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People With “Fused” Identities Are Willing to Die for Their Social Group
People who are "fused" with a group—a bond even stronger than group identification—will take extreme actions to protect other group members, but not outsiders, conclude researchers in a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. This intense bond to a group may help explain the actions of suicide bombers. Psychological scientist William B. Swann, Jr., of the University of Texas, came up with the concept of identity fusion when talking with a graduate student and a Spanish colleague about terrorism. "We started talking about terrorists and what can cause somebody to engage in terrorism.
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Smokers Trying to Give Up – Don’t Stop Thinking About Cigarettes
Blocking thoughts of cigarettes helps reduce smokers’ intake at first, but means they smoke more than usual when they stop suppressing, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The study was carried out by researchers at St. George’s, University of London and the University of Hertfordshire. Co-author Dr. James Erskine, a psychologist at St. George’s, says the study shows that many smokers attempting to give up—as well as people trying to quit other vices—may be thwarted by the very technique they use to stop.
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Preschoolers Use Statistics to Understand Others
Children are natural psychologists. By the time they're in preschool, they understand that other people have desires, preferences, beliefs, and emotions. But how they learn this isn't clear. A new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, finds that children figure out another person's preferences by using a topic you'd think they don’t encounter until college: statistics. In one experiment, children aged 3 and 4 saw a puppet named "Squirrel" remove five toys of the same type from a container full of toys and happily play with them. Across children, the toys that Squirrel removed were the same (for example, all five were blue flowers).
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People Who Cannot Escape a System Are Likely to Defend the Status Quo
The freedom of emigration at will is internationally recognized as a human right. But, in practice, emigration is often restricted, whether by policy or by poverty. A new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, finds that people who are told that their right to emigrate will be restricted have what could be considered a strange reaction: they respond by defending their country's system. The researchers suspected that people who are under an oppressive regime might try to see their situation in the best light possible.
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Happy Employees May Be the Key to Success…for Organizations
When JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater creatively deplaned earlier this week, many questions arose as to why someone would be willing to give up a steady paycheck during these tough economic times. While this “working man’s hero” will most likely be questioning his motives as he hands over his lawyer’s fees, a new report in Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, suggests that his action may be a sign of trouble for JetBlue and other large companies.
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Current Directions in Schizophrenia Research
It has been nearly a century since the term “schizophrenia” was first used to describe what was then considered a hopeless and incurable disorder of thought and emotion. Schizophrenia is still baffling to both scientists and the general public, but it is no longer considered hopeless. Significant advances have been made on several fronts in fathoming and combating this debilitating mental illness—from genetics to neuroscience to the psychosocial aspects of the disorder. The August issue of the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science, published by the Association for Psychological Science, is a state-of-the-art summary of the latest research on every facet of schizophrenia.