What makes us tip more at restaurants?
mpliments, mimicry, light touching on the shoulder, happy faces on the bill and squatting to the customer's eye level: John Seiter and Harry Weger tested the effects of ingratiation on food servers' tips. They had two waiters and two waitresses go about their usual duties but with a twist: for half the parties they served they were instructed to compliment the customers, telling them that they'd made an excellent choice in what they'd ordered. Counting the tips received from 348…
1 min read
Would you be upset if the KKK denied you membership? You might:
urce: Previous research has shown that ostracism even by outgroup members is aversive. In this study we examined whether ostracism by a particular type of outgroup, a despised outgroup, was sufficient to inflict emotional distress. We manipulated ostracism using Cyberball, an on-line ball toss game. Ostracized participants reported lower levels of belonging, self-esteem, control, and meaningful existence, and more negative mood, than included participants. Moreover, ostracism by despised outgroup members was no less aversive than ostracism by rival outgroup or…
1 min read
The fascinating truth about medieval justice by ordeal: It “worked.”
r the better part of a millennium, Europe’s legal systems decided difficult criminal cases in a most peculiar way. When judges were uncertain about an accused criminal’s guilt, they ordered a cauldron of water to be boiled, a ring to be thrown in, and the defendant to plunge in his naked hand and pluck the object out. The defendant’s hand was wrapped in bandages and revisited three days later. If it survived the bubbling cauldron unharmed, the defendant was declared…
2 minutes
Weird, or just different? (Video):
in over 320,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email here. Related posts: New Neuroscience Reveals 4 Rituals That Will Make You Happy New Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More Successful How To Get People To Like You: 7 Ways From An FBI Behavior Expert
1 min read
Is Gatorade the secret to stronger willpower?:
ybe not the secret, but there are times where it can definitely help: The present work suggests that self-control relies on glucose as a limited energy source. Laboratory tests of self-control (i.e., the Stroop task, thought suppression, emotion regulation, attention control) and of social behaviors (i.e., helping behavior, coping with thoughts of death, stifling prejudice during an interracial interaction) showed that (a) acts of self-control reduced blood glucose levels, (b) low levels of blood glucose after an initial self-control task…
1 min read
Does makeup really make a woman more attractive to men?
re does. Via Psyblog: No makeup condition: The first man 'made contact' with the two women after an average of 23 minutes, and thereafter they were hit on 1.5 times per hour. With makeup condition: The first man tried it on after only 17 minutes and the average number of chancers per hour was 2. So makeup does pull the guys in. But how does it work? It seems to make a woman more attractive but studies have shown other effects…
1 min read
Why is traffic so bad on Mondays?
ick question. It's not. Via timharford.com Inrix, who supply data to in-car satellite navigation systems, reports that the worst mornings of the week – in the US, at least – are actually Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Monday and Friday are low-congestion mornings. Friday evenings are bad, but Monday evenings are particularly quiet. My guess is that Monday is a popular day to take a holiday or call in sick. But to be fair, it's not at all surprising that you…
1 min read
How does broadcast journalism work? (Video, humor):
in over 320,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email here. Related posts: New Neuroscience Reveals 4 Rituals That Will Make You Happy New Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More Successful How To Get People To Like You: 7 Ways From An FBI Behavior Expert
1 min read
