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How Long Will You Live? Ask Your Friends.
The Huffington Post: When actor James Gandolfini died in the summer of 2013, at age 51, a prominent cardiologist described him as "a heart attack waiting to happen." The award-winning Sopranos star was overweight and inactive, and on the evening he died, he had indulged himself in a diet of rum, beer and fatty foods. In short, he didn't take care of himself, and this lack of self-discipline no doubt contributed to his untimely death. Scientists have long known that personality is a good indicator of future health and mortality.
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New Research From <em>Clinical Psychological Science</em>
Read about the latest research published in Clinical Psychological Science: Iris M. Engelhard, Miriam J. J. Lommen, and Marit Sijbrandij Are perceptions of growth after a trauma adaptive or maladaptive for trauma survivors? Infantry soldiers in the Royal Netherlands Army completed personality assessments before a 4-month deployment in Iraq. Five months and 15 months after their return, the soldiers completed measures of trauma, posttraumatic growth, and PTSD symptoms. Greater perceived growth 5 months postdeployment was associated with greater levels of posttraumatic stress 15 months postdeployment, even after controlling for levels of posttraumatic stress at the 5-month time point.
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Preventing Job Turnover By Identifying What Makes People “Seekers” or “Stayers”
The days of having employees who stick with one job for their entire career may be over. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American employee will stay in their current job for around 5 years and will hold an average of 11 different jobs by the time they’re in their fifties. But replacing employees is often time consuming and expensive for organizations. One strategy to help cut down on employee turnover is to better identify the factors that influence an employee’s decision to stay put or look for greener pastures elsewhere. In a recent study published in the Journal of Business and Psychology, psychological scientists Sang Eun Woo of Purdue University and David G.
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The Unfulfilled Potential of Diapers
The Huffington Post: The baby diaper market -- led by Proctor & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark -- is projected to reach USD 52.2 billion by 2017. As the market grows, so does the investment in technology. In a recent article about the industry, Lauren Coleman Lochner paints a portrait of scientists in lab coats using saline solution to identify 'pee-points' on the quest for a perfect diaper. No leaks, no rash. As fathers, we appreciate this commitment to excellence, but we also have a simple, inexpensive, low-tech request to the CEOs of the leading diaper producers -- help us remember to talk to our babies.
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How Your Boss’s Ethics Can Hurt Your Career
LiveScience: Professionals may believe they can maintain an ethical reputation by merely refraining from morally questionable practices: Don't steal, cheat, or bully others. But this alone is not enough. If a higher-up in your organization is found guilty of unethical behavior, your reputation can become tainted merely because you work at the same place. Take Enron. The fraudulent business dealings of top executives led to one of the biggest scandals of the decade. Rank-and-file employees lost their jobs, health care and life savings.
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The Case Against Positive Thinking
The Wall Street Journal: Blame it on Oprah. Positive thinking is touted as the key that unlocks success (remember “The Secret”, which the Oprah Winfrey‘s show helped make an international best-seller?), but it turns out that an overwhelmingly rosy outlook can keep us from achieving our goals, according to psychologist Gabriele Oettingen. At the physiological level, positive thinking—measured by its effect on blood pressure—relaxes us and drains us of motivation. In one of Dr. Oettingen’s studies, obese participants who fantasized about successfully losing weight lost 24 pounds less than those who refrained from doing so.
