The Paradox of Family Structure and Plans After Work: Why Single Childless Employees May be the Least Absorbed at Work

The Paradox of Family Structure and Plans After Work: Why Single Childless Employees May be the Least Absorbed at Work. Tracy Dumas & Jill Perry-Smith. Academy of Management Journal, http://amj.aom.org/content/early/2017/10/05/amj.2016.0086.abstract

Abstract: Existing research shows that positive family experiences can affect work positively. In this article, however, we consider how family can enhance work even when family experiences are not explicitly positive. We draw on boundary theory and cognitive psychology's current concerns theory to consider how employees' family structures and associated after-work activities affect their work absorption. A survey of business school alumni (study 1) revealed that single, childless workers reported lower absorption than workers with other family structures. Further, a daily diary study of university employees (study 2), showed that employees' planned after-work activities explained the relationship between family structure and work absorption. Specifically, single, childless workers anticipated fewer domestic after-work activities, resulting in lower work absorption. Due to similarities between domestic responsibilities and work tasks — e.g., their obligatory and goal-directed nature — anticipating domestic responsibilities after work reinforces, rather than distracts from, the work mindset, thus keeping employees more immersed psychologically in their work. This finding suggests that having a spouse and/or children can affect employees' work absorption positively through the anticipation of domestic duties after work. Thus, our study contributes to a more comprehensive view of how employees' work and non-work lives are connected.

CEOs born into poor families outperform those born into wealthy families without higher risk-taking

From Playground to Boardroom: Endowed Social Status and Managerial Performance. Fangfang Du. Arizona State University Working Paper, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3040322

Abstract: By matching a CEO's place of residence in his or her formative years with U.S. Census survey data, I obtain an estimate of the CEO's family wealth and study the link between the CEO's endowed social status and firm performance. I find that CEOs born into poor families outperform those born into wealthy families, as measured by a variety of proxies for firm performance. There is no evidence of higher risk-taking by the CEOs from low social status backgrounds. Further, CEOs from poor families are better able to preserve the firm's human capital during periods of financial distress and demonstrate greater ability to develop successful innovation. As a result, such CEOs perform better in firms with high R&D spending.

The Paradox of Intelligence: Heritability and Malleability Coexist in Hidden Gene-Environment Interplay

Sauce, B., & Matzel, L. D. (2017). The Paradox of Intelligence: Heritability and Malleability Coexist in Hidden Gene-Environment Interplay. Psychological Bulletin. Advance online publication.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/bul0000131

Abstract: Intelligence can have an extremely high heritability, but also be malleable; a paradox that has been the source of continuous controversy. Here we attempt to clarify the issue, and advance a frequently overlooked solution to the paradox: Intelligence is a trait with unusual properties that create a large reservoir of hidden gene–environment (GE) networks, allowing for the contribution of high genetic and environmental influences on individual differences in IQ. GE interplay is difficult to specify with current methods, and is underestimated in standard metrics of heritability (thus inflating estimates of “genetic” effects). We describe empirical evidence for GE interplay in intelligence, with malleability existing on top of heritability. The evidence covers cognitive gains consequent to adoption/immigration, changes in IQ's heritability across life span and socioeconomic status, gains in IQ over time consequent to societal development (the Flynn effect), the slowdown of age-related cognitive decline, and the gains in intelligence from early education. The GE solution has novel implications for enduring problems, including our inability to identify intelligence-related genes (also known as IQ’s “missing heritability”), and the loss of initial benefits from early intervention programs (such as “Head Start”). The GE solution can be a powerful guide to future research, and may also aid policies to overcome barriers to the development of intelligence, particularly in impoverished and underprivileged populations.

The social behavioral, emotional, and cognitive mechanisms underlying narcissistic personality traits

The social behavioral, emotional, and cognitive mechanisms underlying narcissistic personality traits. Marjan Sharifi. Fachbereich Erziehungswissenschaft und Psychologie
der Freien Universität Berlin, http://diss.fu-berlin.de/diss/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/FUDISS_derivate_000000021938/Dissertation_Marjan_Sharifi.pdf

Summary
The cornerstone of a healthy society is social cohesion, which is based on good interpersonal relationships. Given the rampant rise in narcissistic values in our society (see, e.g., Twenge, & Campbell, 2009; Paris, 2014), it is important to understand the mechanisms behind this interpersonally disruptive personality trait.

