COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Infidelity in a relationship can be costly—personally, financially and socially—yet it remains an exceedingly common occurrence. New research led by the University of Maryland Department of Psychology provides a comprehensive list of the main reasons people cheat, and questions traditional wisdom about what infidelity means in a relationship. (more…)
New analyses of vertebrate groups performed by UA evolutionary biologist John Wiens suggest that habitat is a more important variable than climate or metabolic rate.
Of the nearly 1.5 million known animal species on Earth, those with backbones come in a stunning array of shapes and sizes. Vertebrates include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, and the number of species within these groups can vary wildly. For example, there are only six species of lungfish and only 25 crocodilians — but roughly 10,000 birds and 9,700 lizards and snakes. (more…)
In his new book, “Get a Job: Labor Markets, Economic Opportunity, and Crime,” University of Washington sociologist Robert Crutchfield takes on the popular notion that the unemployed are more likely to commit crimes. A former juvenile probation officer and parole agent, Crutchfield explains the nuanced links between work, unemployment and crime.
Q. You write that the stratification of labor contributes significantly to a person’s lifestyle and whether or not they commit crimes. Can you explain?
A. When someone has a low-end job (what some scholars refer to as secondary sector jobs), such jobs don’t pay well, and have few or no benefits and limited prospects for the future. Young adults in that situation may feel like they don’t have to conform to society’s expectations, and are at risk of getting involved in crime because they are likely to spend time with similar young men. People with good jobs, what some scholars call primary sector jobs, by contrast have something to lose if they do not constrain their own lifestyles. So they spend less time in situations where crime might occur. The stratification of labor that I write about is the structuring of the labor market into primary sector (good) jobs and secondary sector (bad) jobs. (more…)
New book by UCLA psychologists shows couples how to team up to lose weight, get healthier
After analyzing thousands of hours of video recordings of married couples talking with each other about their health, two UCLA psychology professors were shocked by what they saw. (more…)
People who enjoy life maintain better physical function in their daily activities and keep up faster walking speeds as they age, compared with people who enjoy life less, according to a new study led by Professor Andrew Steptoe (UCL Epidemiology & Public Health).
The research, published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal), was based on data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). It followed 3,199 men and women aged 60+ in England over an eight year period in order to examine the link between positive well-being and physical well-being. (more…)
TORONTO, ON – The global financial crisis accelerated China’s rise in the world economy, disrupting a post-cold war status quo in which the United States was the world’s largest and most dynamic economy and undisputed super power. The world economic order is shifting. Can those who manage international commercial, cultural or political exchanges afford to ignore this shift? (more…)
American Indian communities in northern Michigan are improving health care for tribal elders with help from a Michigan State University program that blends their cultural traditions with the latest medical research.
It’s part of the Geriatric Education Center of Michigan, a federally funded, MSU-led consortium of universities, hospitals and government agencies established in 1987 to train health professionals and others to deliver better care to older adults, particularly in underserved communities. (more…)
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Understanding how thoughts of mortality influence individuals’ beliefs sheds light on the commonalities among different groups’ motivations and could help ease tensions between opposing viewpoints, according to University of Missouri experiments that tested the relationship between awareness of death and belief in a higher power. The study found that thoughts of death increased atheists, Christians, Muslims and agnostics conviction in their own world views. For example, contrary to the wartime aphorism that there are no atheists in foxholes, thoughts of death did not cause atheists to express belief in a deity.
“Our study suggests that atheists’ and religious believers’ world views have the same practical goal,” said Kenneth Vail, lead author and doctoral student in psychological science in MU’s College of Arts and Science. “Both groups seek a coherent world view to manage the fear of death and link themselves to a greater and immortal entity, such as a supreme being, scientific progress or a nation. If people were more aware of this psychological similarity, perhaps there might be more understanding and less conflict among groups with different beliefs.” (more…)
