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How politeness can have disastrous consequences
Zee News: Washington: Politeness helps us get through awkward social situations and makes it easier for us to maintain our relationships. But a new study suggests that politeness can have disastrous consequences, especially in high-stakes situations. According to authors Jean-François Bonnefon and Wim de Neys of CNRS and Université de Toulouse and Aidan Feeney of Queen’s University, we resort to politeness strategies when we have to share information that might offend or embarrass someone or information that suggests someone has made a mistake or a bad choice. The more sensitive an issue is, the more likely we are to use these kinds of politeness strategies.
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How Our Brains Turn Women Into Objects
Scientific American: Recent reports of a mountain lion or cougar stalking the campus of the University of Iowa prompted campus jokesters to tweet their surprise that Michelle Bachman was in town. A cougar, colloquially, is an attractive older woman who seeks out trysts with younger men, and to some, it seems that Bachmann fits the bill. This emphasis on appearance is nothing new for high-profile women who are anything but homely, and feminist scholars are quick to point out its potential detrimental effects on perceptions of female competence. Of course, we don’t need to consider reactions to political candidates to understand this idea.
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Pain At The Plate: Heat Increases Pitcher Retaliation
NPR: Richard Larrick has been bothered by something for two decades. "Twenty years ago, I'd done a paper with some graduate students just showing that in hotter temperatures, pitchers are more likely to hit batters with pitches," says Larrick, a professor at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. Was it because they would sweat more, and the ball might get slippery and hard to control? Or was it something intentional? "Laboratory research has shown that if you put people in a hotter room, they're more likely to act aggressively toward someone else," sometimes without even being aware of it, he says.
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Frauen: Aggressiver durchs Stillen
Yahoo Deutschland: Sie absolvierten mit 54 Frauen einen Aggressionstest. Von den Teilnehmerinnen waren 19 kinderlose Frauen, 18 stillende Mütter und 17 Frauen, die ihren Kindern Muttermilchersatz gaben. Bei dem Test sollten sie ein Reaktionsduell an Computern absolvieren. Die angebliche Gegenspielerin war eine von den Forschern eingeschleuste Person, die in der Vorbesprechung durch ein rüdes Verhalten auffiel und so für eine schlechte Atmosphäre gesorgt hatte. Die Gewinnerin des Duells durfte ihre Gegenspielerin per Knopfdruck mit Lärm in zuvor festgelegter Dauer und Lautstärke peinigen. Die Strafe der vermeintlichen Kontrahentin wurde den Frauen zuvor bekannt gegeben.
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When Can Making Medical Decisions Be Hazardous to Your Health?
Huffington Post: "Take two aspirin and call me in the morning" may be really good advice after all. That's because a doctor's decision-making abilities may be related to the time of day. Making decisions, choices, seems highly affected by what social psychologists call "decision fatigue," or the gradual deterioration in decision making as mental exhaustion sets in. A doctor's diagnosis after a stressful day may not be as well contemplated as it was first thing in the morning or after some rest, nourishment and not having plowed through a thousand decisions.
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Fact Checker: Is the U.S. a land of Haves and Have-Nots?
Reno Gazette-Journal: The claim America is increasingly becoming a land of Haves and Have-Nots. The background What do you think is a fair amount of wealth inequality? Before getting to that, an explanation of "why this question now" is needed. People on the left and right have been noting the disparity in wealth with increasing alarm. The Occupy Wall Street movement has faced mass arrests, pepper spraying and increasing attention. It has spread to Boston, Chicago, LA, Japan -- and Las Vegas and Reno.
