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How Shocking Will Others Find Lady Gaga?
In case you missed it, the cameras were rolling at the 24th APS Annual Convention in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Troy Campbell from Duke University presents his research “How Shocking Will Others Find Lady Gaga? Desensitization Via Repetition Biases Predictions.” The more experience you have, the wiser you are, right? Troy Campbell and colleagues at Duke University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Chicago found the opposite was true. Repeated exposure to jokes, pictures of Lady Gaga, sports photography, art, and a painful noise can actually make people worse at predicting how other people would experience the content.
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Self-Compassion Fosters Mental Health
Scientific American Mind: Being kind to yourself is a surefire way to improve your mental health and reach your goals, a growing body of work suggests. Now research has revealed an easy way to boost this self-compassion—by showing kindness to others. Self-compassion is distinct from self-esteem, a trait that can shade into narcissism. Nor should it be confused with self-pity or self-indulgence. “Self-compassion is treating yourself with the same kindness and care you'd treat a friend,” says Kristin Neff, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and the leading researcher in the growing field of self-compassion.
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Prenez vos décisions dans une langue étrangère, elles seront plus rationnelles que dans votre langue maternelle !
Atlantico: Les actes comptent plus que les mots. C'est en tout cas l'adage. Mais tout dépend des mots. Allons même plus loin : et si une même proposition formulée différemment entraînait des actions différentes ? Un sondage publié par la chaîne de télévision américaine CBS News et le New York Times révèle que le choix des mots est très important. Deux questions étaient posées à des Américains : 1/ Trouvez-vous que les homosexuels devraient être autorisés à servir dans l'armée américaine ? 2/ Trouvez-vous que les hommes gays et les lesbiennes devraient être autorisés à servir dans l'armée américaine ?
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Parents Are an ‘Untapped Resource’ to Push STEM, Study Says
Education Week: Sometimes a little effort can go a long way. A new study suggests that a fairly simple intervention with parents can translate into their teenage children getting more STEM education. The field experiment involved sending parents two glossy brochures and the link to a website, all highlighting the value of studying STEM subjects. The result? Students from those families, on average, took nearly one semester more of science and mathematics in the last two years of high school, compared with a control group of families not exposed to this intervention.
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Friends of a Certain Age
The New York Times: It was like one of those magical blind-date scenes out of a Hollywood rom-com, without the “rom.” I met Brian, a New York screenwriter, a few years ago through work, which led to dinner with our wives and friend chemistry that was instant and obvious. We liked the same songs off Dylan’s “Blonde on Blonde,” the same lines from “Chinatown.” By the time the green curry shrimp had arrived, we were finishing each other’s sentences. Our wives were forced to cut in: “Hey, guys, want to come up for air?” As Brian and his wife wandered off toward the No.
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Social Identification, Not Obedience, Might Motivate Unspeakable Acts
What makes soldiers abuse prisoners? How could Nazi officials condemn thousands of Jews to gas chamber deaths? What’s going on when underlings help cover up a financial swindle? For years, researchers have tried to identify the factors that drive people to commit cruel and brutal acts and perhaps no one has contributed more to this knowledge than psychological scientist Stanley Milgram. Just over 50 years ago, Milgram embarked on what were to become some of the most famous studies in psychology.
