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Twins Raised Apart Remarkably Similar
New York Magazine: Jack Yufe and Oskar Stohr were identical twins who were separated from each other as babies, when their parents divorced. The boys were raised apart and did not meet again until they were 21. Yufe died earlier this week, at the age of 82, and the Los Angeles Times details the striking similarities he shared with his twin brother, though there was that one exception: Yufe was raised Jewish in Trinidad, whereas Stohr grew up in Germany, where he joined up with the Nazi movement as a teenager.
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Here’s the Science of the Happy Cry
New York Magazine: On Monday, Oxford Dictionaries released its word — or shall we say, feeling — of the year: that oxymoronic emoji your buds are always tossing around in text conversations, which shows a smiley face lined with streaming tears on either side, meant to convey something along the lines of “tears of joy” or “laughing to the point of crying.” On the one hand, yes, it is kind of ridiculous to select an emoji as the “word” of the year. But on the other hand, there really isn’t an existing English word that expresses the incongruous emotional outburst that little emoji gets across.
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Unconscious Teacher Bias Harms Black College Students
Pacific Standard: Racial tension has recently erupted into bitter conflict at several major universities, including Yale and the University of Missouri. While specific grievances vary, the protests are rooted in the deeply held belief that black students are not treated respectfully or fairly. Recently published research reveals one type of unjust interaction that is both commonplace and consequential. It finds African Americans' academic achievement suffers when a white instructor unconsciously harbors racist beliefs. Read the whole story: Pacific Standard
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Teens’ Cellphone Use Mirrors Their Offline Lives
Researchers find that teenagers’ online lives closely resemble their offline experiences, but bullying is one area where the digital age may be introducing new risks.
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A “Council of Psychological Science Advisers” Tackles Pressing Policy Issues
Some of the most urgent issues that American society faces today -- including obesity, consumer debt, risk of terrorism, and climate change -- are fundamentally influenced by decision making and behavior at both the individual and institutional levels. Despite this, policymakers have only recently begun to capitalize on insights from research in the behavioral sciences in developing policies that address these issues. A special section in Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, underscores how findings from behavioral science can provide actionable solutions to societal problems. The special section, edited by Bethany A.
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Beating Cancer, But Battling Hiring Discrimination
Job applicants who disclose their status as cancer survivors may be less likely to get a job offer, according to new research. "Managers and employees should be mindful of the fact that although societal attitudes toward cancer survivors are generally quite positive, with people often viewing them as champions who have successfully overcome a traumatic experience, we nonetheless might perceive them as being less desirable employees simply because of their history with cancer," said lead author Larry Martinez, assistant professor of hospitality management at Pennsylvania State University.