This dissertation examines the underlying cognitive, emotional, and social behavioral mechanisms of individuals with a high number of narcissistic traits. Narcissists are known for their self-aggrandizing personality type which ultimately masks an insecure inner self. It is argued that the narcissists’ self-image is molded through dynamic interactions between self-enhancing intra- and exploitative interpersonal regulation strategies (Morf, & Rhodewalt, 2001). Accordingly, the three main research questions addressed in this thesis are:

1) What self-generated thoughts underlie the intra-individual regulation strategies of narcissists? 2) What are the mechanisms driving the interpersonally disruptive narcissistic social behaviors in active, and reactive roles? and 3) How does the grandiose ego of narcissists bias their judgment in assessing another person's emotional state?

The first study reveals that greater numbers of pathological narcissistic traits are associated with higher levels of mind-wandering, and the content of these thoughts were more socially focused (self- and other-related), temporally focused (past- and future-oriented), and more negative. Most notably, positive thoughts were only related to narcissism when they were associated with self-related and future-oriented thoughts. Thus, the content of the narcissist’s self-generated thoughts suggest two different patterns that could affect their intrapersonal regulation strategies: fantasy-driven thought patterns and patterns akin to rumination. These thought patterns may indicate why narcissists have a grandiose self-image and also a susceptibility to pathological vulnerability.

The second study examined ongoing social interactions where there were possibilities for acts of generosity and punishment amongst individuals with a range of pathological narcissistic traits. There were two main findings. First, narcissists are less generous in situations where there is a risk of being punished, and this maladaptive behavior is mediated with a reduction in perspective taking.

Second, higher narcissism scores are related to increased levels of punishment, and this retributive behavior is mediated by the narcissists experiencing anger. In the final study, the tendency to both experience and also attribute the social emotions of envy and Schadenfreude was examined. A competitive social comparison task was used amongst individuals with only high and low levels of grandiose narcissistic traits. It was found that high-level narcissists do not personally experience more envy or Schadenfreude compared to low-level narcissists. However, they do have a tendency to attribute these emotions onto others. These results indicate that narcissists do not use their own emotional state as a frame of reference when assessing another individual’s emotional state in a similar situation, but instead assume others will react differently.

Taken together, this thesis advances knowledge about the mechanisms underlying inter- and intra-personal regulation strategies of the narcissistic personality trait. As a result, it can serve as a possible source of inspiration for future intervention studies and further research on narcissistic personality traits.

Political voting follows not fair-mindedness (the weight on oneself versus others) but equality-efficiency tradeoffs

Distributional preferences and political behavior. Raymond Fisman, Pamela Jakiela, Shachar Kariv. Journal of Public Economics, Volume 155, November 2017, Pages 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2017.08.010

Abstract: We document the relationship between distributional preferences and voting decisions in a large and diverse sample of Americans. Using a generalized dictator game, we generate individual-level measures of fair-mindedness (the weight on oneself versus others) and equality-efficiency tradeoffs. Subjects' equality-efficiency tradeoffs predict their political decisions: equality-focused subjects are more likely to have voted for Barack Obama in 2012, and to be affiliated with the Democratic Party. Our findings shed light on how American voters are motivated by their distributional preferences.

Expectations of Western Zen fans -- Seeking Solitude in Japan’s Mountain Monasteries

We are a bit crazy... Visitors of monasteries in Japan write about their disappointing travel:

Reading up on the shukubo options before my trip, I learned that many previous visitors to Koyasan were irked by the simplicity of the lodgings. Some wrote on TripAdvisor.com that their rooms were too cold, or that they could hear their neighbors snoring through the 200-year-old paper walls of the temple. More than one reviewer complained that the multicourse vegan meals were too simple to satiate people who are accustomed to eating meat. “Take snacks or you will starve,” one warned.

