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Square Root of Kids’ Math Anxiety: Their Parents’ Help
The New York Times: A common impairment with lifelong consequences turns out to be highly contagious between parent and child, a new study shows. The impairment? Math anxiety. Means of transmission? Homework help. Children of highly math-anxious parents learned less math and were more likely to develop math anxiety themselves, but only when their parents provided frequent help on math homework, according to a study of first- and second-graders, published in Psychological Science. Read the whole story: The New York Times
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Identity Is Lost Without A Moral Compass
Pacific Standard: What defines a person? Is it their memories? Their hobbies? Look deeper, argue a pair of researchers—into the soul, so to speak. According to a new study, kindness, loyalty, and other traits of morality are what really constitute someone's being.
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Close Friendships in Adolescence Predict Health in Adulthood
Teens are often warned about peer pressure, but research suggests that following the pack in adolescence may have some unexpected benefits for physical health in early adulthood.
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New Research From Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Psychological Science: Concreteness and Psychological Distance in Natural Language Use Bryor Snefjella and Victor Kuperman Research has shown that people form more abstract mental representations, and use more abstract language, when thinking or talking about events that are distant from the self. Despite knowing this, researchers are still unsure of the exact form of this relationship. In a series of four studies, the authors examined the language used when discussing various physical distances, future and past time points, and social distance.
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Why Introverts Make Great Entrepreneurs
The Wall Street Journal: Imagine a typical entrepreneur. A quiet, reserved introvert is probably not what first came to mind. Aren’t entrepreneurs supposed to be gregarious and commanding—verbally adept and able to inspire employees, clients and investors with the sheer force of their personality? No wonder the advice for introverts who want to be entrepreneurs has long been some form of: “Be more extroverted.” Now, though, business experts and psychologists are starting to see that guidance is wrong.
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A New Study Says Daycare Doesn’t Make Kids Aggressive
Parents: If you’re worried that your little tyke is picking up some bullying behavior from daycare, relax: A recent study has found that the amount of time kids spend in daycare has little effect on aggressive behavior. The study, published in Psychological Science, interviewed parents of 939 Norwegian children, aged 6 months to 4 years, who attended non-parental child care. Each child’s aggression (tendency to hit, push, and bite) was reported by their teacher. It was found that as the length of time a child remained daycare increased, the impact on aggression actually decreased. Read the whole story: Parents