Opposites don’t actually attract. That’s the takeaway from a sweeping CU Boulder analysis of more than 130 traits and including millions of couples over more than a century. “Our findings demonstrate that birds of a feather are indeed more likely to flock together,” said first author Tanya Horwitz, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Psychology...
Culture
Does a “Surprise” Factor in Gift-Giving Affect Beneficiaries’ Gratitude? Scientists Answer
Gratitude is a strong emotion, usually felt by a person who benefits from an intentional good deed of another person. Receiving gifts or benefits can instill a feeling of gratitude in people who receive them, i.e., beneficiaries, encouraging them to be more prosocial, while also helping to create a bond with their benefactors. This has...
Mexico’s Native Ethnic Groups Promote Their Heritage During Oaxaca’s Biggest Cultural Festival
Leticia Santiago carries her ancestral heritage wherever she goes. Every time she addresses the crowds during the Guelaguetza, the biggest cultural event in southwestern Mexico, her words, her garments and her skin reveal a clue about the town where she was proudly born. The 35-year-old Mexican was elected as Centéotl goddess in late June, which...
Encouraging Latinx Youth to Embrace Ethnic Pride Can Enhance Their Well-Being
Encouraging Latinx adolescents of Mexican origin to embrace their ethnic pride, cultural values, and connections to their cultural community contributes to positive development and better adjustment during adolescence, a new University of California, Davis, psychology study suggests. Moreover, researchers said, cultural preservation can help Latinx youth cope with adverse life experiences and social threats such...
Positive Contact with Diverse Groups Can Reduce Belief in Conspiracy Theories About Them
New research has shown that having positive contact with people from diverse groups can reduce the development of harmful intergroup conspiracy beliefs. Experts from the University of Nottingham’s School of Psychology, in collaboration with the University of East Anglia, found that among British participants, positive intergroup contact interfered with the development of conspiracy theories about...
In Determining What’s True, Americans Consider the Intentions of the Information Source
Putting truth to the test in the “post-truth era”, Boston College psychologists conducted experiments that show when Americans decide whether a claim of fact should qualify as true or false, they consider the intentions of the information source, the team reported recently in Nature’s Scientific Reports. That confidence is based on what individuals think the source...
Why Guys Who Post a Lot on Social Media Are Seen as Less Manly
For better or worse, much of life is categorized along gendered lines: Clothing stores have sections for men and women, certain foods are considered more manly or more feminine, and even drinks can take on a gendered sheen (“manmosa,” anyone?). Our newly published research finds that even social media is a canvas for rigid gender...
Flexible, Supportive Company Culture Makes for Better Remote Work
The pandemic made remote work the norm for many, but that doesn’t mean it was always a positive experience. Remote work can have many advantages: increased flexibility, inclusivity for parents and people with disabilities, and work-life balance. But it can also cause issues with collaboration, communication, and the overall work environment. New research from the...
Shattering the Myth of Men as Hunters and Women as Gatherers
Analysis of data from dozens of foraging societies around the world shows that women hunt in at least 79 percent of these societies, opposing the widespread belief that men exclusively hunt and women exclusively gather. Abigail Anderson of Seattle Pacific University, US, and colleagues present these findings in PLOS ONE. A common belief holds that,...
The Meaning Behind the Woodstock Character in ‘Peanuts’
Charles Schulz, creator of the comic strip “Peanuts,” was anything but a hippie. Still, he named the beloved yellow bird character in “Peanuts” Woodstock after the famous counterculture music festival that was attended and celebrated by the younger generation who grew up in the 1960s and ’70s, including many who saw themselves as hippies. The question is why, says Michelle...