Psychology

Trials are often as partially showmanship along with the facts - both attorneys are trying to pick jurors who are most likely to go their way. Moral outrage may be a secret weapon. The last time you were morally outraged you probably felt felt angry, but did you also feel disgust? Consider how you might feel in a court of law after watching a video of a heinous crime.  Two new studies did, and they point to important legal implications when moral outrage is generated through the interactive effect of anger and disgust. The conclusion points to the need for judges to carefully consider…

A recent paper from North Carolina State University found that companies that screen the social media accounts of job applicants alienate potential employees – making it harder for them to attract top job candidates.   In some cases, social media screening might even increase the likelihood that job candidates may take legal action against the offending company. At least until the real world economy sets in. "The recruiting and selection process is your first indication of how you'll be treated by a prospective employer," says Will Stoughton, a Ph.D. student at North Carolina State…

A group has investigated the impact of cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness training on incarcerated youths and found that mindfulness training, a meditation-based therapy, can improve their attention skills, paving the way to greater self-control over emotions and actions. The authors say this the first study to show that mindfulness training can be used in combination with cognitive behavioral therapy to protect attentional functioning in high-risk incarcerated youth. The scholars followed 267 incarcerated males, ages 16 to 18, over a 4-month period. The researchers found that…

It's Black Friday in the US - the day after Thanksgiving and was once the beginning of the Christmas season. That means a lot of shopping and that means a lot of anxiety about local retailers versus online vendors. It turns out that local stores, especially big box retailers, have known the secret all along; people don't like to wait. If an event is far off or the price is substantially different, people will shop online. If they even have a hint that Amazon or others are taking orders for a third party, and that third party may end up shipping after Christmas, buying local looks a lot better…

Playing violent video games not only increases aggression, it also leads to less self-control and more cheating, according to  a paper in Social Psychological and Personality Science. The psychologists found that teens who played violent video games ate more chocolate and were more likely to steal raffle tickets in a lab experiment than were teens who played nonviolent games. The effects were strongest in those who scored high on a measure of moral disengagement – the ability to convince yourself that ethical standards don't apply to you in a particular situation.  Overall, the…

Awe-inspiring moments, like the sight of the Grand Canyon or the Aurora Borealis, might increase our tendency to believe in God and the supernatural, according to a new paper in Psychological Science which suggests that awe-inspiring sights increase our motivation to make sense of the world around us. Learning geology may be too hard to it's easier to default to aliens or religion.  "Many historical accounts of religious epiphanies and revelations seem to involve the experience of being awe-struck by the beauty, strength or size of a divine being, and these experiences change the way…

This week, Americans officially start focusing on Christmas holiday celebrations and that means a lot of high-calorie food. Everyone is going to have recommendations for avoiding weight gain but there is one factor most people likely won't consider -- political correctness. A paper from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business suggests you could be choosing unhealthy options to serve your guests because you don't want to offend someone else, like if they are overweight.  Marketing doctoral student Peggy Liu, Fuqua marketing professor Gavan Fitzsimons and a team which conducted…

Faced with inevitable pain, most people choose to get over with as soon as possible, according to a new paper in which participants chose between real painful stimuli in the form of electric shocks, and imagined painful dental appointments occurring at different times in the future. Most people chose to hasten the experience of pain, and would even accept more severe pain to avoid having to wait for it, a smaller proportion preferred to put it off into the future. The anticipation of pain is a major source of misery. People who suffer from long-standing painful conditions report that the…

Special labels for foods that have genetic modification and are not organically processed have been the target of initiatives and legislative efforts recently. While a recent survey found that only 7 percent of people felt labeling GMOs was very important to them, that number climbed to 59 percent when they were reminded about genetically modified foods. A new study adds to the nature of label marketing and also sheds left on the gluten-free trend. People are willing to pay more if a product is advertised as "free of" something negative than if it touts that it "contains" something positive.…

If the spirit is willing the flesh is not so weak.  Increased spirituality in teens undergoing substance abuse treatment has been linked to greater likelihood of abstinence (as measured by toxicology screens), increased positive social behaviors, and reduced narcissism, according to an upcoming paper.  The results at the  American Sociological Association meeting detailed two ongoing studies of adolescent addiction that explored changes in daily spiritual experiences of 195 substance-dependent adolescents, ages 14-18, who were court-referred for treatment at New Directions, the…