- Narcissistic people are less likely to reward good behavior but are also less likely to punish others for acting "out of line". https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/narcissism-behavior 759 comments science
- Home reading and good preschool attendance reduce the socioeconomic gap in childrens reading skills https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/children-reading 11 comments science
- Positive nudges can be used to help kids make healthy snack choices. A randomized controlled trial study finds subtle positive associations with healthy foods influence children’s non-reflective cognitive processes surrounding food choice, while negative associations with junk foods had no effect. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/nudging-snacks 20 comments science
- Facial features that indicate dominance and power are detected at an unconscious level of neural processing. This automaticity suggests an evolutionary advantage in being able to rapidly detect high-ranking individuals in a group. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/social-dominance 3 comments science
- People are less bothered by financial losses when they think they are ‘investing’ rather than ‘gambling’ (even in the same context). Being less loss averse when money is framed as an investment can be detrimental to financial decision-making. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/gambling-investing 104 comments science
- People are less bothered by financial losses when they think they are “investing” rather than “gambling”, finds a new study, which suggests it may be because people tend to associate gambling with losing money and investing with gaining money. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/gambling-investing 3 comments science
- People automatically perceive wealthy individuals as highly competent and express more willingness to hire them, based on the assumption that wealthy people “earn” their wealth. This “rich and competent” belief can reduce economic mobility, making it more difficult for the working class to thrive https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/wealth-impressions 139 comments science
- Monkeys have the ability to engage in logic-based problem solving -- an ability researchers previously believed to be unique to humans because it required language. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/monkey-intelligence 8 comments science
- High school start times conflict with the adolescent 'morning brain': Research monitoring in-school EEG activity found that students are more neurologically alert and able to retain information in mid-day classes (e.g., 10:30am) than in early morning classes (e.g., 8:30am). https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/students-sleep 571 comments science
- A new tool measuring emotional abuse in couples reveals different forms of psychological abuse behaviors including women’s stonewalling and contempt, and men’s hostile withdrawal and dominance. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/emotional-abuse 4 comments science
- Non-nicotine substances in cigarette smoke cause changes in the activity of the brain’s reward circuitry, leading to more pronounced addictive behaviors than just nicotine alone. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/cigarette-addiction 41 comments science
- Individuals who admire comic book and story heroes (as opposed to villains) are more likely to be narcissistic due to a desire to be viewed in the same positive regard that's reserved for those who commit heroic acts. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/heroes-parasocial 44 comments science
- Conformity in adolescents can be a good thing, with the influence of peers motivating young people to engage in more prosocial and cooperative behaviors and not just the typical impulsive or delinquent behaviors of youth. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/prosocial-conformity 8 comments science
- People are willing to spend money and effort to learn about the alternate outcomes of a bad decision, only to then feel regret about it. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/regret 5 comments science
- Online political censoring done when ideas conflict with beliefs, for both the left and right. A new study proposed that, when given the opportunity, people tend to censor those who post online content that conflicts with their beliefs. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/political-censorship?t=au 7 comments science
- People high in trait machiavellianism are more likely to climb the corporate ladder by leaving lasting impressions with influential people in leadership positions, mostly through an ability to capitalize on social situations and expand their networks. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/machiavellianism 617 comments science
- Buddhist practitioners are more likely than Protestant practitioners to engage in culturally normative "noninfluence" strategies of emotion regulation, and this greater acceptance of negative emotions is predictive of lower depressive symptoms overall. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/noninfluence-emotions 10 comments science
- Tracking hundreds of couples from before to the start of the pandemic, and again shortly after the first wave, it was found that individuals with an inability to cope had poor relationship outcomes and a dysfunctional way of explaining their partners' intentions/behaviors. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/covid-relationships 4 comments science
- Higher baseline testosterone is associated with greater willingness to espouse minority views, suggesting a bio-social mechanism for going against the grain and fighting for unpopular social change. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/testosterone-opinions 45 comments science
- People who value the moral principle of authority (over fairness) show less support for social justice movements like BLM, suggesting an ethical trade-off between the two foundations of human morality. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/social-protests 289 comments science
- People who feel supported and loved by others tend to be more open-minded, accepting of opposing views, and willing to see multiple perspectives. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/opposing-views 1156 comments science
