The next time a colleague suggests a meeting at their location move it to a neutral location. If you’re seeking to gain the edge over a business rival, it’s worth considering staying close to home. For example, are people more persuasive in negotiations conducted in their own offices rather than in unfamiliar venues? In a [...]
Research
“Lying eyes” are actually a myth. Dr Caroline Watt, from the University of Edinburgh, said: “A large percentage of the public believes that certain eye movements are a sign of lying, and this idea is even taught in organisational training courses. “Our research provides no support for the idea and so suggests that it is [...]
Email has influenced the kinds of people we interact with. A new study by Stefan Wuchty and Brian Uzzi at Northwestern University claims that we exchange the highest volume of email with the people we know the least. “These are folks you almost certainly wouldn’t talk to on the phone,” Mr. Uzzi says. “You also [...]
The admirable goal of increasing diversity in organizations has led, inevitably, to an increase in interactions between members of majority groups and members of historically underrepresented or stigmatized groups. Problematically, interactions between members of such groups are fraught with opportunities for things to go awry: stigmatized individuals must worry that non-stigmatized individuals hold prejudiced attitudes [...]
I heard about this before but completely forgot. Getting honest answers about behaviour that is illegal or frowned-upon – such as taking drugs or visiting prostitutes – is notoriously difficult. But survey researchers have devised a neat way to get people comfortable with revealing their indiscretions. Each time the researcher asks the respondent a question, [...]
Interesting but not surprising. We tend to find aversive situations less stressful when we believe we have some degree of control. In a reaction time (RT) task 40 subjects were told to react to the onset of a 6-second shock. Following l0 trials, half of the subjects were told that by decreasing their RT they [...]
We all want to persuade others to see things our way. The way we walk – speed, pitch, and pauses plays a role. This study was based on willingness to participate in a telelphone survey. “Interviewers who spoke moderately fast, at a rate of about 3.5 words per second, were much more successful at getting [...]
Writing by hand strengthens the learning process. When typing on a keyboard, this process may be impaired. … When writing by hand, our brain receives feedback from our motor actions, together with the sensation of touching a pencil and paper. These kinds of feedback is significantly different from those we receive when touching and typing [...]
