-
Grumpy old gorilla apes aging human males
The Globe and Mail: “For the past 100 years or so, psychologists have supported the notion that all humans have the same set of basic biological emotions,” says Psych Central News. “But a new paper in Current Directions in Psychological Science challenges this belief and holds that some of our established security procedures may be misguided. In her article, clinical psychologist Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett of Northeastern University said a current method to train security workers to recognize ‘basic’ emotions from expressions might be ill-advised, potentially placing individuals at risk.
-
Seksuele hints vaak overschat
MSN Nederland: Seksueel getinte hints worden vaak verkeerd geïnterpreteerd, blijkt uit Amerikaans onderzoek. Er zijn twee manieren waarop je als man een fout kunt maken: of je denkt 'Wow die vrouw ziet mij wel zitten', en dat blijkt niet zo te zijn. Of de dame in kwestie is werkelijk geïnteresseerd, maar dat ontgaat de man compleet. Beide gevallen komen vaak voor, beweren onderzoekers van de Universiteit van Texas in Austin. Voor hun onderzoek werden 96 mannen en 103 vrouwen, drie minuten lang in een speeddate sessie tegenover vijf potentiële kandidaten van het andere geslacht gezet.
-
Liar, liar, pants on fire? Your baby will be the judge
msnbc: Babies may be a lot more savvy than we think. A new study has found that babies little more than a year old can tell whether we’re trustworthy enough to listen to, according to a report published in Infant Behavior and Development. “Even at a young age, children do not blindly swallow information,” said the study’s lead author Diane Poulin-Dubois, a professor of psychology at the Centre for Research in Human Development at the University of Concordia. “Doubtful or contradictory information is automatically screened by their cognitive system.
-
In the Game of Love, Self-Deception May Be Key
LiveScience: Hot guys tend to underestimate women's interest in them, while other men, particularly those looking for a one-night stand, are more likely to think a woman is much more into them than she actually is, a new study says. Women, however, showed the opposite bias — they routinely underestimated men's interest in them. This sort of self-deception may help both men and women play the mating game successfully, suggest the researchers, a team of psychologists from the University of Texas, Austin. The findings also fits with past research showing that guys are clueless on the subtleties of nonverbal cues from women, taking a subtle smile as a sexual come-on, for instance.
-
Men who try hard get the girl: study
New Zealand Herald: We've all met men who think they're God's gift to women. No matter how many times they're rebuffed in the dating game, they always bounce back. But a study suggests those who display such a fighting spirit might be the ones favoured by evolution - the more a man believes a woman will fancy him, the more likely he is to try it on and therefore get lucky and procreate. It also suggests that if a man's super attracted to a woman, the chances are she's not interested. It claims men are wired to get it wrong time and again because evolution is telling them not to miss a mating opportunity. Read the whole story: New Zealand Herald
-
In Pursuit of the Perfect Gift? It’s a Lot Closer Than You Think
The New York Times: Traditionalists and etiquette mavens are complaining, but the rest of us can thank social scientists this season. They have come up with experimental evidence to support three revolutionary rules for people who hate shopping for holiday gifts: 1. You don’t have to spend any time looking for “thoughtful” gifts. 2. You don’t have to spend much money, either. 3. Actually, you may not have to spend any money. Yes, I know this sounds too good to be true. I was skeptical, too, if only because it contradicts a previous holiday column of mine.