Others felt that they weren’t quite receiving a good enough spiritual bang for their buck. “I expected something a bit spiritual and to feel that Zen/Buddhist vibe,” one visitor from Ohio complained, “I have to say I did not feel it.” Some complained that the monks running the temples didn’t speak enough English, or didn’t offer visitors enough individual attention. “The major disappointment came during dinner,” another wrote. “I was expecting to have the opportunity to mingle with the monks.”

Hehehehehe.

Full article :Seeking Solitude in Japan’s Mountain Monasteries. By ANNA HEZEL
The New York Times, Oct 11, 2017

at the link:

            https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/11/travel/japan-monastery-koyasan.html?_r=0

“Your eyes should be neither open nor closed,” explained the monk at the front of the room. “They should be sort of sleepy — like a Buddha.” It was my first time meditating, and I was anxious about making some sort of conspicuous misstep. I squinted, then tried to relax my eyelids, but inadvertently began to focus on the bright orange cushion of the person in front of me. I closed my eyes with an inward sigh of exasperation at having such a difficult time following instructions. The monk leading the session told us cheerfully that it might help to rest our vision on the tips of our noses.

I was sitting in the carpeted meditation hall of an 1,100-year-old Buddhist temple in Koyasan, in a mountainous region of southeastern Japan. The hall was separated from the temple’s garden by only a thin sliding wooden door, and the air inside was crisp and piney, threaded with smoke from incense burning on the altar. About 15 other sleepy-eyed tourists from the United States, Europe and Australia (the class was for English-speaking visitors) surrounded me across the floor, steadily counting their breaths.

Koyasan is one of the premier destinations for Buddhist pilgrims in Japan, and is considered one of the holiest sites in the country. It was chosen 1,200 years ago by the monk Kobo-Daishi for its lotus-like geography — a shallow valley nestled into a mountain — to be the headquarters of Esoteric Shingon Buddhism. The religion, which dates to the Tang dynasty, places an emphasis on daily ritual as a means of reaching enlightenment in an immediate, practicable way, developing what several monks described as a “Buddha nature.” Over the course of the last century, the religion’s birthplace has also attracted an increasing number of visitors without any background in Buddhism — visitors who seek out mountains, peace, history, or just a fleeting connection with the mysticism of another time.

I came for a little bit of each of these, teased by the promise of a remote corner of the country, thousands of miles removed, both physically and mentally, from the frenetic anxieties of New York. I wanted to challenge myself to a place with a different logic and rhythm, and to see myself disappear briefly into the magnitude of a 1,200-year-old rite. Also appealing was the prospect of a place that was truly dark at night — a place where the thick, spindly velvet of steep, tree-covered mountainsides soaks up the darkness completely. And like many others, as I would learn, I also wanted something a little bit naïve and capitalistic: to buy an ascetic experience.

THE MOUNTAIN IS DOTTED with a total of 52 shukubo, temples that historically offered overnight lodging to pilgrims. Most of these have also begun to welcome non-pilgrim tourists in recent decades (there are a dozen or so holdouts). For $80 to $150 per night, per person, you can sleep on a tatami mat on the floor of a traditional guest room in a 1,000-year-old temple, eat the monks’ traditional vegan fare, and participate in the daily meditation and prayer. A few of the temples advertise amenities like sutra writing classes, views of monks raking the gardens below, or natural hot springs to bathe in — features you can’t filter for on Airbnb or Hotels.com. And in the case of many of the temples, you can’t be totally sure what you are getting — an ambiguity that appealed to me in an era when every possible travel destination is so scrupulously documented and Instagrammed.

Although the temples on Koyasan were originally reserved for the most devout pilgrims, Buddhism is famously accepting of other religions. So over the last century, as temples in Japan and elsewhere began to struggle financially with fewer donations coming in, the natural solution was to open the doors a little wider and welcome visitors who were curious about Buddhism.

Reading up on the shukubo options before my trip, I learned that many previous visitors to Koyasan were irked by the simplicity of the lodgings. Some wrote on TripAdvisor.com that their rooms were too cold, or that they could hear their neighbors snoring through the 200-year-old paper walls of the temple. More than one reviewer complained that the multicourse vegan meals were too simple to satiate people who are accustomed to eating meat. “Take snacks or you will starve,” one warned.

