Why Jews are more successful, Northerners are more sarcastic, and curious people are more snuggly.
By
PT Staff, published on July 01, 2008 - last reviewed on August 25, 2008
Man Down
Tomboys and guys' guys might want to join a knitting club. Research at Yale indicates that people who have more men in their in-groups (and families) have lower self-esteem, probably because men provide less ego-boosting support than women. Having a male supervisor also leads to lower self-esteem than having a female boss.
Yiddishe Kop
Einstein, Freud, Spielberg. Jews are disproportionately represented in the upper echelons of science, business, and the humanities. Their achievements have been explained alternatively by cultural values and higher intelligence. Analysis of U.S. survey data suggests that it's the smarts: Jews have a nine-point IQ premium (on average), yet attach no more value to success or studiousness.
The Joke's on Y'all
Is the stereotype of the earnest Southerner true? In a study of college students from Tennessee and upstate New York, the Northerners used more sarcasm. Although both groups consider sarcasm to be negative, at higher latitudes it's considered funnier. I love the South.
Tired and You Know It
Although sleep deprivation bogs down cognitive performance in a number of ways, it leaves metacognition intact, meaning you realize how impaired you are. A study shows that staying up all night will make you worse at doing mental arithmetic, answering general-knowledge questions, and estimating line length, but you become no worse at predicting your performance or judging it accurately afterward.
Drink Positive
If you're struggling on the Stairmaster, keep a bottle of Gatorade in view. Even subconscious exposure to a sports drink leads
to greater physical persistence than viewing spring water, thanks to ad campaigns. You'll construe your task as a positive challenge.
36%
Thirty-six percent of American adults have Googled a celeb, but only nine percent have looked up someone they're dating.
Touchy-Feely
If you appreciate hands-on affection from your partner, it probably has less to do with your gender or how happy your relationship is than with your personality. People who are open to new experiences like contact on nonintimate body areas more than other people do; neurotics dislike intimate touch; and friendly folks like being touched all over.
Tags:
american adults,
cognitive performance,
cultural values,
general knowledge questions,
higher intelligence,
higher latitudes,
in brief,
intelligence analysis,
Jews,
man down,
mental arithmetic,
nine point,
northerners,
sarcasm,
science business,
self-esteem,
sleep,
sports drink,
spring water,
stairmaster,
staying up all night,
tomboys,
touchy feely,
upper echelons
