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The Difference Between Republican and Democratic Brains
National Journal: What Democrats and Republicans don't have in common goes far beyond the ballot box. Their personalities, like their core beliefs and policy ideas, are fundamentally different. Liberals are creative and curious, and tend to be more open to new experiences, while conservatives are more anxious, dislike change, and appreciate order in their lives. Scientists don't know if political interests shape temperament, or vice versa, but new research suggests lawmakers' personality traits play an important role in political causes—like forcing a government shutdown—and may even determine if those causes survive.
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Are we really different from animals?
CNN: Thomas Suddendorf is a professor of psychology at the University of Queensland and a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science. He is the author of "The Gap: The Science of What Separates Us From Other Animals." We humans tend to think of ourselves as better than, or at least separate from, all other species on this planet. But every species is unique, and in that sense humans are no different. Nevertheless, it seems obvious that there is something extra special about us -- after all, we are the species running the zoos. In "The Gap," I survey what we currently do and do not know about what exactly sets humans apart.
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The Gift We Love to Receive but Forget to Give
LinkedIn: When you ask people around the world what they value most, one answer consistently rises to the top. It’s giving to the people who matter to us. We want to help others and contribute to our communities. But if you look at how we spend our time, we fail to live up to these values. I’d love to volunteer more, but I don’t have the free time. I’d donate more to charity, if only I had the money. If it didn’t require such a sacrifice, we’d all give more. Yet there’s one form of giving that involves few costs, while offering offers dramatic benefits to the people around us. It’s the single best way to help someone fall in love, and the most common way that people find a job.
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To Boost Concern for the Environment, Emphasize a Long Future, Not Impending Doom
Researchers find that one strong way to encourage environmentally-friendly behavior is to emphasize the long life expectancy of a nation, and not necessarily its imminent downfall.
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New Ways to Fight ‘Imposter Fears’
The Wall Street Journal: Feeling as if you don't belong—that you've landed in a fortunate spot by luck or by accident—can send anyone into a tailspin, from college students to corporate executives. Imposter fears are common among men and women alike, research shows, and are blamed for an array of problems, from high college-failure and dropout rates to low female participation in math, engineering and science jobs. ...
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New Research From Clinical Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Clinical Psychological Science: The Geography of Intimate Partner Abuse Experiences and Clinical Responses Anne P. DePrince, Susan E. Buckingham, and Joanne Belknap Studies examining the effects of intimate-partner abuse (IPA) often focus specifically on the victim; fewer studies examine the effect of ecological factors in victims' responses to IPA. Ethnically diverse women who had been the victims in police-reported IPA cases were assessed for incident severity, incident-related fear, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. The researchers also collected information characterizing the communities in which the IPA incidents occurred.
