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The Power of One: The Psychology of Charity
Mother Teresa famously said: “If I look at the mass, I will never act. If I look at the one, I will.” There are worse people to turn to for lessons in human charity, and here Calcutta’s celebrated missionary also showed an astute grasp of cognitive psychology—and its paradoxes. Our compassion and generosity should grow as the number of poor and suffering multiplies, but the opposite seems to occur. Some numbers are just too big and abstract to grasp, so they lose their power. Modern charities might take a lesson from this quirk of human thinking.
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Name-Brand or Generic? Your Political Ideology Might Influence Your Choice
Conservatives and liberals don’t just differ when it comes to politics, they may also make different purchases at the grocery store, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Psychological research has shown that conservatives and liberals differ on basic personality traits such as conscientiousness, tolerance for uncertainty, and openness to new experience.
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Sure, I remember that
Marketplace: How accurate are our memories? Not as accurate as we’d like to think, especially when it comes to political events. This week, we look at the work of University of California, Irvine, researcher Elizabeth Loftus, a memory expert, whose research shows just how easily we can be led to “remember” events that never happened. All you have to do is show someone a doctored photograph. These false memories become all the more intense when political beliefs are factored in -- Democrats are more likely to falsely remember events that show Republicans in a bad light, and vice-versa. Read the whole story: Marketplace See Elizabeth F. Loftus at the 25th APS Annual Convention.
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Mixing Alcohol With Diet Soda May Make You Drunker
NPR: Looking to cut back on the calories in your cocktail by mixing, say, diet soda and rum? Well, get ready for the buzz. According to the results of a new study, this combination will leave you drunker than if you'd mixed the liquor with a sugary, caloric mixer. "Alcohol, consumed with a diet mixer, results in higher (BrAC) Breath Alcohol Concentrations as compared to the same amount of alcohol consumed with a sugar-sweetened mixer," says Cecile Marczinski, a cognitive psychologist who authored the new study. Read the whole story: NPR
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The Best Day to List a Home Is…
The Wall Street Journal: T.G.I.F. One day of the week can mean an extra $5,000 in a home-seller's pocket. ... What makes Fridays so special (other than a six-pack and takeout pizza)? Adults who have a Monday-to-Friday workweek tend to be more positive and happier on Fridays, an effect that lasts through the weekend, says Richard Ryan, professor of psychology at the University of Rochester. They also tend to report more vitality and energy on the weekends, which may prompt them to be more proactive in searching for homes, says Prof. Ryan, who has studied how the day of the week affects mood.
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Shame About Past Drinking Problem May Lead to Relapse
LiveScience: Feeling shame about a past drinking problem might actually increase the likelihood of a relapse for recovering alcoholics, a new study shows. "How much shame participants displayed strongly predicted not only whether they relapsed, but how bad that relapse was — that is, how many drinks they had if they did relapse," said the study's authors, Jessica Tracy and Daniel Randles, both psychological scientists at the University of British Columbia. Read the whole story: LiveScience