Others felt that they weren’t quite receiving a good enough spiritual bang for their buck. “I expected something a bit spiritual and to feel that Zen/Buddhist vibe,” one visitor from Ohio complained, “I have to say I did not feel it.” Some complained that the monks running the temples didn’t speak enough English, or didn’t offer visitors enough individual attention. “The major disappointment came during dinner,” another wrote. “I was expecting to have the opportunity to mingle with the monks.”

I found these comments more entertaining than dissuasive. I wanted to go and prove to myself how little I was bothered by a chill in the air or a little noise through the walls. Maybe that would be its own form of spiritual growth on a micro scale — proof of my own congruity with the universe even under mildly uncomfortable conditions.

Arriving at this micro-enlightenment would take many modes of transportation, it turned out. Although Koyasan is only about 86 miles outside of Kyoto, the journey to get there is its own self-selecting odyssey. From Kyoto, I took three separate trains past power plants, greenhouses, small towns, backyard yuzu trees and grass tennis courts. At the base of the mountain, I shuffled off the train and onto a cable car along with a handful of European backpackers. At the top of the mountain, a bus waited for us to make the final journey along mortifyingly steep cedar-studded ravines into the center of Koyasan.

I arrived at my temple, Eko-in (part of the Danjo Garan temple complex), just as an American couple and their teenage son were checking in. A monk showed us where to put our shoes by the broad carved wood entrance. Outfitted with wooden slippers, I walked through a maze of creaky wooden hallways to my room, a small, serene square of space with elaborately painted sliding doors and a large window looking out onto the temple’s central garden. The room came equipped with a TV, a space heater, a telephone, and Wi-Fi. Waiting for me were some small red bean sweets and a kettle full of hot water for tea.

When it was time for dinner, a fleet of several monks arrived, bearing a carafe of hot sake and several lacquerware platforms for the food, each containing a clutter of small bowls. The traditional temple cuisine, called shojin-ryori, incorporates a bright variety of tastes, textures and colors. Tiny cups of vegetable broth and miso soup flocked around plates of delicate tempura squash, lotus root and shiso leaves. A pot of slightly bland but hearty cabbage and mushroom udon sat over a little flame. My favorite dish was one that Koyasan is famous for: a savory tofu-like pudding called goma dofu, made from ground sesame and arrowroot flour.

Once it was dark, I slipped out of my room and down to the main entrance of the temple to retrieve my shoes and join the nighttime tour of Okunoin Cemetery. An English-speaking monk led a group of about 20 guests from Eko-in and some of the surrounding temples through the lantern-lit paths of Japan’s largest cemetery, pointing out the moss-covered tombs of important national figures, including the inventor of Kabuki and the founder of Panasonic. Since Buddhism values all forms of life, our guide explained, not all of the graves belonged to human beings; the writing on one of them translated essentially to “R.I.P. Ants.” In the 600-year-old cedars overhead, we could hear the chirps and squeaks of flying squirrels rippling through the brisk air.

In the early morning, before breakfast was served, guests of the temple were invited to attend morning prayer and a daily fire ceremony. The printed schedule left in our room requested that visitors not use flash photography and issued a stern warning: “The morning service and fire ritual are NOT A TOURIST SHOW, monks must do them every day to show daily appreciation to Buddhist saints.”

In spite of this, few attendees of the fire ritual could resist capturing a moment or two of cellphone video: the drums, chanting and flames rising up to the ceiling of the temple as the presiding monk burned a stack of wooden slats with prayers written on them. Most managed to do this surreptitiously while kneeling quietly. About halfway through the ceremony, though, my eyes widened when I recognized a Frenchwoman from the cemetery tour standing at the back of the room, doing what could only be described as dancing to the beat of the drums. None of the monks seemed visibly bothered by her spontaneous self-expression.

KOYASAN BECAME A Unesco World Heritage site in 2004 (as part of the sacred sites of the Kii mountain range), and since then, the number of annual foreign visitors has more than quadrupled, while the number of Japanese visitors has declined.

