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Here’s the simple strategy extroverts use to win people over
Business Insider: Scientists as well as laypeople have long known that extroverts tend to do a better job of connecting with other people, especially when they first meet them. Yet until recently, no one's been able to pinpoint what exactly extroverts do that helps them build strong social ties. Now, new research from Duke University, cited by the Association for Psychological Science, suggests that the answer is surprisingly simple: It's a matter of mimicry, or copying the body language of your conversation partner. Read the whole story: Business Insider
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Three Words You Shouldn’t Say About Yourself
Medium: When we interact with other people, what do we want? As I started to study that question, I came across a wonderful quote. “There are two kinds of people in the world,” Robert Benchley wrote. “Those who divide the world into two kinds of people, and those who don’t.” Psychologists have a bad habit of oversimplifying people. If I truly wanted to capture the richness of the human condition, I needed more than two categories. Imagine my delight, then, when I found evidence that around the world, there are not two… but three styles of interaction. Read the whole story: Medium
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Scaring People Can Make Them Healthier, But It Isn’t Always The Way To Go
NPR: The use of fear in public health campaigns has been controversial for decades. A campaign with gruesome photos of a person dying of lung cancer to combat smoking might make people think twice about lighting up. But opponents would argue that the photos are too visceral, along with being morally objectionable. Fear-based campaigns are indeed effective at changing both attitudes and behavior, according to a review of more than a half-century of research. But that effectiveness isn't the only thing to consider when deciding whether to use fear-based appeals, researchers say. Read the whole story: NPR
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Believing What You Don’t Believe
The New York Times: HOW is it that people can believe something that they know is not true? For example, Kansas City Royals fans, sitting in front of their television sets in Kansas City, surely know that there is no possible connection between their lucky hats (or socks, or jerseys) and the outcome of a World Series game at Citi Field in New York, 1,200 miles away. Yet it would be impossible to persuade many of them to watch the game without those lucky charms. It’s not that people don’t understand that it’s scientifically impossible for their lucky hats to help their team hit a home run or turn a double play — all but the most superstitious would acknowledge that.
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At Work: Is Telecommuting The Way to Go?
The Wall Street Journal: If you want to convince the boss you should start working from home, chances are there is a study out there that says it makes employees more productive. If you’re a boss and would prefer your employees stay tethered to their office cubicles, a sheaf of academic research will bolster that argument, too. A team of social scientists recently set out to review the research on telecommuting, in hopes of finding out once and for all whether it’s a net positive for workers and their employers. The resulting study, published last week in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest, boldly declares: It depends. ... But there are plenty of exceptions.
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If You’re Happy and You Know It, Raise Your Head
The Atlantic: Shortly after Steven Livingstone arrived at McGill University, he went out to a bar with some new friends to check out the Montreal nightlife. It was loud, and crowded, and dimly lit, and he found himself struggling to hear when one of his friends tried to talk to him. “Because it was dark at the bar, I couldn't see his face either,” Livingstone says. “But I could see his head. He was moving his head in a really sort of animated fashion, and it was at that moment that I realized that he was excited about something. He was trying to tell me about it.
