re's a list of scientific factors associated with sexual satisfaction. Birth control pills make women more likely to pick men who satisfy them less sexually but make them more satisfied with their relationships. What women look for in one night stands and long term relationships is very different. Age difference has a big effect on how sexually satisfied husbands and wives are. Here's a list of what keeps men and women sexually satisfied over time. Here's one you probably knew…
a The Huffington Post: In a previous study, scientists showed that men seem to be more attracted to women clothed in red rather than in a blah color such as white. That's regardless of the cut, he adds. "It doesn't have to be a red dress or a sexy outfit," he says. "It can be a red T-shirt." To understand why, Pazda and his colleagues conducted a simple experiment. They showed 25 men a photo of a single woman doctored…
nt people to play nice and not cheat each other? Bring toys. Via Harvard Business Review: The finding: Adults are less likely to cheat and more likely to engage in “pro-social” behaviors when reminders of children, such as teddy bears and crayons, are present. The research: Sreedhari Desai and her research partner Francesca Gino had people play classic psychology games in which the subjects controlled how much money other people earned and could earn more themselves if they lied. Half…
e BBC series Sherlock is currently my favorite show on television. Sherlock Holmes instantly decodes someone's life story and personality from a quick look at the person and their belongings. Of course, the show is fiction. But Sherlock Holmes is a great example of expert behavior. How much of his skill could we possess in real life with knowledge of the research on what factors predict which personality traits -- and which signals are reliable? Here's a quick rundown on…
d Saad has an interesting review of research showing that, yes, men are more likely to approach blondes. The study sought to "determine whether the same woman would be differentially approached by men at one of three nightclubs as a function of whether she was a brunette, blonde, or redhead (hair color was manipulated using dye)". The results? Blonde Brunette Redhead Nightclub 1 26 …
can become a slave to our first impressions. Once we've set them, they can be hard to change. Via David McRaney's You Are Not So Smart: A study in 1997 by Wilkielman, Zajonc, and Shwartz created first impressions in subjects with images of smiles and frowns. The people in the study saw a photo of either a happy or a sad face flash briefly on a screen and then were shown an unfamiliar Chinese character and asked to say…
light touch on the arm dramatically increases compliance with all manner of requests, from asking for money to getting a woman's phone number. Via Richard Wiseman's excellent book 59 Seconds: Change Your Life in Under a Minute: A large number of studies has shown that touching someone the upper arm for just a second or two can have a surprisingly significant effect on how much help they then provide. In one experiment American researchers approached people in the street and…
s. Sharing negative feelings about a third party can increase closeness between two people: We propose that sharing a negative—as compared to a positive—attitude about a third party is particularly effective in promoting closeness between people. Findings from two survey studies and an experiment support this idea. In Studies 1 and 2, participants’ open-ended responses revealed a tendency to recall sharing with their closest friends more negative than positive attitudes about other people. Study 3 established that discovering a shared…
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