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Spoiler alert: Spoilers don’t ruin stories, after all
Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's dad. Rosebud is a sled. Soylent Green is PEOPLE. Kristin shot J.R. Maggie shot Mr. Burns. And Bruce Willis, a.k.a. child therapist Malcome Crowe? You guys, he was dead the whole time. We hate for the twist endings of movies, TV shows and books to be given away. But here's a bit of relief for those of you who are just now learning that Snape, in fact, killed Dumbledore: Spoilers don't really ruin stories for us. In fact, a new study suggests that we actually enjoy spoiled stories more than those left unspoiled. "Writers use their artistry to make stories interesting, to engage readers, and tosurprise them.
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Narcissists’ Self-Interest Makes Them Bad Leaders
LiveScience: Narcissists may think they'd make for good bosses, but a new study shows that their preoccupation with themselves hinders their performance in teamwork situations. Although narcissists have leadership-related qualities, such as confidence, authority and high self-esteem, their self-centeredness ultimately prevents them from partaking in the creative exchange of information and ideas, which is crucial in group decision-making situations, the researchers at the University of Amsterdam said. The team divided 150 participants into groups of three, with one person in each group randomly assigned to be the group's leader. The groups then had to choose a job candidate.
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Men and women perceive risks differently
Yahoo India: The results of a new study have challenged the assumption that women take fewer risks than men, and that adolescents do not consider consequences when making decisions. The new findings depict that the reality of who takes risks and when goes beyond stereotypes. It reveals how adolescents can be as cool-headed as adults, and in some realms, women take more risks than men. The study, conducted by Bernd Figner, research scientist at the Centre for Decision Sciences at Columbia Business School, and Postdoctoral Research Scientist at the University of Amsterdam; and Professor Elke Weber, Co-Director, Centre for Decision Sciences and the Jerome A.
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Spoiler Alert! Knowing the End of a Story Makes It Better, Study Finds
TIME: We might have to change the name of "spoilers" to "giveaways." They may not be that bad after all. A recent study shows that people enjoy movies, books and other stories when they know the ending ahead of time. Nicholas Christenfeld, a University of California, San Diego professor of social psychology, along with Jonathan Leavitt, a PhD candidate at UC San Diego studying psychology, organized an experiment where volunteers were given three stories of different genres, written by well-known authors such as John Updike and Anton Chekhov.
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Spoiler Alert: Stories Not Ruined if Ending Revealed
ABC News: Spoiler alert: This story has a happy ending. If it were a suspense novel, would knowing that make you enjoy it less? To their surprise, psychology researchers found that people rated stories higher if they knew how they came out. Whoa -- can ruining the surprise make a story more enjoyable? That's what Nicholas Christenfeld and Jonathan Leavitt found, and Christenfeld says he was at first stumped. Leavitt is getting his doctorate in psychology at the University of California at San Diego, and Christenfeld is a professor there. Read the whole story: ABC News
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Wealthy lack empathy, generosity of lower classes, study finds
Edmonton Journal: Turns out, the rich really are different. But not necessarily in the ways we assume. Though economically privileged, people from upper-class backgrounds consistently display deficits in empathy, social engagement, generosity and sensitivity as compared to those from the lower classes. The differences in behaviour are so marked, in fact, that neutral observers can detect a person's socioeconomic background based on 60 seconds of interaction. The findings, published in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science, have researchers concluding that wealth comes at considerable personal cost - and that being poor isn't without its wages.