- Personality trait data from 31 countries at both nation-level and individual-level shows that 'agreeable nations' are most consistently compliant with COVID lockdown measures, while individuals highest in extraversion across nations are less likely to shelter in place, expressing a need to go out. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/peronality-covid 7 comments science
- New evidence that paranoid ideation and distrust of government officials, science and media explains why conspiracy theories are more likely to be endorsed by individuals with right-wing ideologies. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/conspiracy-thinking 4 comments science
- New evidence of an illusory 'suffering-reward' association: People mistakenly expect suffering will lead to fortuitous rewards, an irrational 'just-world' belief that undue suffering deserves to be compensated to help restore balance. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/suffering-just-world 244 comments philosophy
- Comparing people's dreams form before COVID to during the pandemic outbreak, people now have heightened dream imagery involving animals, changes in location, food, and human heads -- themes that reflect people's anxieties during this time. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/covid-dreaming 15 comments science
- Parents in the middle. Reminding Republican and Democrat adults of their parent identities, instead of their partisan ones, results in less polarized attitudes, in which Republicans support climate change policies more, and Democrats support it less. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/partisan-identity 21 comments science
- Extending past work on complimenting others, new research shows why we fail to compliment others even though it's good for both parties: we underestimate the positive impact on the other, and overestimate the anxiety and awkwardness we think we could feel by offering up a kind gesture. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/complimenting-others 8 comments science
- Individuals with a greater sensitivity to taste (and disgust) are more likely to hold culturally and socially conservative values related to outgroup dynamics. This work suggests that low-level physiological differences in sensory processing may shape an individual’s political attitudes and beliefs. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/taste-sensitivity 823 comments science
- People who use politically correct language are seen as inauthentic by some, but caring by others, depending on the one’s political leaning. And a PC approach isn't just a liberal phenomenon - both groups favor this language, but only if it's directed towards a group whom they feel sympathy for. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/political-correctness 448 comments science
- People who perceive things around them as more variable see the the world as unpredictable and vulnerable, which leads them to judge others more harshly with increased support for the death penalty. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/variable-world 4 comments science
- People are judged as hypocritical when they secretively do good deeds (in private) to alleviate the dissonance they feel for the unethical behaviors they do (in public). An attempt to "morally cleanse" themselves, the true hypocrite is someone who wishes, above all, to alleviate personal guilt. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/hypocrisy-moral-cleansing 21 comments science
- Slowing down and processing information deliberately helps with the detection of fake news, leading to more accurate belief formation and less partisan bias (equally for both Republicans and Democrats.) https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/fake-news 43 comments science
- Working memory capacity predicts individual differences in social-distancing compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/covid-memory 6 comments science
- When arguing about contentious issues, people who take an 'argue-to-win' mindset become objectivists, believing that it's impossible to have multiple perspectives. With an 'argue-to-learn' mindset people submit that there can be differing viewpoints. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/argue-to-learn 5 comments science
- Employees whose bosses display inconsistent and difficult behavior can lead to more (not less) creativity in employees, but only for those who embrace multiple views and perspectives at a trait level. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/paradoxical-leadership 5 comments science
- On contentious issues and moral topics, people's default position is to believe their view is the one single truth. Adopting an argue-to-learn mindset, however, can reduce objectivism and open a person up to other opinions and "truths". https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/argue-to-learn 9 comments science
- There are two parts to being an extraverted person -- the "getting ahead" of assertiveness and the "getting along" of interpersonal warmth. It's better to have both, but a moderate amount. Too much or too little assertiveness/warmth makes other people like you less. Suggesting a curvalinear effect. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/extraverted-leadership 4 comments science
- In encountering new information, being confused at first often leads to less interest and hinders any possible learning. But for people high in trait openness, confusion is a good thing and coupled with greater interest -- a sign that learning is happening. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/confusion-interest-learning 39 comments science
- Art-based training for leaders leads to better leadership outcomes than conventional "business" training. Part of the reason is because of the improved self-awareness and lack of narcissistic elements in artistic exploration. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/art-based-leadership 8 comments science
- High trait self-control fails to buffer against stress if a person has to deal with multiple stressors at once. Even the strongest willpower will fail under mounting pressure. https://www.behaviorist.biz/oh-behave-a-blog/willpower-failures 98 comments science