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The Language of Young Love: The Ways Couples Talk Can Predict Relationship Success

February 1, 2011 coms 1

We know that people tend to be attracted to, date, and marry other people who resemble themselves in terms of personality, values, and physical appearance. However, these features only skim the surface of what makes a relationship work. The ways that people talk are also important. A new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, finds that people who speak in similar styles are more compatible.

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Sign languages help us understand the nature of metaphors

January 26, 2011 coms 0

A recent study of the use of metaphors in spoken language and various sign languages shows that certain types of metaphors are difficult to convey in sign language. The study, “Iconicity and metaphor: Constraints on metaphorical extension of iconic forms,” to be published in the December 2010 issue of the scholarly journal Language, is authored by Irit Meir of the University of Haifa.

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Accents Shape Our Perceptions Of People

January 18, 2011 coms 1

The accent someone talks in plays a crucial role in the way we judge this person, psychologists of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany) found out recently. “The accent is much more important than the way a person looks”, Dr. Tamara Rakic sums up one of the key findings of the study, which has just been published in the online edition of the “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology”.

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Are attractive people more employable? Study finds double standard

January 11, 2011 coms 0

“Good looks” are only sometimes a positive factor in consideration for a job, according to new research from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU). In the new working paper, “Are Good-Looking People More Employable?” two economics researchers from BGU prove that a double standard exists between good looks as a positive factor in men and women.

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Close proximity leads to better science

December 29, 2010 coms 0

According to new research by scientists at Harvard Medical School, the physical proximity of researchers, especially between the first and last author on published papers, strongly correlates with the impact of their work.

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Self-awareness can help people navigate rocky seas of relationships

November 8, 2010 coms 0

A little self-awareness can help people struggling in the world of relationships, says Jeffrey Hall, assistant professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas. Hall recently completed a study into styles of flirting among dating adults, surveying more than 5,100 people regarding their methods of communicating romantic interest.

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Self-Disclosure Used to Strengthen Friendships in the United States, but Not in Japan

October 19, 2010 coms 0

In the United States, friends often share intimate details of their lives and problems. However, such self-disclosure is much less common in Japan. A new study by an American researcher living in Japan finds that this may be because of the different social systems in the two countries, and in particular the extent to which there are opportunities to make new friends.