a social taboo, is not quite as ghastly as often thought.
