Altruism/moral behavior
« Previous EntriesMoney, it’s a hit: want it or have it
Wednesday, June 11th, 2008
When you have money, life is good. When you want money, life could be better. Here’s the abstract from Vohs et al (HT Neuroscientifically Challenged who has a great analysis of the whole paper):
ABSTRACT—Money plays a significant role in people’s lives, and yet little experimental attention has been given to the psychological underpinnings of [...]
The day Big Law lost its power: the Sushi Memo
Friday, June 6th, 2008Here’s the date: July 9, 2003 - the date of the sushi memo, and the day Big Law lost its power and control.
The significance: Power can’t be taken for granted anymore.
The Sushi Memo is emblematic of the absolute power of white shoe lawyers. A partner (I’m guessing with a power-trip history) delegated sushi-finding to [...]
Newsflash: Psychopaths choose exploitation over cooperation
Monday, June 2nd, 2008
Lest anyone have any doubts: psychopaths are out for themselves. The abstract (reproduced in full below the jump) says it all:
Diminished cooperativeness of psychopaths in a prisoner’s dilemma game yields higher rewards.
Sphere: Related Content
Narcissism Research Round-Up
Tuesday, May 20th, 2008
What’s the latest research on narcissism? Three studies discussed:
1. Narcissists are motivated to achieve a desired outcome (probably further personal glory) but not that motivated to avoid a negative outcome.
2. Depressive symptoms induce paranoid symptoms in narcissistic personalities (but not narcissistic symptoms in paranoid personalities).
3. On-line gamers are reported to be high on the [...]
Workplace bullying outed: Paul, Hastings is out-lawyered by the lawyer they just fired
Monday, May 12th, 2008Lawyer, n.: One skilled in circumvention of the law.
Bierce, Ambrose The Devil’s Dictionary, (1881-1906, serial)
Here’s the same old story: company hits hard times and has to make some cuts. So, they trump up reasons to force a little attrition of the more expensive employees. Of course, you start by culling the weak — the ones [...]
People don’t remember you as well when you’re not happy, so put on a happy face (video and lyrics, too)
Friday, March 21st, 2008I lurve experiments where oxytocin is squirted up people’s noses. Oxytocin-up-the-nose affects your ability to recognize people you’ve seen before — and, according to two new reports, this effect is most pronounced if you see them displaying the same emotion that you first saw them displaying. Happy memories are the strongest. So, don’t be [...]
A Psychopath Unplugged
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008This post is about the neural correlates of those who seek power for power’s sake — without any emotional component — but first, a Dateline NBC example:
A 12 year old girl accused her stepfather of sexually abusing her. Because the stepfather felt he was wrongly accused, he built a bunker in the backwoods, and [...]
Make jihadists community college students, not suicide bombers
Sunday, March 16th, 2008Here’s the math:
About 1.8 million Islamic Jihadists (although only about 300,000-400,000 on the government list)
About 1 Trillion for the war (conservatively)
$1 trillion/1.8 million = $555,555 each
That’s enough to get a Mullah to retire and move to Scottsdale.
What motivates child animal abusers who grow into violent adults
Monday, March 10th, 2008 I don’t know whether killing a hawk with a 9-iron
was truly animal cruelty or just a really dumb way an upset pro golfer used to banish a hawk who was interrupting the filming of a golf instructional video.
Regardless, the reports don’t indicate that John Henry “Tripp” Isenhour III was launching golf balls at the hawk [...]
Your family is more likely to pull the plug if they’re happy with the ICU
Friday, March 7th, 2008Say you’re on life support, and, you are just racking up the ICU bills. Will your family be a little too enthusiastic in pulling the plug?
The hospital admin knows these bills won’t get paid, since the debt dies with the debtor, in most cases. So what do they do? The butter up your [...]
Dude, chill - we’re not at war any more. Pass the chips.