More tourists seeking solace and simplicity can make a place a lot less placid, and as a visitor, it’s difficult to avoid the fact that you’re contributing to the din and litter that comes with this influx of foreigners. And yet, it is incredibly moving to be invited into the quiet, enveloping darkness of a cemetery at night — to add your footsteps to the tens of thousands that have worn down a stone path over the centuries. You come to realize how little space you can take up and how little noise you can make if you want to.

Jynne Martin, a friend who had recommended Koyasan, first traveled there 10 years ago and returned this past winter, staying at Shojoshin-in both times. On her first trip, she saw only two other tourists at the temple — the rest of the visitors were pilgrims. On her most recent trip, she saw exclusively tourists.

To her mild disappointment, Shojoshin-in had updated their amenities to include TV and internet in all of their guest rooms. A few convenience shops and a vending machine of beer had also been added to one of the main roads in town. Even so, for Jynne, Koyasan did not lose its magic. “I feel like there’s this echo and resonance within the forest and in the cemetery and in the temples where there’s some low hum or vibration that feels like it’s just been going for years and years,” she said. “I think there’s just a beautiful energy on the top of the mountain. Even with the TV and internet.”

After checking out of my room at Eko-in, I chatted for a few minutes with Yuta Kobayashi, one of the monks who run the temple. Mr. Kobayashi told me that while the temples in Koyasan used to rely on devout Buddhists for donations, they increasingly rely on income from tourists. “The Japanese government and the Japanese people don’t have a responsibility to keep the old buildings or to keep the old culture,” he said.

I asked him if he ever reads online reviews of his temple. He told me that he does. “Good opinions or bad opinions — I accept both,” he said. “And if I can change or make something better, I want to do my best.” The only type of review that ever irks him, he added, are reviews that accuse the temple’s 1,100-year-old rituals of being performatory or touristy. “We do this every morning,” he said with a laugh. “Even when people don’t stay here.”

At Eko-in (497 Koyasan; 0736-56-2514; ekoin.jp), for 15,000 yen per person (about $130), you can reserve a traditional guest room with a garden view, a shared bathroom and two meals. For 20,000 yen per person, you can reserve a room with a private bath and toilet. Prices fluctuate slightly based on season.

At Shojoshin-in (556 Koyasan; japaneseguesthouses.com), 10,800 to 12,960 yen per person will get you a room with a shared bathroom. For 16,200 yen per person, you can reserve a room with a private bathroom. Two meals are included, but no alcohol is served.

Guest rooms with shared bathrooms at Fukuchi-in (657 Koyasan; 0736-56-2021, fukuchiin.com) range from 14,000 to 16,500 yen per person, depending on whether or not the room has a garden view. Rooms with private toilets are available for 18,500 yen per person. An outdoor hot spring is available to all guests.

A version of this article appears in print on October 22, 2017, on Page TR7 of the New York edition with the headline: A Search for Solitude on a Mountain of Monasteries.

Fortifications & Democracy in the Ancient Greek World -- why elites supported democracy and were not more heavily taxed

Ober, Josiah and Weingast, Barry R., Fortifications and Democracy in the Ancient Greek World (October 23, 2017). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3057639

Abstract: In the modern world, access-limiting fortification walls are not typically regarded as promoting democracy. But in Greek antiquity, increased investment in fortifications was correlated with the prevalence and stability of democracy. This paper sketches the background conditions of the Greek city-state ecology, analyzes a passage in Aristotle’s Politics, and assesses the choices of Hellenistic kings, Greek citizens, and urban elites, as modeled in a simple game. The paper explains how city walls promoted democracy and helps to explain several other puzzles: why Hellenistic kings taxed Greek cities at lower than expected rates; why elites in Greek cities supported democracy; and why elites were not more heavily taxed by democratic majorities. The relationship between walls, democracy, and taxes promoted continued economic growth into the late classical and Hellenistic period (4th-2nd centuries BCE), and ultimately contributed to the survival of Greek culture into the Roman era, and thus modernity. We conclude with a consideration of whether the walls-democracy relationship holds in modernity.

