Health News

Self-perception and reality seem to line-up when it comes to judging our own personality: For most people, how you think of yourself closely matches that of your peers

When it comes to self-assessment, new U of T research suggests that maybe we do have a pretty good handle on our own personalities after all. “It’s widely assumed that people have rose-coloured glasses on when they consider their own personality,” says Brian Connelly, an associate professor in U of T Scarborough’s Department of Management. […]

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Employee incentives can lead to unethical behavior in the workplace

Considering end-of-year bonuses for your employees? Supervisors be forewarned, a new study finds that while incentive rewards can help motivate and increase employee performance it can also lead to unethical behavior in the workplace. “Goal fixation can have a profound impact on employee behavior, and the damaging effects appear to be growing stronger in today’s […]

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Wealthier people do less in the struggle against climate change

A collective-risk dilemma experiment with members of the public in Barcelona has shown that people are more or less likely to contribute money to fighting climate change depending on their how wealthy they are. And the results indicate that participants with fewer resources were prepared to contribute significantly more to the public good than wealthier […]

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Imaginary worlds of children reflect positive creativity

Children who create imaginary parallel worlds, alone or with friends, are more found more commonly than previously believed, according to new research. In a project designed to probe the dynamics of such behavior among children 8-12 years old, researchers found that about 17 percent of them, in each of two separate studies, described imaginary worlds […]

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Gender inequality could be driving the deaths of girls under five

Levels of gender inequality across the world are associated with disproportionate death rates among girls under five years old, according to a study led by Queen Mary University of London. The analysis of data from 195 countries suggests that the unequal treatment of females in society could be interfering with the natural biological advantage they […]

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Research affirms the power of ‘we’: Largest-ever analysis of couples’ pronoun use affirms the relationship between

A healthy relationship starts with the word “we.” Past research by UC Riverside psychologist Megan Robbins has emphasized the power of first-person personal pronouns such as “we” and “us” in relationships. “We-talk” is an indicator of interdependence, meaning partners affect one another’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. This is a shift from self-oriented to relationship-oriented. New […]

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If pigeons were brilliant, would they flock? Study finds people flock, or behave similarly to others, despite reasoning abilities

Crowd panics, market bubbles, and other unpredictable collective behaviors would not happen if people were smart about these things and just thought through their behavior before they acted. Right? That’s the perspective in economics, and even psychology and sociology. But a UC Davis researcher looked at how people behave in simple reasoning games and found […]