Parents Do Have Favorite Children
om Time Magazine, via Robin Hanson: 65% of mothers and 70% of fathers exhibited a preference for one child, usually the older one. … “The most likely candidate for the mother’s favorite was the firstborn son, and for the father, it was the last-born daughter.” Join over 151,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email here. Related posts: 6 Hostage Negotiation Techniques That Will Get You What You Want How To Get People To Like You: 7 Ways From An FBI…
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Is the enemy of my enemy my friend?
ainblogger says yes: According to their paper published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin earlier this year, two people with a similar negative attitude towards a third party are likely to experience greater feelings of familiarity than people whose attitude towards a third party is positive. More precisely, milder negative affect towards someone else, when shared, are likely to be more effective at promoting feelings of familiarity than a mild positive affect. The researchers cite Dunbar as having already demonstrated how…
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Who do we tell the most lies to? How do we tell them?
tell the most lies to the people we feel closest to. An online diary study was performed to investigate deception across different media. One hundred and four individuals participated in the study, with 76 completing the diaries. Individuals were most likely to lie on the telephone. Planned lies, which participants also rated the most serious, were more likely told via SMS (short message service) text messaging. Most lies were told to people participants felt closest to. The feature-based model…
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Is it worth reconnecting with old acquaintances on Facebook and Linked In?
solutely. People who reconnected with old friends on social networks got all the benefits usually associated with both weak and close relationships: The social networks literature suggests that ties must be maintained to retain value. In contrast, we show that reconnecting dormant ties – former ties, now out of touch – can be extremely useful. Our research prompted Executive MBA students to consult their dormant contacts about an important work project; outcomes compared favorably to those of their current ties. In addition, reconnecting previously strong ties led to…
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How powerful is an apology?
eap-talk apologies to angry customers produce better results than offering money: How should firms react to customer complaints after an unsatisfactory purchase? In a field experiment, we test the effect of different reactions and find that a cheap-talk apology yields significantly better outcomes for the firm than offering a monetary compensation. Source: "The power of apology" from Economics Letters, Volume 107, Issue 2, May 2010, Pages 233-235 Join over 185,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email here. Related posts: How To Stop…
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Is stress sexy?
men find low-stress men much more attractive: Men with low stress levels are significantly more attractive to women than highly stressed rivals, according to new research conducted at the University of Abertay Dundee. Dr Fhionna Moore, a Psychology Lecturer at Abertay University, led a research team investigating links between hormones and attractiveness. By analysing hormone levels in young men and developing ‘composite’ images of typical faces, they could judge how attractive a group of women found facial cues to different…
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What’s an easy way to get others to agree to help you out?
monstrate that the two of you have something in common: Four studies examined the effect of an incidental similarity on compliance to a request. Undergraduates who believed they shared a birthday (Study 1), a first name (Study 2), or fingerprint similarities (Study 3) with a requester were more likely to comply with a request than participants who did not perceive an incidental similarity with the requester. The findings are consistent with past research demonstrating that people often rely on heuristic…
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What’s the best way to pick a gift for someone?
udies at Stanford reveal you should stop trying to be creative and just get them what they want: Findings revealed that recipients appreciated receiving items from their wish list more than unsolicited items, and perceived the requested items to be more thoughtful and considerate. But in direct contrast, the givers thought that recipients would be more impressed with unsolicited items. And: A fourth study showed that when recipients were explicit about one particular gift they would prefer to receive, gift givers were more accurate in predicting…
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