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Seeing the Benefits of Failure Shapes Kids’ Beliefs About Intelligence
Parents’ beliefs about whether failure is a good or a bad thing guide how their children think about their own intelligence, according to new research from Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The research indicates that it’s parents’ responses to failure, and not their beliefs about intelligence, that are ultimately absorbed by their kids. “Mindsets—children’s belief about whether their intelligence is just fixed or can grow—can have a large impact on their achievement and motivation,” explains psychological scientist Kyla Haimovitz of Stanford University, first author on the study.
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Does Frequent Sex Lead to Better Relationships? Depends on How You Ask
Newlyweds who have frequent sex don’t report greater relationship satisfaction than those who have less sex, but their automatic behavioral responses tell a different story.
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What Scientists Know—And Don’t Know—About Sexual Orientation
A comprehensive review of sexual orientation research aims to correct important misconceptions about the link between scientific findings and political agendas.
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New Research From Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Psychological Science: Limits of Executive Control: Sequential Effects in Predictable Environments Frederick Verbruggen, Amy McAndrew, Gabrielle Weidemann, Tobias Stevens, and Ian P. L. McLaren Studies have shown that bottom-up processes modulate performance in unpredictable environments, but is this also true in predictable environments? Participants completed a go/no-go task in which the trials alternated predictably. Before seeing each stimulus, participants had to rate the extent to which they thought the go or no-go stimulus would appear.
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Fewer Romantic Prospects May Lead to Riskier Investments
Encountering information suggesting that it may be tough to find a romantic partner shifts people’s decision making toward riskier options, according to new findings from a series of studies published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. “Environmental cues indicating that one will have a relatively difficult time finding a mate can drive people to concentrate their investment choices into a few high-risk, high-return options,” says psychological scientist Joshua Ackerman of the University of Michigan, lead author on the research.
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New Research From Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Psychological Science: Infections and Elections: Did an Ebola Outbreak Influence the 2014 U.S. Federal Elections (and if so, How)? Alec T. Beall, Marlise K. Hofer, and Mark Schaller Did the Ebola outbreak influence the 2014 U.S. federal elections? In the second of three studies, the researchers analyzed state-specific preferences for Republican and Democratic candidates before and after the Ebola outbreak for 32 U.S. Senate elections held in 2014. They also examined the degree to which voters in each state typically favor Republican or Democratic candidates and the internet search volume for information related to Ebola.