Tidbits of Research

Tidbits of Research

Harvard Kennedy School researcher, Filipe Camante and Singapore Management University researcher Quoc-Anh Do released a study that reported one common factor in high levels of corruption in state governments in the United States was geography.  Capitol cities located in isolated areas had more corruption than capitol cities in more populous areas.  The authors suggest that the difference might be due in part to less scrutiny by citizens and reporters in smaller settings. 

Kanner, Coyne, Schaefer and Lazrus published a study, consistent with other research, reporting that minor life events, which compose the uplifts and hassles of daily living, had more to do with an individual’s reported sense of well-being than major life-changing events. 

The “cocktail party effect” has been described as the ability to tune attention to just one voice from a multitude of voices.  This is, of course, a handy ability for writers who find interesting story ideas from eavesdropping.  However, concentrating on one voice greatly lessens the attention paid to other voices.  The person you are facing may accuse you of not knowing what he or she said to you while your attention was directed elsewhere.  That person would probably be correct.  Research suggests the ignored conversation is truly ignored even when the non-listener’s name is spoken.  Note: I once attended a party where one person in the receiving line gave an obscenity-laced greeting to everyone who went through the line.  When I looked shocked at what she said, she commented that I was one of a very few people who actually listened to her.  

Dr. Elizabeth Dunn and her colleagues at the University of British Columbia reviewed three different studies that revealed that rewarding people with small sums of money did not affect their happiness.  However, when the reward was allowing people to donate small sums to others, people were consistently happier.

They also reported that assessment of wealth is largely determined by someone’s comparison to their peers.  A millionaire hanging out with billionaires can feel deprived.  This may help explain the compensation of CEOs who justify their income by comparing it to other overpaid executives. 

Dr. Robert R. Provine, a neuroscientist at the University of Maryland, summarized research on laughter as follows:

Less than 20% of laughter is related to jokes

People are more likely to laugh in groups than when alone

Women laugh more often than men

Most laughter occurs in regular conversation, not in attempts to stimulate laughter

Speakers laugh more often than listeners

Men produce more laughter than women

Frequent laughers are healthier than frequent frowners

Bad feeling lead to bad habits, which lead to less laughter

People who look on the bright side of things laugh more often and are healthier

Laughing is contagious 

Have you read about any interesting research recently?