Keywords: Democracy, Ancient Greece, Athens, Walls and Democracy, Taxation, War
JEL Classification: H11, H41, N43, O43, P51, P14, P16

Inflammatory Biomarkers and Risk of Schizophrenia. A 2-Sample Mendelian Randomization Study

Inflammatory Biomarkers and Risk of Schizophrenia. A 2-Sample Mendelian Randomization Study. Fernando Pires Hartwig et al. JAMA Psychiatry, doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2017.3191

Key Points

Question  What is the effect of increased inflammatory biomarkers on the risk of developing schizophrenia?

Findings  In this 2-sample mendelian randomization study using summary gene-biomarker association results estimated in pooled samples ranging from 1645 to more than 80 000 individuals, 2-fold increments in circulating levels of C-reactive protein and soluble interleukin-1 receptor levels were associated with a 10% reduction and a 6% increase in the lifetime odds of developing schizophrenia.

Meaning  We found that blockade of interleukin-6 effects and low C-reactive protein levels might increase schizophrenia risk, possibly due to increased susceptibility to early life infection.

Abstract

Importance  Positive associations between inflammatory biomarkers and risk of psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, have been reported in observational studies. However, conventional observational studies are prone to bias, such as reverse causation and residual confounding, thus limiting our understanding of the effect (if any) of inflammatory biomarkers on schizophrenia risk.

Objective  To evaluate whether inflammatory biomarkers have an effect on the risk of developing schizophrenia.

Design, Setting, and Participants  Two-sample mendelian randomization study using genetic variants associated with inflammatory biomarkers as instrumental variables to improve inference. Summary association results from large consortia of candidate gene or genome-wide association studies, including several epidemiologic studies with different designs, were used. Gene-inflammatory biomarker associations were estimated in pooled samples ranging from 1645 to more than 80 000 individuals, while gene-schizophrenia associations were estimated in more than 30 000 cases and more than 45 000 ancestry-matched controls. In most studies included in the consortia, participants were of European ancestry, and the prevalence of men was approximately 50%. All studies were conducted in adults, with a wide age range (18 to >80 years).

Exposures  Genetically elevated circulating levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), and soluble interleukin-6 receptor (sIL-6R).

Main Outcomes and Measures  Risk of developing schizophrenia. Individuals with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders were included as cases. Given that many studies contributed to the analyses, different diagnostic procedures were used.

Results  The pooled odds ratio estimate using 18 CRP genetic instruments was 0.90 (random effects 95% CI, 0.84-0.97; P = .005) per 2-fold increment in CRP levels; consistent results were obtained using different mendelian randomization methods and a more conservative set of instruments. The odds ratio for sIL-6R was 1.06 (95% CI, 1.01-1.12; P = .02) per 2-fold increment. Estimates for IL-1Ra were inconsistent among instruments, and pooled estimates were imprecise and centered on the null.

Conclusions and Relevance  Under mendelian randomization assumptions, our findings suggest a protective effect of CRP and a risk-increasing effect of sIL-6R (potentially mediated at least in part by CRP) on schizophrenia risk. It is possible that such effects are a result of increased susceptibility to early life infection.

Beautiful Bugs, Bothersome Bugs, and FUN Bugs: Examining Human Interactions with Insects and Other Arthropods

Beautiful Bugs, Bothersome Bugs, and FUN Bugs: Examining Human Interactions with Insects and Other Arthropods. Nathan J. Shipley & Robert D. Bixler. Anthrozoös, Volume 30, 2017 - Issue 3, Pages 357-372. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08927936.2017.1335083

