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‘Feeling Warm Makes People More Likely to Believe in Global Warming’

By Guest PostFebruary 2, 2011Culture, Environmentchicago booth, clayton critcher, desertification and drought, feeling warm, fresh drinking water, global warming, haas, hot landscapes, hot sun, idea of global warming, jane risen, mental image, overheated room, pretzels, risen and critcher, warm room

Being in a warm room can make the idea of global warming seem more likely, according to researchers from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and the Haas School of Business at University of California, Berkeley.

A new study finds that when people feel warmer—either because they are out in the hot sun or because they are in an overheated room—they believe in global warming more. The findings were published online Jan. 20 in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. (more…)

People Aren’t Born Afraid of Spiders and Snakes: Fear Is Quickly Learned During Infancy

By Guest PostFebruary 1, 2011Culturearachnophobia, arne ohman, children, electric shock, elephant, hollywood, humans, infants, monkeys, movies, poisonous, scary objects, snakes, snakes on a plane, spiders, susan mineka, toddlers, vanessa lobue

There’s a reason why Hollywood makes movies like Arachnophobia and Snakes on a Plane: Most people are afraid of spiders and snakes. A new paper published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, reviews research with infants and toddlers and finds that we aren’t born afraid of spiders and snakes, but we can learn these fears very quickly.

One theory about why we fear spiders and snakes is because so many are poisonous; natural selection may have favored people who stayed away from these dangerous critters. Indeed, several studies have found that it’s easier for both humans and monkeys to learn to fear evolutionarily threatening things than non-threatening things. (more…)

Men More Likely to Stick With Girlfriends Who Sleep With Other Women Than Other Men, Research Shows

By Guest PostJanuary 28, 2011Culturedating a girlfriend, evolutionary psychology, female homosexuality, heterosexual affair, homosexual affair, infidelity, jaime c confer, mark d cloud, men

AUSTIN, Texas — Men are more than twice as likely to continue dating a girlfriend who has cheated on them with another woman than one who has cheated with another man, according to new research from a University of Texas at Austin psychologist.

Women show the opposite pattern. They are more likely to continue dating a man who has had a heterosexual affair than one who has had a homosexual affair. (more…)

Study Reveals Arab American Views on Organ Donation

By Guest PostJanuary 23, 2011Culture, Scienceaasim i padela, arab american community, arab americans, arabic language, arabic media, arabs, christian arab americans, detroit arab american study, muslim arab americans, organ donation, positive organ donation beliefs, Social networking, university of michigan

*New University of Michigan research shows higher education, religion, income levels influence Arab American support of organ donation*

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – U.S. organ procurement organizations looking to increase donation rates among Arab Americans can turn to new University of Michigan Health System research for recruitment ideas.

U-M researchers identified various factors – from education and income levels to gender and religion – that may predict how members of this population view organ donation, says lead study author Aasim I. Padela, M.D., an emergency physician and a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at the U-M Health System. (more…)

Writing About Anxiety Helps Students Ace Exams

By Guest PostJanuary 20, 2011Culture, Educationanxiety, average grade, choke, classroom, counterintuitive, effective way, exam, exam performance, gerardo ramirez, gregg solomon, high pressure situations, improve, mental logjams, negative thoughts, performance, research, secrets of the brain, sian beilock, test scores, university of chicago, writing about test related worries

*Research says test performance improves when students write about their worries*

Sian Beilock, lead author of a new study that appears on January 13 in the journal Science, says writing about test-related worries for ten minutes immediately before taking an exam is an effective way to improve test scores in classroom settings.

“By writing down one’s negative thoughts, students may come to realize that the situation is not as bad as they thought or that they are prepared to take it on,” said Beilock, an associate professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago. “As a result, they worry less during the test.” (more…)

Energy Drinks: To Drink or Not to Drink?

By PravdaJanuary 19, 2011Culture, Healthalcohol, asia, blood, caffeine, carbohydrates, carbonated, coffee, denmark, depression, dietrich matesic, diuretic effect, energy drinks, france, glucose, glucuronolactone, heart diseases, high blood pressure, high sugar levels, hong kong, hypertension, hypertensive crisis, increased anxiety, ingredients, mental activity, miracle drink, nervous breakdown, nervous system, norway, overdoses, oxidative processes, psychomotor agitation, red bull, stimulant, stimulate, tachycardia, taurine, tea, vitamins, vodka, workaholics

Energy drinks are a recent invention of mankind, even though their ingredients have long been used to stimulate the nervous system. They have become the salvation for students during the exams and office workers that have to meet the deadlines. Yet, are these products as good as they seem? (more…)

Scientists: Big City Life May Alter Green Attitudes

By Guest PostJanuary 18, 20111 commentCulture, EnvironmentBeijing, center for systems integration and sustainability, China, chinese citizens, csis, economic, employment status, Environment, environmental behavior, environmental problems, environmental values, environmentally friendly activities, human behavior, jianguo jack liu, large cities, pro environmental behavior, rapid economic growth, shanghai, thomas baerwald, tianjin, united states, urban areas, urban china, xiaodong chen

*Study of Chinese citizens says jobs more important than salary when it comes to pro-environmental behavior*

People with good jobs found in large cities are more likely to engage in pro-environmental activities. So says a new study of China’s environmental behavior published this week in the British journal Environmental Conservation.

For the first time, scientists weighed employment and leadership when considering how people act regarding their natural surroundings. They found the status and political power of companies in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin strongly influence the conservation practices of their employees. (more…)

Have We Changed Our Ways After the BP Oil Spill? Not Really

By Guest PostJanuary 18, 2011Culture, Environmentandrew Hoffman, cultural anomaly, environmental management, fossil fuel production, Halliburton, journal of management, obama administration, offshore drilling, oil spill, transocean, university of Alberta, university of michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—On the heels of last week’s federal recommendations to help prevent another BP oil spill disaster, a University of Michigan researcher says the tragedy has come close to acting as a catalyst for deeper change—but not quite.

“The BP oil spill is, potentially, a ‘cultural anomaly’ for institutional changes in environmental management and fossil fuel production,” said Andrew Hoffman, professor of management and organizations at the Ross School of Business and a professor at the School of Natural Resources and Environment. “But true change in our approach to handling issues related to oil drilling, oil consumption and environmental management have yet to occur.” (more…)

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