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Money can’t buy generosity, study finds
Calgary Herald: 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 naive observers are able to 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.
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Frauen sind anders mutig als Männer
Berliner Morgenpost: Frauen sind nicht grundsätzlich weniger risikofreudig als Männer, wie eine Studie der Columbia Business School in New York zeigt. So seien sie zum Beispiel eher bereit als Männer, auch noch mit Mitte 30 eine neue berufliche Karriere zu starten. Auch sprächen sie eher als Männer bei geschäftlichen Treffen unangenehme Themen an, erklären die Forscher um die Sozialwissenschaftler Elke Weber und Bernd Figner im Fachblatt "Current Directions in Psychological Science". Männer sind demgegenüber risikobereiter, was Finanzfragen betrifft. Lesen Sie mehr/Read the whole story: Berliner Morgenpost
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Yes, love really IS blind! Rose-tinted glasses aren’t just for foolish romantics – they’re the key to lasting bliss, say scientists
Daily Mail: When my friend Emma invited me to meet her new boyfriend, Jerry, I was keen, but a bit intimidated. For weeks, she’d been going on about him. I knew all about his brilliant legal career, wit and, most of all, physique. As far as Emma was concerned, he was Brad Pitt with a brilliant brain. So when they walked in together, my jaw dropped — because he was so short that he barely came up to her waist. There is something irritating about the utter blindness of a man or woman in love. It takes a will of steel not to snigger as your friend rhapsodises about her Prince Charming who, to the eyes of the rest of the world, is all too clearly a frog.
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Spoilers ‘do not ruin stories’, study says
BBC: Knowing how a book ends does not ruin its story and can actually enhance enjoyment, a study suggests. Researchers at the University of California San Diego gave participants 12 short stories where two versions were spoiled and a third unspoiled. In all but one story, readers said they preferred versions which had spoiling paragraphs written into it. Although the study could not explain why, it suggested the brain may find it easier to process a spoiled story. "You get this significant reverse-spoiler effect," study author and professor of social psychology Nicholas Christenfeld said.
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US study questions if pets make owners healthier
Taipei Times: Pet owners have long been encouraged to think that they are happier, healthier and live longer than people without pets, but a new US study claims they might be barking up the wrong tree.
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Social Acceptance and Rejection: The Sweet and the Bitter
Psychology researchers have long been interested in close relationships, but have only more recently begun investigating social exclusion.
