How can you learn to be more charismatic?
er at the excellent BPS Research Digest there's a great review of research on charisma. Is it something that can be learned? Yes: Managers who underwent training saw their charisma ratings significantly grow, relative to those who didn't. What are the techniques that make someone more charismatic? Framing through metaphor. Stories and anecdotes. Demonstrating moral conviction. Sharing the sentiments of the collective. Setting high expectations. Communicating confidence. Using rhetorical devices such as contrasts, lists, and rhetorical questions together with non-verbal tactics such as body gesture, facial expression,…
1 min read
How do siblings shape your personality?
borah Kotz has an interesting piece in the Boston Globe that highlights research findings from the new book The Sibling Effect: What the Bonds Among Brothers and Sisters Reveal About Us: Firstborns and only-children, for example, have a 3-point higher IQ on average compared with those born second, according to 2007 Norwegian study cited in the book, and second children are about a point ahead of those born third... And: Parents can devote 100 percent of their child-raising resources to the first child until they must…
2 minutes
To make the best impression should you be totally honest or spin facts to make yourself look good?
..confidence is compelling because, barring evidence to the contrary, perceivers assume others have good self-insight. Therefore, to make the best impression, people should be as positive as is plausible to perceivers." Psychology theories disagree on the most effective self-presentation strategies—some claim possessing positive illusions is best, whereas others claim accuracy is best. The current experiments suggest that the role of perceivers and what perceivers believe has been underappreciated in this debate. Participants acted as recruiters for either a swim team…
1 min read
Hot College Professors Make More Money
this paper we examine the impact of a professor’s hotness, as rated by students, on his or her salary, controlling for research and teaching productivity. We also estimate the impacts of a professor’s hotness on the quality of his or her teaching, as evaluated by students, and the impact of hotness on research productivity, as measured by citations, publications, co‐authorship, and grant funding. Our study is based on data describing economics professors at sixteen universities. Although a relatively small…
1 min read
Can the smell of cookies make us nicer to each other?
a preliminary study, passersby in a large shopping mall were significantly more likely to help a same-sex accomplice (by retrieving a dropped pen or providing change for a dollar) when these helping opportunities took place in the presence of pleasant ambient odors (e.g., baking cookies, roasting coffee) than in the absence of such odors. Participants also reported significantly higher levels of positive affect in the presence of pleasant odors. In a second study, the order in which passersby were…
1 min read
Can dancing together improve your relationship?
s, it can: The significance that romantic partners ascribe to joint activities and the impact these activities have on relationship quality were examined in the context of self-determination theory. Individuals who practice ballroom dancing with a romantic partner were invited to complete measures of motivation and perception of dyadic adjustment for their relationship and when dancing. Results from path analyses suggested direct and indirect effects of relationship motivation on satisfaction when dancing with a partner. Additionally, direct and indirect effects…
1 min read
Children Don’t Make Us Happier
can't think of many things that go more against popular opinion but the research says no: This meta-analysis finds that parents report lower marital satisfaction compared with nonparents (d=-.19, r=-.10). There is also a significant negative correlation between marital satisfaction and number of children (d=-.13, r=-.06). The difference in marital satisfaction is most pronounced among mothers of infants (38% of mothers of infants have high marital satisfaction, compared with 62% of childless women). For men, the effect remains similar across ages…
2 minutes
This Increases A Woman’s Relationship Satisfaction And Decreases Her Sexual Satisfaction
e Pill. It affects women's taste in men. From New Scientist: Studies show that women on the pill are attracted to different men than when they are not on the pill. One explanation is that because the pill simulates pregnancy, women tend to head for traits associated with fidelity. And: Women on the pill when they met their partner were significantly less sexually satisfied, but reported higher levels of general satisfaction in the relationship, such as financial support and partner loyalty. They…
1 min read
