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You look better with your friends than you do on your own, study says
NBC: If you’re dressing up for Halloween tomorrow, make it a group costume. People seem more attractive when they’re part of a group than when they’re on their own, a new study says. The paper repeatedly references a season four episode of “How I Met Your Mother”: Ted sees a group of girls in the bar that he wants to hit on, but before he does, Barney warns him of the “cheerleader effect” -- the idea that people seem better-looking in a group than when scrutinized individually. "Also known as the Bridesmaid Paradox, the Sorority Girl syndrome and, for a brief period in the mid-nineties, the Spice Girls conspiracy," the Neil Patrick Harris character says.
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‘If You Get Too Cold, I’ll Tax The Heat’
Nobody likes the taxman. Even those who in principle believe in spreading the wealth—even they get a twinge of fear at the mention of the IRS, April 15th and—worst of all—the dreaded audit. Don’t deny it. That’s because the IRS has been pretty heavy-handed over the years, relying on the threat of audits and liens and seizures and harsh fines to scare citizens into compliance. These punitive tactics are based on classical economic theory, which says that we are all essentially self-interested, motivated only by the drive to maximize our own financial interests. Without such deterrents, according to this reasoning, there would be rampant cheating.
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When Being Alone Turns Into Loneliness, There Are Ways to Fight Back
The Wall Street Journal: I spend a fair amount of time by myself. One recent day, I worked, read, cleaned my desk, took a walk, made soup and chatted with my best friend on the phone. By evening, I felt productive and content. Then, for the first time in hours, I checked my phone. There was not one new text, call or email—not even from Groupon. Wasn’t anyone thinking of me? It got me thinking: How does being alone turn into being lonely? Some people crave time alone, but experts say occasional feelings of loneliness are a near-universal experience.
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Does your dog wag left or right? It matters.
The Washington Post: Tail wagging could convey more meaning among dogs than previously thought. Dogs have different emotional responses to their peers depending on the direction of a tail wag, a new study found. Seeing a fellow dog swing its tail to the right keeps canines relaxed, while a wag to the left seems to induce stress, the researchers say. For their study, a group of researchers recruited 43 pet dogs of various breeds. The animals were outfitted with vests that monitored their heart rate, and they were shown videos of other dogs wagging their tails either to the left or to the right. ...
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Tapping Leaders for a Crisis: Are Women Better At Fixing the Problems?
By the time Marissa Mayer took over a struggling Yahoo! and Meg Whitman rushed into aid a fading Hewlett-Packard, the term glass cliff was well-ensconced in the businesswoman’s lexicon. A steady stream of psychological research was showing that women are indeed more likely to be tapped for corporate leadership positions during times of crisis, when the risk of failure is at its highest. The widespread assumption is that feminine leadership traits, such as being understanding and tactful, work better under such circumstances.
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Yes, I’m an Ethical Person–Before Lunch, Anyway
Pacific Standard: When was the last time you engaged in unethical behavior? Be honest, now, and be specific: What time of day was it when you cheated on that test, lied to your spouse, or stole that item from the company break room? If it was late afternoon or evening, you don’t have an excuse, exactly, but you certainly have company. A newly published paper entitled The Morning Morality Effect suggests we’re more likely to act unethically later in the day. It provides further evidence that self-control is a finite resource that gradually gets depleted, and can’t be easily accessed when our reserves are low.
