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The rich are different and not in a good way, studies suggest
msnbc: Psychologist and social scientist Dacher Keltner says the rich really are different, and not in a good way: Their life experience makes them less empathetic, less altruistic, and generally more selfish. In fact, he says, the philosophical battle over economics, taxes, debt ceilings and defaults that are now roiling the stock market is partly rooted in an upper class "ideology of self-interest." “We have now done 12 separate studies measuring empathy in every way imaginable, social behavior in every way, and some work on compassion and it’s the same story,” he said.
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Engaged Workers Report Twice As Much Job Creation
Business Insider: Employees who are in engaged in their work and workplace are twice as likely to report their organization is hiring new workers as those who are actively disengaged. Workers who are emotionally disconnected from their work and workplace are far more likely to report their organization is letting people go than those who are engaged. Americans report these substantial differences in their organization's hiring practices even though, collectively, Gallup finds overall U.S. job creation holding steady in recent months. Read the whole story: Business Insider
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Picky Palates
The New York Times: Q. Why am I such a fussy eater? Does each person have a distinct set of taste buds, or is my fussiness just in my head? A. Differences in taste buds contribute a bit, but there are many other physical and psychological factors, including body weight, state of mind and disease, that make some people finicky, said David A. Levitsky, professor of nutrition and psychology at Cornell University. “We know that people vary rather remarkably in their ability to taste bitter,” he said, with some able to detect bitterness at very low concentrations.
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Groups Call for Scientists to Engage the Body Politic
The New York Times: When asked to name a scientist, Americans are stumped. In one recent survey, the top choice, at 47 percent, was Einstein, who has been dead since 1955, and the next, at 23 percent, was “I don’t know.” In another survey, only 4 percent of respondents could name a living scientist. While these may not have been statistically rigorous exercises, they do point to something real: In American public life, researchers are largely absent. Trained to stick to the purity of the laboratory, they tend to avoid the sometimes irrational hurly-burly of politics.
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Narcissists Look Like Good Leaders—But They Aren’t!
Narcissists rise to the top. That’s because other people think their qualities—confidence, dominance, authority, and self-esteem—make them good leaders. Is that true? “Our research shows that the opposite seems to be true,” says Barbora Nevicka, a PhD candidate in organizational psychology, describing a new study she undertook with University of Amsterdam colleagues Femke Ten Velden, Annebel De Hoogh, and Annelies Van Vianen. The study found that the narcissists’ preoccupation with their own brilliance inhibits a crucial element of successful group decision-making and performance: the free and creative exchange of information and ideas.
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Fighting the Fear of Public Speaking
The Wall Street Journal: Everyone is afraid of something. Spiders, heights, angry bees. But while spiders and bees can make a picnic challenging, they usually don’t get in the way of doing a job. Unfortunately, my fear is public speaking. At one point, my phobia got so bad that when I gave presentations, my right eye would twitch. Not only would I get nervous about my talk, but I would also stress about the possibility of the eye-twitch emerging, which made it hard to actually present my information. (Try reading notes through an eyeball that has a mind of its own.) The stressing, of course, just made the twitch inevitable. It was a vicious circle. Read more: The Wall Street Journal