Friday, March 7th, 2008Quick post: Why are people who are stoned on pot pretty mellow? (To pull a phrase out of the ’70’s). Answer: The active ingredient in cannabis ( 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)) reduces amygdala activity in response to social threats. Pot reduces anxiety — and maybe the negative attributional bias that goes along with it.
Can [...]
(corrected) Neuro-movie review: Wordplay and brain hemispheres
Monday, February 25th, 2008In honor of the Oscars®, here is a neuro-movie review about a movie that came out in 2006 — Wordplay (here’s the link to the official site, and the link to the Rotten Tomatoes site). (Yes, it was out in 2006, so I’m a year late. ) This post will ultimately be about hemispheric [...]
If men did equal housework employers wouldn’t have this problem.
Tuesday, February 19th, 2008
Professor Henry Higgins:
Noted Wonderer of “Why Can’t A Woman Be More Like A Man?”Whereas the More Economically Efficient Question Would Be “Why Can’t A Man Be More Like A Woman?”
Selmi, M.L. (2008). The Work-Family Conflict: An Essay on Employers, Men and Responsibility. University of St. Thomas Law Journal, 1(1), 1-24.
SSRN suggested citation: Selmi, [...]
How powerful people avoid criminal labels: steroids, backdating and stolen museum artifacts
Monday, February 18th, 2008Jose Canseco, the noted baseball player and author of “Juiced“, was busy as a bee pollinating major league baseball with knowledge and practices for steroid and growth hormone use. (Here’s the link on Docuticker). This strikes me as similar to the stock option backdating scenario — interlocking boards of directors and using the [...]
Serotonin in Finland and Russia: correlates with hostility and drinking.
Thursday, February 14th, 2008Here’s three papers (full citations and links, scroll down), two from Finland and one from Russia. These deal with being mean and drinking. And serotonin.
People have alcohol to loosen up, to remove inhibitions, to relax. But what about people who pick fights when they’re drunk? Are they tightly wound and naturally hostile — an [...]
Supermax is the new normal
Wednesday, February 13th, 2008Hartman, K.E., “Supermax Prisons in the Consciousness of Prisoners,” The Prison Journal 88: 169-176 (2008) DOI: 10.1177/0032885507311001
The US prison system has over 7,000,000 prisoners participants, with about 2MM incarcerated at any given time. [thank you "jak-king" (what a nom-de-internet -- is that "car jak king"?) for the correction 02.14.08][New 03.01.08: about 1 in 100 people [...]
A “How’s My Driving?” For Everyone, For Everything
Tuesday, February 12th, 2008
I lurve Social Science Research Network, and this is why: a paper proposing doing away with many laws, in favor of a “How’s My Driving?” system for everyone and everything.
Strahilevitz, Lior, “‘How’s My Driving?’ for Everyone (and Everything?)” . NYU Law Review, Vol. 81, p. 1699, November 2006 Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=899144
Full abstract after the [...]
Neuro review: “The Lucifer Effect” and Contextual Evil
Monday, February 11th, 2008I just got done watching all 77 minutes of Dr. Zimbardo’s lecture about why good people do evil things — which he has written about in a book called, “The Lucifer Effect.” I haven’t read the book, so this brief review is only about the lecture.
Here’s a clip from the daily show:
Dr. Zimbardo, comparing the [...]
Failure to enforce domestic violence restraining order may be a human rights violation
Sunday, February 3rd, 2008Superbowl Sunday has a bad reputation, true or not, for being one of the busiest days for people who practice domestic violence. Domestic violence — and any violence — scars not only the direct victims, but also the witnesses. That would be children watching from the stairs. Or shot in the head by the perpetrator spouse to get even with the target spouse.
Neuro review: Do All Companies Have to be Evil?: Scientific American
Saturday, February 2nd, 2008Do All Companies Have to be Evil? Enron, Google and the evolutionary psychology of corporate environments, By Michael Shermer, Scientific American Mind February 2008
If you are at all interested in workplace psychology, read this article, it is great.
I’ve tried to articulate what goes wrong in corporations, but Mr. Shermer puts it all together, and [...]