Article archive / August 1, 2012
Originally published: . Volume 3, No. 12. Source pages: 10.
Psychology Gumbo by Julie Nelson
Psychological science shows us just what a piece of work we can sometimes be. Below I’ve summarized a little bit of this and a little of that from the science of human behavior, and asked a few of our Louisiana experts to comment. From CEOs to the chills, they provide just the right seasoning to these recent research findings.
• “A Face Only an Investor Could Love: CEOs’ Facial Structure Predicts Their Firms’ Financial Performance,” – Psychological Science, October, 2011.
Researchers Wong and colleagues found that firms whose male CEOs had wider faces (relative to facial height) performed better financially. But this effect worked mostly with cognitively simple leadership teams.
COMMENT: Dr. Mkay Bonner, Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, Monroe:
“Frequently researchers are interested in the relationship of physical characteristics to success in the workplace. Over 10 years ago some research indicated that with identical resumes, the taller man would be hired over 70% of the time. And, one study found that overweight men earned more than underweight men.
“This article follows that tradition. These researchers documented that male CEOs with wider faces had firms that performed better financially. This was especially true for firms with less cognitive complexity in their top management teams (i.e. less flexibility or degrees of differentiation). According to their discussion, males with wider faces and less complex decision-making teams performed better financially but may likely be aggressive and untrustworthy in interpersonal relationships. So, people may want to give them their money but not their daughters.”
• “Personalized Persuasion: Tailoring Persuasive Appeals to Recipients’ Personality Traits,” – Psychological Science, April, 2012.
Researchers Jacob Hirsh and colleagues, created five advertisements, one for each of the styles for the Big Five personality factors (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness). The researchers found people rated ads matching their own style more positively.
COMMENT: Dr. Susan Dardard, Media Psychologist:
“Mothers know to adjust their ‘motivational messages,’ to gain cooperation according to their children’s personalities. Now psychological science has drawn a connection between individual personality types and consumer responsiveness.
The best moms also know the one overriding message that will reach and activate all their children at one time. Will psychology research help advertisers do the same with their audiences?
Here’s a hint. For wide appeal, find the right music.”
• “Negotiation Topic as a Moderator of Gender Differences in Negotiation.” -Psychological Science, July, 2012
Julia B. Bear and Linda Babcock looked at negotiation success and gender. They found support for a hypothesis that difference performance in women’s negotiation depends on the nature of the topic. In their study, men outperformed women in the “masculine” version of the negotiation but they found no gender differences in the “feminine” version.
COMMENT: Dr. Laurie O'Brien, Associate Professor Department of Psychology, Tulane, research interests include perceptions of prejudice and discrimination:
“It's an interesting and well-conducted study. It raises some important questions about an often cited finding in the field–that women perform more poorly at negotiation tasks than men. This study calls into question whether the previously reported gender difference may be due in part to a bias among researchers in selecting masculine negotiation tasks for their studies. While Bear and Babcock study is very interesting, it will be important to see if other researchers replicate it. Furthermore, it will be interesting to see whether future researchers can identify feminine negotiation tasks at which women might even outperform men.”
• “You Give Me The Chills: Embodied Reactions to Inappropriate Amounts of Behavioral Mimicry,” –Psychological Science, May 2012.
In this study, authors N. Pontus Leander and colleagues found that when a person in a social interaction exhibited behavioral mimicry that did not match the implicit standards or expectations of the recipient, then the person observing the inappropriate mimicry could experience physical coldness. Felt coldness was moderated by individual differences.
COMMENT: Dr. Dan Lonowski, Forensic and Clinical Psychologist, and author:
“The next time you meet an individual who presents as too friendly, pay close attention to that chill that shudders through you. Your response to unexpected or inappropriate familiarity may be the warning that keeps you safe.”
Dan is about halfway through writing his second thriller with working title Deadly Eyes. It is a psychological study of a voyeur who escalates and his compulsion drives him to become a serial killer. Follow his progress and read excerpts from his first book, the psychological thriller, Chameleon at http://dandylan.com
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.