American college students are much more likely to worry about the way they look and to spend time obsessing over their bodies than their German counterparts, according to a new study.
“Cross-cultural differences in the value placed on appearances and resulting sociocultural pressures are the most likely explanation,” says lead author Antje Bohne of Harvard Medical School.
Despite these differences in body image, the American students were no more likely to have severe enough body d
Women may worry more about their weight, but it’s men who are more likely to become hooked on exercise, a University of Florida study shows.
College-age men were twice as likely as their female counterparts to exercise to excess, and were more prone to becoming irritable and tense if they missed a scheduled workout time, according to a study published in the June issue of the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.
“We think of exercise as a positive behavior, and for th
It’s hard to keep a straight face, and especially difficult if you meet someone who looks angry or happy. This the conclusion drawn from experiments carried out by Ulf Dimberg, professor of psychology at Uppsala University, Sweden, and his associates. The results, which are presented in the journal Cognition and Emotion, show that we are not in full control of our facial muscles: their reactions are controlled by unconscious mechanisms.
It is well known that emotions find direct expression
Witnessing violence between parents has the same detrimental effect on teen-age girls as being a victim of abuse themselves, according to a new study by Brown University sociologists: The teen-agers are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior.
A study of 710 girls ages 14 to 17 who were living in two-parent families found that teen-agers who witnessed domestic violence or were the subject of violence from a parent were at least three times more likely to engage in risky sexual activi
New research reveals that men and women respond similarly on jealousy measures related to infidelity
When it comes to jealousy, men and women may be from the same planet after all.
New research from psychology professor David DeSteno from Northeastern University debunks the myth of a gender-determined reaction to sexual and emotional infidelity. Contrary to previous studies, he found that both men and women react most dramatically to a partner’s sexual rather than emotional
A new study confirms what some job seekers may suspect: The more effort people put into a job search, the more likely they are to find employment even in difficult economic times.
The Georgia Institute of Technology study also reveals how certain personality traits affect job-search behavior. For example, people tend to look harder for jobs and consequently have more success if they are: Optimistic and view the job loss as an opportunity to improve their position.
Higher
New research sheds light on gender differences, running and racing animals
Was Lassie only the second fastest collie in the valley? Was Roy Rogers’s horse Trigger faster than Dale Evans’s filly, Buttermilk? Men are readily acknowledged as faster runners than women. Can the same assumption be made about gender in horses and dogs?
Background
It’s not too hard to see why that assumption might be made. Sir Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four minute mile in 19
New research by economists at the University of Warwick reveals that men who smoke but who want a long life should marry without delay as marriage reduces the risk of death by even more than the act of smoking increases the risk of dying.
University of Warwick researchers Professor Andrew Oswald and Dr Jonathan Gardner examined the data from the British Household Panel survey – a nationally representative sample of over 5,000 British households containing over 10,000 adults who had been stu
Why are most men taller than women? This age-old height difference persists to this day, according to research to be published in Proceedings B, a Royal Society journal, because taller than average men and shorter than average women were found to be more successful in attracting a mate and having children.
Dr Daniel Nettle of the Open University used data from 10,000 men and women born in Britain in one week in March 1958 and his study concluded that the taller the men were, the less likely
Routine parent-child bedsharing before 6 years of age appears to have no major impact on a child’s subsequent development or behavior — for better or for worse, the first long-term study of the practice reveals.
The researchers’ finding that there is “no evidence linking [early parent-child bedsharing], when engaged in responsibly, with any sort of problematic outcome” should give experts who caution against the practice reason to reconsider their advice, according to lead author Paul Oka
An enzyme whose activity is affected by alcohol may prove useful in identifying recent alcohol or marijuna use even though it does not seem to be a good marker for genetic predisposition to alcoholism, a new international study finds. The researchers also found that the activity level of the enzyme, adenylyl cyclase, steadily dropped in people who had abstained from drinking for days to weeks and was generally lower in people with a history of major depression, according to the study published in th
Full-time work for wives decreases the likelihood of divorce but does not improve marital happiness, Penn State researchers say.
Marital unhappiness frequently drives wives into the workplace, says Dr. Robert Schoen, the Hoffman Professor of Family Sociology and Demography at Penn State. Whether it be unhappy wives, husbands or both, unhappiness can play an important role in wives taking on full-time employment.
Schoen, Dr. Stacy Rogers, assistant professor of sociology, and Dr.
This is the first community study which specifically addresses the relationship between childhood abuse and vulnerability to illness with reliable methods. It derives from the collaboration of New Zealand (University of Dunnedin) and Italian (University of Modena) investigators coordinated by Professor Sarah Romans.
There have been many studies documenting adverse psychiatric consequences for people who have experienced childhood and adult sexual and physical abuse. These include posttraum
A report published today by the European Commission establishes for the first time the situation of women scientists in 30 European countries . The report is presented at a seminar opening today in Madrid and organised with the Spanish Presidency of the European Union on “Women and Science: promoting women in the scientific sector”.
The report, prepared by a group of national representatives known as the `Helsinki Group on Women and Science`, compiles national statistical profiles which ar
A new study shows that schools and many education programmes are failing to provide students with a basic understanding of evolution.
It is famously difficult to explain evolutionary principles without resorting to anthropomorphic or figurative language. Evolution ‘selects’ the fittest individuals; species ‘adapt’ to change. Both of these phrases are commonplace when explaining the very complex processes involved in evolution. However, this use of language implies that there is an agency o
Since the 30s of the 20th century, after two wars and revolutions, a lot of women have been joining scientific activities. At last, after centuries of fighting for their rights, women became considered full members of society. Women were welcome to work if they wished to – but only on equal terms with men. However, men and women were not to equalize in rights in terms of housekeeping obligations. It so happened that women did housekeeping, brought up children, and worked as hard as men. Initially, i
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