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Using the Psychology of Evil To Do Good
Science: Forty years after presiding over the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment, Phil Zimbardo has reinvented himself as a social entrepreneur, leading a new project that will attempt to turn the Stanford Prison Experiment and other studies of the dark side of the human psyche into a force for good. Last year, Zimbardo founded the Heroic Imagination Project, which operates out of a former Army post in San Francisco's Presidio park.
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Power, sex and conventional wisdom
GULF TIMES: Would there be fewer sex scandals if the world were run by women? The question comes to mind in the wake of scandals that involve two powerful men, Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and came to light almost simultaneously. Strauss-Kahn resigned as head of the International Monetary Fund four days after being arrested in New York for allegedly trying to rape a hotel maid. Schwarzenegger, the former governor of California, admitted having fathered a child with a woman on his household staff.
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The Four Loko Effect
The popular, formerly caffeinated, fruity alcoholic beverage, Four Loko, has been blamed for the spike in alcohol-related hospitalizations, especially throughout college campuses. Initially, caffeine was deemed the culprit and the Food and Drug Administration ordered all traces of caffeine to be removed from Four Loko and all other similar beverages. However, according to an upcoming evaluation in Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, caffeine might not be the primary cause of the spike in hospitalizations.
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Ha valaki nem fél, pszichopata lesz?
HVG Hungary: A pszichopátia működésével kapcsolatos egyik feltevés szerint az állapot kialakulása egyfajta félelemhiánnyal függ össze. A Psychological Science folyóirat legújabb számában megjelenő tanulmány kimutatta, hogy a pszichopátia bizonyos kockázati tényezőjével bíró gyermekek nem ismerik fel ugyanolyan gyorsan a félelmet, mint az egészséges gyermekek. A tanulmányt vezető Patrick D. Sylvers, a Washington Egyetem kutatója elmondta, az a hipotézis, hogy a pszichopaták nem éreznek vagy nem ismerik fel a félelmet egészen az 1950-es évekre nyúlik vissza.
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The Language of Love: Word Usage Predicts Romantic Attraction
Scientific American: What distinguishes a fling that ends in tears from long-term love? Past research suggests that the most successful couples share common interests, values and personality traits. Now new research published in Psychological Science proposes that the simplest words lovebirds use to speak to each other also make a difference—both in determining how attracted they are and how likely they are to stay together. James Pennebaker and his colleagues at the University of Texas at Austin recorded 40 men and 40 women as they participated in a speed-dating exercise in which they talked to 12 strangers of the opposite sex for four minutes apiece.
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Colleges get high-tech with health screenings
MSNBC: Look around a waiting room at a university counseling center and you'll see students wrestling with all sorts of issues: The one who's failing because of binge drinking. Another who's struggling with a roommate conflict, or a recent break-up. Yet another who's stressed out and suicidal. Many centers are more swamped than ever, college therapists say, particularly at this time of year, in the frenzy of final exams and job searches. Though there's debate about why there are more students seeking services, there is agreement on this: The increase in demand, those therapists say, has made it even more crucial to zero in on the students who are in the most distress. Read more: MSNBC
