Americans grow happier as they grow older, according to a University of Chicago study that is one of the most thorough examinations of happiness ever done in America. The study also found that baby boomers are not as content as other generations, African Americans are less happy than whites, men are less happy than women, happiness can rise and fall between eras, and that, with age the differences narrow. [continue reading…]
April 2008
Parents are more likely to punish their teenager’s risky sexual activity when there are younger kids in the family, driven by a desire to set a strict example for these siblings, says new game theory research from the University of Maryland, Duke University and The Johns Hopkins University.The research team used economic game theory to predict levels of parental discipline. Parental concern for “reputation” with the younger children as a disciplinarian would be a powerful motivator, they predicted.
Their study, published in the April edition of the Journal of Economics, concluded that the exercise of parental control is effective in modifying the risky adolescent behavior. This is especially true in the case of the older children, who expect stronger penalties because their parents are making an example of them. [continue reading…]
Is fairness simply a ruse, something we adopt only when we secretly see an advantage in it for ourselves? Many psychologists have in recent years moved away from this purely utilitarian view, dismissing it as too simplistic. Recent advances in both cognitive science and neuroscience now allow psychologists to approach this question in some different ways, and they are getting some intriguing results.
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Sleep disruption is the most common and severe symptom reported by middle-aged women when their periods change and they start moving into the menopause, according to a study in the April issue of the UK-based Journal of Clinical Nursing. [continue reading…]
