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The Sound of Employability: Interviewers Judge Your Voice
New research has identified one factor that can make a job applicant come across as smarter, warmer, and ultimately more employable than other candidates: the sound of their voice. When it comes to acing a job interview, common wisdom holds that job applicants should dress smart, show up on time, and come prepared; but a new study from psychological scientists Nicholas Epley and Juliana Schroeder of the University of Chicago suggests that in order to put your best foot forward with a potential employer, job applicants should also make sure their voices are heard.
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Older Workers Possess Unique Cognitive Strengths
Although some abilities tend to decline over time, new research finds that other cognitive skills actually improve with age. Scientists have long known that our ability to analyze novel problems and reason logically, also known as fluid intelligence, peaks around age 20 and then begins a slow decline. However, two new studies confirm that skills related to crystallized intelligence—made up of a person’s acquired knowledge and experience—appear to peak later in life, often after age 40. In a study recently published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, psychological scientist Rachael M.
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Walking at Lunchtime Buffers Against Workplace Stress
Taking a lunch hour stroll was shown to have a positive influence on people’s mood, enthusiasm, and perception of performance at work.
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One Way to Rein in Powerful People? Honest Feedback
While it’s standard practice for supervisors to provide regular feedback to their subordinates, it’s far less common for employees to get the opportunity to candidly appraise their supervisors’ performance. A new study suggests that honesty may be the best policy for ensuring that leaders look out for everyone, not just themselves. By definition, people in positions of power call the shots as to how resources are divided up. This power gives leaders the opportunity to behave selfishly, keeping more resources for themselves rather than sharing perks and profits equitably with employees.
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A Disagreeable Personality Can Help Get Original Ideas Noticed
Infamously disagreeable innovators ranging from Thomas Edison to Steve Jobs have helped to propagate the idea that being headstrong and aggressive may be linked with creative genius. After all, creative success isn’t just about coming up with an innovative idea -- you also have to convince others to get behind your idea, and this is where researchers find that being a jerk may come in handy. But new research shows that you don’t have to be a jerk to come up with the next game-changing creative idea.
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Weight Bias Impacts Our Perceptions of Competence
Overweight individuals often face discrimination across many stages of their careers. Compared to their thinner colleagues, people who are overweight are less likely to be hired, less likely to be promoted, and ultimately earn lower wages. A new study suggests this weight-based bias may even extend to judgments of competence. Psychological scientists Emma Levine and Maurice Schweitzer of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania found that people gave overweight individuals low ratings for competence, regardless of their qualifications or performance.
