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When Looking Like a Leader Derails the Group
Experiments show that people who display the powerful, confident body language associated with leadership tend to dominate decision making—even when their ideas were entirely incorrect.
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Effective Apologies Include Six Elements
Whether you’re the company CEO or the summer intern, knowing how to say you’re sorry—and have people actually believe you—is an important business skill. If your subordinate is caught embezzling, or you’re the head of a company in the midst of a massive public safety scandal, simply saying “I’m sorry” probably isn’t going to cut it. New research from psychological scientists Roy Lewicki (The Ohio State University), Beth Polin (Eastern Kentucky University), and Robert Lount Jr. (The Ohio State University) confirms that not all apologies are equally effective.
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Fear of Death Prompts Leaders to Look Towards the Future
Research suggests that reminding leaders of their own mortality may be one way to encourage them to make better, or at least less selfish, decisions.
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Successful Teams Get (Physiologically) in Sync
When people work together well, their physiological responses begin to sync up, according to new research from a team of psychological scientists from Aarhus University. The research showed that team members who had synchronized skin conductance and facial muscle activity tended to perform better together. “People from the same team have higher synchrony that pairs of people from different teams, and this synchrony is positively associated with a team’s cooperation and positive feeling,” the researchers explain. Previous research has shown that mimicry and synchronization between individuals often enhances prosocial behavior, cooperation, and rapport.
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Why Coffee Shops Boost Concentration
New research might explain why many people who have the option of working from home readily swap out their pajamas for pants and their couch for a seat at the local coffee shop – sitting next to someone busily typing away can increase your own concentration and mental effort. In two experiments, Belgian psychological scientists Kobe Desender, Sarah Beurms, and Eva Van den Bussche demonstrated that -- under the right circumstances -- concentration can be contagious. “In the current study, we showed for the first time that the exertion of mental effort is contagious.
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Better Math Skills Predict Bigger Bank Accounts
Having a head for numbers is an ability that people can bank on—quite literally. Being good with numbers gives people an edge in all kinds of jobs, from investment banking to professional poker. But the ability to quickly and intuitively crunch numbers—a skill called numeracy—doesn’t just give people an edge in math class. New research shows that it can also lead to greater personal wealth. Numeracy skills go beyond the capacity to calculate numbers, extending to other important abilities like reasoning, information processing, and accurately analyzing risk.
