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The Friendship Bank: How and Why Even the Most Giving Friend Expects Payback
The Wall Street Journal: For 20 years, Christina Steinorth was happy to help one of her close friends with whatever she needed—last-minute baby sitting, a drive to work when her car was in the shop, countless hours of free marriage advice (Ms. Steinorth is a licensed marriage and family therapist). She didn't expect anything in return. When Ms. Steinorth and her husband decided to adopt a baby a few years ago, she asked her pal to write a letter of recommendation. The friend agreed enthusiastically, Ms. Steinorth says, but months went by and no letter arrived. She asked again and the friend apologized profusely, but still no letter. After several more months, Ms.
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The Problem with Death Tolls
Slate: Pakistani authorities say at least 45 people were killed by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the country’s southwestern Baluchistan province today. As my colleague Josh Voorhees writes, that number is likely to rise, and reporting by Gul Yusufzai of Reuters suggests the damage caused by the quake, which was so powerful it created a new island off the country’s southern coast and was felt as far away as New Delhi, is likely to be extensive: Officials said scores of mud houses were destroyed by aftershocks in the thinly populated mountainous area near the quake epicenter in Baluchistan, a huge barren province of deserts and rugged mountains. ...
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How to Stop Chasing Self-Esteem
Scientific American Mind: The more you pursue self-esteem, the more your confidence—and happiness—will recede. The following four steps will help you break the cycle. As soon as you sense that you are tense, obsessed or conflicted, pay attention, advises psychologist Jennifer Crocker of the Ohio State University. These emotions signal that your motivations may be tangled with self-esteem. Read the whole story: Scientific American Mind
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Stellvertreter helfen, Ängste zu überwinden (Other people help to overcome fears)
ORF Austria: Psychologen wussten bereits, dass Phobien und Ängste nicht immer aus persönlichen Erfahrungen entstehen. Die Studienleiterin Armita Golkar vom schwedischen Karolinska Institut erklärt den Vorgang: "Informationen darüber, was in unserer Umgebung sicher ist und was nicht, werden durch soziale Lernvorgänge von anderen Menschen übernommen." So werden zum Beispiel die Kinder einer Frau, die Angst vor Spinnen hat, wahrscheinlich ebenfalls eine Arachnophobie entwickeln - einfach, weil sie Spinnen mit der Angst der Mutter assoziieren und deshalb als angsteinflößend wahrnehmen. Read the whole story: ORF Austria
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Who’s Afraid of a Cluster of Holes?
The Atlantic: Trypophobia is the fear of clustered holes like those shown in the lotus seed pod above. The lotus seed is the classic example of the sort of holes that frighten trypophobics, but sponges, soap bubbles and even aerated chocolate can be triggers. “The stimuli are usually clusters of holes of any variety that are almost always innocuous and seemingly pose no threat,” the authors note. But they induce visceral reactions all the same. Read the whole story: The Atlantic
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Book Review: ‘Behind the Shock Machine’ by Gina Perry
The Wall Street Journal: This year marks the 50th anniversary of Stanley Milgram's experiments on "obedience to authority." In 1963, two years after the Nazi Adolf Eichmann had claimed at his trial that he was "only following orders" in the murder of Jews during the Holocaust, Milgram wanted to know how many everyday, good Americans would obey an authority figure when directly ordered to harm another human being. Participants came to the Yale lab thinking they were part of an experiment on the effects of punishment on learning.