ABSTRACT: Because the ostensible majority of incidental human–insect (and other arthropods) interactions are negative, any interest in non-pretty “bugs” appears to be inherently demotivated. Three complementary studies explored US college students’ perceptions, knowledge, and experiences of insects to better understand folk classifications and to identify potentially new ways to present them to motivate human interest. Study 1, an open-ended survey (n = 236), found that knowledge of insects is limited to a mean of 13 insects. Of these 13 insects, most were also dichotomized as liked (beautiful bugs) or disliked (bothersome bugs). The second study, using semi-structured interviews (n = 60), revealed similar categories as found in the first study, providing further details about positive and negative perceptions of, attitudes to, and types of experiences people have with, insects and other closely related arthropods. The last study (n = 200) used a paired forced-choice scale with 10 silhouettes of insects and related arthropods to replicate and expand the findings from the first two studies. This study tested whether respondents would report interest in novel and unknown arthropods over commonly known and preferred ones. The results indicate little knowledge of the diversity of insects among a young, elite, middle-class sample of college students and the existence of two robust but small folk categories of insects/arthropods (beautiful, bothersome). Results from the third study indicated there is a group of potentially fascinating unfamiliar (FUN) insects/arthropods/bugs that could evoke interest if people were simply exposed to them. Implications for informal recreation and educational programming and a research agenda are presented.

Keywords: bug, human dimensions of insects, human–insect interactions, insects, natural history, STEM

We often believe that omitting information is more ethical than telling a prosocial lie, whereas targets often believe otherwise

Levine, E., Hart, J., Moore, K., Rubin, E., Yadav, K., & Halpern, S. (2017). The Surprising Costs of Silence: Asymmetric Preferences for Prosocial Lies of Commission and Omission. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000101

Abstract: Across 7 experiments (N = 3883), we demonstrate that communicators and targets make egocentric moral judgments of deception. Specifically, communicators focus more on the costs of deception to them—for example, the guilt they feel when they break a moral rule—whereas targets focus more on whether deception helps or harms them. As a result, communicators and targets make asymmetric judgments of prosocial lies of commission and omission: Communicators often believe that omitting information is more ethical than telling a prosocial lie, whereas targets often believe the opposite. We document these effects within the context of health care discussions, employee layoffs, and economic games, among both clinical populations (i.e., oncologists and cancer patients) and lay people. We identify moderators and downstream consequences of this asymmetry. We conclude by discussing psychological and practical implications for medicine, management, behavioral ethics, and human communication.

Implicit ambivalence of significant others: Significant others trigger positive and negative evaluations

Zayas V, Surenkok G, Pandey G. Implicit ambivalence of significant others: Significant others trigger positive and negative evaluations. Soc Personal Psychol Compass. 2017;11:e12360. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12360

Abstract: Despite the rich literature on implicit partner evaluations, there has been scant attention to a defining feature of significant other mental representations—their affective complexity. Recent findings (Zayas & Shoda, 2015), however, provide an empirical demonstration that significant others automatically and simultaneously activate positive and negative evaluations—a phenomenon we refer to as implicit ambivalence. A primary aim of this paper is to extend extant theory by elaborating on the features of the dyadic context that may contribute to the formation of implicit ambivalence. Particularly, drawing from research from relationship science, social cognition, and social neuroscience, we focus on the ability of significant others to dynamically and simultaneously confer rewards and threats, the attunement of perceivers to potential social rewards and social threats, and aspects of sense-making of another person's mind that may give rise to implicit ambivalence. From this new perspective, implicit ambivalence is not a pathological or rare state. Quite the opposite, implicit ambivalence may be a normative, typical process, that is triggered even by people who are highly positive in one's network. We identify future directions for social cognition and relationship science.

Steven Koonin's Review of the Climate Science Special Report, Nov 2017

A Deceptive New Report on Climate.

By Steven E. Koonin

True, the U.S. has had more heat waves in recent years—but no more than a century ago.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-deceptive-new-report-on-climate-1509660882
Wall Street Journal, Nov. 2, 2017


The world’s response to climate changing under natural and human influences is best founded upon a complete portrayal of the science. The U.S. government’s Climate Science Special Report, to be released Friday, does not provide that foundation. Instead, it reinforces alarm with incomplete information and highlights the need for more-rigorous review of climate assessments.

A team of some 30 authors chartered by the U.S. Global Change Research Program began work in spring 2016 on the report, “designed to be an authoritative assessment of the science of climate change.” An early draft was released for public comment in January and reviewed by the National Academies this spring. I, together with thousands of other scientists, had the opportunity to scrutinize and discuss the final draft when it was publicized in August by the New York Times . While much is right in the report, it is misleading in more than a few important places.

