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The lower your social class, the ‘wiser’ you are, suggests new study
There’s an apparent paradox in modern life: Society as a whole is getting smarter, yet we aren’t any closer to figuring out how to all get along. “How is it possible that we have just as many, if not more, conflicts as before?” asks social psychologist Igor Grossmann at the University of Waterloo in Canada. The answer is that raw intelligence doesn’t reduce conflict, he asserts. Wisdom does. Such wisdom—in effect, the ability to take the perspectives of others into account and aim for compromise—comes much more naturally to those who grow up poor or working class, according to a new study by Grossman and colleagues.
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The Only Way to Keep Your Resolutions
New Year’s Eve is a time to set goals: to eat better, to save more money, to work harder, to drink less. It’s Day 1 on the road to a “new you.” But this road, as we all know, is difficult to follow. Humans are notoriously bad at resisting temptation, especially (as research confirms) if we’re busy, tired or stressed. By Jan. 8, some 25 percent of resolutions have fallen by the wayside. And by the time the year ends, fewer than 10 percent have been fully kept. Unfortunately, the problem of New Year’s resolutions is, in a way, the problem of life itself.
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3 Myths About Your Teen’s Bad Attitude
Does this scenario feel familiar? Marisa is 12-and-a-half years old. She has become moody and irritable, wants much more private time alone in her room, but spends it all socializing with friends on social media. She has little time for the family. She will “agree” to eat dinner with her mother, father and younger brother but retreats to her room as soon as she finishes eating but before the meal is over. She makes nasty comments for no apparent reason. What parents intend to be innocent questions are met with Marisa rolling her eyes, giving the parent the finger and walking away. On a regular basis, Marisa complains that her parents are too controlling and do not give her any freedom.
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New Research From Psychological Science
A sample of new research reexamining links between smile intensity and longevity, exploring mothers’ responses to infant distress cues, and early predictors of number-system knowledge.
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Can Teamwork Solve One Of Psychology’s Biggest Problems?
Psychologist Christopher Chartier admits to a case of “physics envy.” That field boasts numerous projects on which international research teams come together to tackle big questions. Just think of CERN’s Large Hadron Collideror LIGO, which recently detected gravitational waves for the first time. Both are huge collaborations that study problems too big for one group to solve alone. Chartier, a researcher at Ashland University, doesn’t think massively scaled group projects should only be the domain of physicists. So he’s starting the “Psychological Science Accelerator,” which has a simple idea behind it: Psychological studies will take place simultaneously at multiple labs around the globe.
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How to Win Your Opponent’s Respect? Talk, Don’t Type
Social media has made it easier than ever to find people with whom we disagree. And if there ever was the perfect kindling to add to the fire that is toxic online comment threads, it was the 2016 presidential election. No matter your candidate, you’ve probably witnessed someone on the other side try to justify their position online in a way that made you think they were, well, incredibly stupid. But new research suggests you might not be so harsh if you were to hear that person's same explanation offline in their real voice.
