-
How “likes” affect teenagers’ brains
The Economist: FOR the first six months after teenagers in Colorado pass their driving test, the state bans them from carrying non-sibling teenage passengers unless someone over 21 is also in the car. It is not alone in this ageist approach. Fourteen other American states impose similar restrictions. The reason is that mountains of data show teenagers take risks more readily in the presence of their peers. But, in today’s virtually enabled world, “presence” is a slippery concept.
-
Financial Stress Hurts, Literally
Scientific American Mind: Few things feel worse than not knowing when your next paycheck is coming. Economic insecurity has been shown to have a whole host of negative effects, including low self-esteem and impaired cognitive functioning. It turns out financial stress can also physically hurt, according to a paper published in February in Psychological Science. Read the whole story: Scientific American Mind
-
Unless You’re Oprah, ‘Be Yourself’ Is Terrible Advice.
The New York Times: IT was going to be the biggest presentation of my life — my first appearance on the TED Conference main stage — and I had already thrown out seven drafts. Searching for a new direction, I asked colleagues and friends for suggestions. “The most important thing,” the first one said, “is to be yourself.” The next six people I asked gave me the same tip. We are in the Age of Authenticity, where “be yourself” is the defining advice in life, love and career. Authenticity means erasing the gap between what you firmly believe inside and what you reveal to the outside world.
-
Memories of Unethical Actions Fade Faster
Research suggests that in order to hold their heads up high despite their bad behavior, individuals may strategically “forget” their own immoral deeds.
-
Psychologists grow increasingly dependent on online research subjects
Science: In May, 23,000 people voluntarily took part in thousands of social science experiments without ever visiting a lab. All they did was log on to Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), an online crowdsourcing service run by the Seattle, Washington–based company better known for its massive internet-based retail business. Those research subjects completed 230,000 tasks on their computers in 3.3 million minutes—more than 6 years of effort in total. The prodigious output demonstrates the popularity of an online platform that scientists had only begun to exploit 5 years ago. In 2011, according to Google Scholar, just 61 studies using MTurk were published; last year the number topped 1200.
-
The Surprising Link Between the Economy and Narcissism
The Wall Street Journal: Is there a link between narcissism and recessions? That’s the question raised by a recent paper published in the journal Psychological Science, which suggested that coming of age in a recession may lessen the chance of someone becoming a narcissist—that is, having a grandiose sense of self-worth, entitlement and superiority. The Wall Street Journal spoke to the paper’s author, Emily C. Bianchi, an assistant professor at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, about her work and its implications for millennials, CEO pay and people’s satisfaction with their work. Following are edited excerpts from the conversation. Read the whole story: The Wall Street Journal