One notable example of alarm-raising is the description of sea-level rise, one of the greatest climate concerns. The report ominously notes that while global sea level rose an average 0.05 inch a year during most of the 20th century, it has risen at about twice that rate since 1993. But it fails to mention that the rate fluctuated by comparable amounts several times during the 20th century. The same research papers the report cites show that recent rates are statistically indistinguishable from peak rates earlier in the 20th century, when human influences on the climate were much smaller. The report thus misleads by omission.

This isn’t the only example of highlighting a recent trend but failing to place it in complete historical context. The report’s executive summary declares that U.S. heat waves have become more common since the mid-1960s, although acknowledging the 1930s Dust Bowl as the peak period for extreme heat. Yet buried deep in the report is a figure showing that heat waves are no more frequent today than in 1900. This artifice also appeared in the government’s 2014 National Climate Assessment, which emphasized a post-1980 increase in hurricane power without discussing the longer-term record. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently stated that it has been unable to detect any human impact on hurricanes.

Such data misrepresentations violate basic scientific norms. In his celebrated 1974 “Cargo Cult” lecture, the late Richard Feynman admonished scientists to discuss objectively all the relevant evidence, even that which does not support the narrative. That’s the difference between science and advocacy.

These deficiencies in the new climate report are typical of many others that set the report’s tone. Consider the different perception that results from “sea level is rising no more rapidly than it did in 1940” instead of “sea level rise has accelerated in recent decades,” or from “heat waves are no more common now than they were in 1900” versus “heat waves have become more frequent since 1960.” Both statements in each pair are true, but each alone fails to tell the full story.

Several actions are warranted. First, the report should be amended to describe the history of sea-level rise, heat waves and other trends fully and accurately. Second, the government should convene a “Red/Blue” adversarial review to stress-test the entire report, as I urged in April. Critics argue such an exercise would be superfluous given the conventional review processes, and others have questioned even the minimal time and expense that would be involved. But the report’s deficiencies demonstrate why such a review is necessary.

Finally, the institutions involved in the report should figure out how and why such shortcomings survived multiple rounds of review. How, for example, did the National Academies’ review committee conclude that the chapter on sea level rise “accurately reflects the current scientific literature on this topic”? The Academies building prominently displays Einstein’s dictum “one must not conceal any part of what one has recognized to be true.”

Mr. Koonin was undersecretary of energy for science during President Obama’s first term and is director of the Center for Urban Science and Progress at New York University.

Should we love robots? – The most liked qualities of companion dogs and how they can be implemented in social robots

Should we love robots? – The most liked qualities of companion dogs and how they can be implemented in social robots. Veronika Konok et al. Computers in Human Behavior, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.11.002

Highlights
•    people’s attitude toward dogs is better than toward robots
•    having emotions, personality and showing attachment are the main advantages of dogs
•    respondents show high agreement about the behavioral manifestation of preferred qualities
•    we give a behavioral protocol for roboticists to design social robots

Abstract

In the future, robots may live with users as long-term companions, thus it is important that some sort of attachment relationship develop between humans and agents. Man’s best friend the dog provides a model for investigating what makes a heterospecific companion a lovable social partner.

Thus, we studied people’s attitudes toward dogs and robots comparatively, with a special focus on those features in dogs that cause people to accept them in their homes and love them. Additionally, we explored from what kind of behaviors people infer these qualities.

We found that people’s attitude toward robots is much more negative than towards dogs. Having emotions, personality and showing attachment were the most frequently reported advantages of dogs. Respondents showed high agreement about the behavioral manifestation of these qualities, which are necessary for engineers to be able to implement such advantages into the social robots’ programs.

Based on our results, in the future roboticists may supply social robots with these preferred qualities, which will aid in the designing of successful social robots.

Keywords: human-robot interaction; dog; robot; attitudes; ethorobotics

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When owners were asked about what they like least about their dog (Q4), the most frequent responses were stubbornness (28%), aggression (19%) and barking (10%). Interestingly, none of the owners would replace their own dogs with one from the same breed, age and sex, which is free from the unwanted features (Q5).