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More Reasons to Be Nice: It’s Less Work for Everyone

By Guest PostMarch 11, 2011Culturealtruism, common etiquette, critical distance model, david rosenbaum, emily post, joseph santamaria, polite act, relationships, social codes

A polite act shows respect. But a new study of a common etiquette—holding a door for someone—suggests that courtesy may have a more practical, though unconscious, shared motivation: to reduce the work for those involved. The research, by Joseph P. Santamaria and David A. Rosenbaum of Pennsylvania State University, is the first to combine two fields of study ordinarily considered unrelated: altruism and motor control. It is to be published in a forthcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

“The way etiquette has been viewed by Emily Post—that you’re being proper by following social codes—is undoubtedly part of it,” said psychology professor Rosenbaum. “Our insight is there is another contributor: the mental representation of other people’s physical effort. Substantial research in the field of motor control shows that people are good at estimating how much effort they and others expend,” Rosenbaum continued. “We realized that this concept could be extended to a shared-effort model of politeness.” (more…)

Web Use Doesn’t Encourage Belief in Poltical Rumors, But E-mail Does

By Guest PostMarch 9, 2011Culture, Politics, Technologyalaska, Barack Obama, e mail, Facebook, factcheck, harmful consequences, internet communication, kelly garrett, mayor, mccain-palin, muslim, obama-biden, online sources, political information, political rumors, presidential election, rumor-mongering, Sarah Palin, telephone survey, Twitter, use of the internet, vicious feedback loop, wasilla

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Despite the fears of some, a new study suggests that use of the internet in general does not make people more likely to believe political rumors.

However, one form of internet communication – e-mail – does seem to have troubling consequences for the spread and belief of rumors.

“I think a lot of people will be surprised to learn that using the internet doesn’t necessarily promote belief in rumors. Many people seem to think that’s self-evident,” said R. Kelly Garrett, author of the study and assistant professor of communication at Ohio State University. (more…)

Am I Safe Here?: How People With HIV/AIDS Perceive Hidden Prejudices in Their Communities

By Guest PostMarch 7, 2011Culture, Healthacts of discrimination, blatant discrimination, carol miller, disclosure concerns, hiv positive people, internally motivated, janice bunn, kristin grover, marginalized groups, new englanders, paranoid, people, politically correct, prejudiced, racial minorities, society, sondra solomon, stereotyping, subtle clues

People in marginalized groups, such as the disabled or racial minorities, feel stigmatized—condemned, feared, or excluded—when other people stigmatize them. That’s obvious. But they can also feel stigma when nobody blatantly discriminates against them or says a negative word.

These folks aren’t paranoid, suggests a new study of HIV-positive people and their communities to be published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association of Psychological Science. Rather, they’re picking up subtle clues from their communities. (more…)

U.S. Remains the Largest Cocaine Market in the World

By PravdaMarch 6, 20111 commentCulture, GeneralEurope, heroin, largest market for cocaine, legalisation of marijuana, lisa karpova, marijuana, methamphetamine, mexican traffickers, overuse of drugs, united states

The United States remains the world’s largest market for cocaine, with 4.8 million users, although its importance has been reduced in recent years, according to the INCB (International Board for Narcotics Control).

“In 2009, 4.8 million people consumed some form of cocaine in the U.S., compared with 5.3 million in 2008,” the INCB said in its report in 2010. With this number of consumers, the U.S. represents 41% of the international drug market, ahead of Europe, with 29%, according to the board, stating that “Although the market for cocaine has been reduced in North America, it continues to grow in Europe.” (more…)

People With Low Self-Esteem Show More Signs of Prejudice

By Guest PostFebruary 26, 20111 commentCulturearguments, automatic reactions, better control, difference, iat, implicit association test, implicit prejudice, jeffrey sherman, negative evaluations, people, prejudice, sherman and allen, stereotype, subtle, thomas allen

When people are feeling badly about themselves, they’re more likely to show bias against people who are different. A new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, examines how that works.

“This is one of the oldest accounts of why people stereotype and have prejudice: It makes us feel better about ourselves,” says Jeffrey Sherman of the University of California, Davis, who wrote the study with Thomas Allen. “When we feel bad about ourselves, we can denigrate other people, and that makes us feel better about ourselves.” (more…)

Social Network Games Even Help Grown-ups With Their Relationships

By Guest PostFebruary 25, 2011Culture, Technologyadults, clifford lampe, Facebook, facebook users, farmville, michigan state university, nicole ellison, playing games, relationship management strategies, relationships, rick wash, social game, social network games, social network sites, yvette wohn

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Think social network games are just for kids? A recent Michigan State University study found that many adults are playing games such as Facebook’s “Farmville” to help initiate, develop and maintain relationships.

The MSU team of researchers interviewed a number of Facebook users between the ages of 25 and 55, said Yvette Wohn, a doctoral student in the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media who led the study.

“The interesting thing is that we were asking people how they use Facebook to manage their different relationships,” she said. “Surprisingly, all but one person talked about playing games as one of their relationship-management strategies.” (more…)

Cubans Say Lots of Sex and Tobacco is Why They Live Longer

By PravdaFebruary 24, 2011Culture, Health120 years club, centenarians, coffee, cubans, Fidel Castro, food habits, havana, Japan, life expectancy, lisa karpova, little salt, longevity, lucid state of mind, methodical life, nancy nepomuceno, natural spices, secret formula, sex, sexual nature, singapore, stress free environment, tobacco, varied food habit, vegetables, villa clara

Cubans are proud of their longevity, and the sharp mind of Fidel Castrol is a prime example. Certainly the totally free and complete medical care and stress free environment contribute greatly to length and quality of life, as does the the availability of community recreational, cultural and educational programs. A family doctor can be found on every block.

A methodical life with varied food habits, which does not exclude tobacco, coffee or sex, would be the “secret formula” to achieve satisfactory longevity, according to a recent study of more than 50 people over a hundred years old in Cuba. (more…)

Stresses of Unemployed Spouse Can Hurt Job Performance of Other Spouse, Study Finds

By Guest PostFebruary 21, 20112 commentsCulture, Economyemployee's productivity, interpersonal relationships, journal of applied psychology, maw-der foo, national university of singapore, stresses of an unemployed spouse's job, unemployment situation, university of colorado boulder

Ignoring the stresses of an unemployed spouse’s job search does not bode well for the employed spouse’s job productivity or home life, says a University of Colorado Boulder professor.

Associate Professor Maw-Der Foo of CU-Boulder’s Leeds School of Business studies employee workplace issues, including those related to interpersonal relationships. (more…)

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