When does leadership really matter? When doesn’t it?
bsp; We've seen research that shows leaders make no difference: Leader succession studies show that managerial change has little impact on team performance. In general, these studies support a skeptical view of the significance of organizational leaders... There is very little evidence that changes in top management in companies affect, in important ways, the magnitude of such traditional performance measures as sales, income and rates of return (Samuelson et al.,1985). And studies that show they can have a profound effect:…
2 minutes
Are your credit cards making you fat? Can sexy people make you thin?
bsp; Credit cards reduce the "pain" we feel when paying for things. Because of this we're inclined to spend more with them -- including food. Via Shiny Objects: Why We Spend Money We Don't Have in Search of Happiness We Can't Buy: Using credit cards greatly reduces the pain associated with paying for our purchases— so much so, in fact, that credit cards have earned the nickname “spending facilitators” by those of us who do research in this area. When…
2 minutes
Is there a drug that can help you read minds?
bsp; Almost. Oxytocin is a naturallly occuring hormone that is associated with emotional bonding. Supplementing it has been shown to increase people's ability to intuit the emotional states of others. Most notably, it works best for those who have the most trouble discerning how people are feeling. Via The Compass of Pleasure: How Our Brains Make Fatty Foods, Orgasm, Exercise, Marijuana, Generosity, Vodka, Learning, and Gambling Feel So Good: Oxytocin appears to have a complex role in social cognition and…
2 minutes
8 things your choice of pet says about your personality:
in 25K+ subscribers. No spam, ever. Enter your email here: 1) Researchers have established some general conclusions about pets and their owners personalities: Fish owners are happiest. Dog owners are the most fun to be with. Cat owners are the most dependable and emotionally sensitive. Reptile owners are the most independent. 2) Yes, there are differences between cat people and dog people: Dog people were generally about 15 percent more extraverted, 13 percent more agreeable and 11 percent more…
2 minutes
Do tattoos mean sex?
bsp; People with tattoos and body piercings have sex at younger ages, have sex more often, have more oral sex, and are far less likely to be religious. Introduction. Body piercing and tattooing are accepted by a growing number of teenagers and young adults as a way of self-expressing. Some authors suggest association between body piercings/tattoos and early sexual initiation, higher number of sexual partners, or risky sexual behaviors. Aim. The aim of the study was to evaluate sexual behaviors…
2 minutes
What’s a quick way to reduce procrastination and increase creativity and self-control?
in 25K+ subscribers. No spam, ever. Enter your email here: Forgive yourself. It reduces procrastination: The key finding was that students who'd forgiven themselves for their initial bout of procrastination subsequently showed less negative affect in the intermediate period between exams and were less likely to procrastinate before the second round of exams. Increases creativity: Self-judgmental individuals displayed lower levels of creative originality in the control condition, but equal levels of creative originality in the self-compassion condition. And increases…
1 min read
The last damn thing you’ll ever need to read about influence, persuasion and negotiation:
in 25K+ readers. No spam, ever. Enter your email here: Negotiating is an essential skill. Being underpaid can kill you. Understand the seven pillars of effective influence. A good portion of being a good negotiator is just being a good person. Believe that you can improve your negotiating skills and you can. Early on First impressions are an even bigger deal than you thought. In fact, we can be a slave to them. A little spinning of the…
4 minutes
At what annual salary does money stop making us happier?
in 25K+ subscribers. No spam, ever. Enter your email here: Around $75,000 a year. "...money might bring you some happiness, but beyond that magic point, any additional income isn't going to make you happier," said Scollon. That magic point has, apparently, been deduced as approximately 75,000 USD a year, she added, citing a recent study by two Princeton University researchers who looked at the data of approximately 450,000 Americans. What they found was that as income increased, emotional well-being also…
1 min read
