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Are Pet Owners Healthier and Happier? Maybe Not…
The general claim that living with a pet makes for a happier, healthier or longer life has weak scientific backing, a psychological researcher reports.
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Recognizing voices harder for people with dyslexia
USA Today: Pick up the phone and hear, "Hey, what's up?" Chances are, those few words are enough to recognize who's speaking — perhaps unless you have dyslexia. In a surprise discovery, researchers found adults with that reading disorder also have a hard time recognizing voices. The work isn't just a curiosity. It fits with research to uncover the building blocks of literacy and how they can go wrong. The eventual goal: To spot at-risk youngsters even before they open "Go, Dog, Go!" in kindergarten — instead of diagnosing dyslexia in a struggling second-grader. Read more: USA Today
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Prise de risques : Stop aux préjugés hommes/femmes !
France Soir: Cap ou pas cap ? La prise de risque est un phénomène qui intéresse les chercheurs. Selon une étude publiée dans l'édition mensuelle du journal Current Directions in Psychological Science, certaines idées reçues seraient à mettre définitivement au placard. Les femmes des mauviettes ? Les ados des têtes-brûlées ? Tout n'est pas si simple... Selon les auteurs, les expériences scientifiques qui étudient l'exposition au danger jaugent le risque à la manière d'un jeu télévisé. Partir avec la cagnotte ou miser la totalité de son argent pour peut-être gagner plus.
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Why Nagging Women and Silent Men Drive Each Other Crazy
The Huffington Post: In a recent episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (titled "Palestinian Chicken"), Larry makes a deal with his friend: Larry won't have to pay for the damage he made to his friend's car as long as he tells his friend's critical, nagging wife how annoying it is when she says "LOL." Why the deal? Larry's friend is scared to death of his wife and thinks Larry is the man for the job. He admires Larry's willingness to always say the first thing on his mind and speak up for himself. In the parlance of psychological science, Larry is off-the-charts blirtatious and his friend is off-the-charts not.
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Entscheidungsfreiheit macht unfrei
ORF Austria: Wie in kaum einem anderen Land ist in den USA der Glaube verbreitet, dass man selbst des Glückes Schmied ist. Das gilt auch für Amerikanerinnen, die mittlerweile mehrheitlich davon überzeugt sind, dass sie am Arbeitsplatz nicht diskriminiert werden. Wie eine Studie zeigt, kann genau dieser Glaube zur Aufrechterhaltung von Karrierehürden für Frauen beitragen. Die Psychologinnen Nicole Stephens von der Northwestern University und Cynthia Levine von der University of Stanford befragten 117 Frauen, die aus dem Berufsleben ausgeschieden waren, zu ihrem Entscheidungsspielraum zwischen Kind und Beruf.
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Don’t copycat an unpopular boss’s behavior, study reminds
MSNBC: Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but mindless mimicry can also make you look like a jerk. That’s the gist of a new study on empathetic body language that will appear in a forthcoming issue of Psychological Science. In social situations, people tend to mirror one another as an unconscious show of rapport. Find yourself on a successful first date, for example, and you will often lean in at the same times during conversation. And though most mirroring is done unintentionally, some adopt it as a subtle psychological strategy for closing sales and acing big job interviews. That said, clueless copycatting may be costly.
