Latest Social philosophy Stories
Researchers at UCL and Harvard have found that we punish cheats only when they end up better off than us, in a study that challenges the notion that punishment is motivated by revenge. Published today in the journal Biology Letters, the research shows that victims of cheating compare their own payoffs with those of partners when making punishment decisions. "Punishment is a costly behaviour which is often aimed at individuals that cheat during social interactions," said Dr Nichola...
The volume of a small brain region influences one's predisposition for altruistic behavior. Researchers from the University of Zurich show that people who behave more altruistically than others have more gray matter at the junction between the parietal and temporal lobe, thus showing for the first time that there is a connection between brain anatomy, brain activity and altruistic behavior. Why are some people very selfish and others very altruistic? Previous studies indicated that social...
What can explain extreme differences in altruism among individuals, from Ebenezer Scrooge to Mother Teresa? It may all come down to variation in the size and activity of a brain region involved in appreciating others' perspectives, according to a study published by Cell Press in the July 12th issue of the journal Neuron. The findings also provide a neural explanation for why altruistic tendencies remain stable over time. "This is the first study to link both brain anatomy and brain...
Establishing a central, costly authority can help to facilitate a stable coexistence Selfish behavior is a threat to successful coexistence and mutual cooperation. In many cases this human cooperation is based on punishing those who do not cooperate. There can be two different forms of punishment here: direct punishment by peers and institutionalized punishment by institutions like the police. Arne Traulsen, Torsten Röhl and Manfred Milinski from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary...
Flexible, Professional Work Environment Built Specifically for Small Business Owners and Mobile Workers in the Bay Area Walnut Creek, California (PRWEB) June 25, 2012 Third Workplace, a flexible workspace environment with all of the advantages of a professional office in convenient community locations, announces its grand opening in the East San Francisco Bay Area. Beginning today, mobile workers will have access to open workspaces, private offices, and conference rooms with the latest in...
New research from the University of Southampton suggests that there are more employees in the UK's voluntary sector than previously thought. The research uses data from the 2008 National Survey of Third Sector Organisations (NSTSO). It estimates that there were more than 1.1 million full-time equivalent employees in England in 2008, or just over 5 per cent of the workforce. This is higher than previous estimates, which are regularly calculated using data from the Labour Force Survey....
New research by the University of Southampton has examined the role of voluntary organizations in promoting pro-environmental behavior change. It points to evidence of success around small-scale, local initiatives, but questions whether these can be scaled up to reach the wider public. The research review points to qualitative and quantitative evidence of third sector initiatives that have changed people's practices around recycling, reuse and home energy use. Evidence suggests third...
An individual’s sense of right or wrong may change depending on their activities at the time – and they may not be aware of their own shifting moral integrity — according to a new study looking at why people make ethical or unethical decisions. Focusing on dual-occupation professionals, the researchers found that engineers had one perspective on ethical issues, yet when those same individuals were in management roles, their moral compass shifted. Likewise, medic/soldiers in the U.S....
Timing can affect whether females and minorities experience discrimination — says a study published today in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Emails were sent from fictional prospective doctoral students to 6,500 professors across 258 institutions, requesting a meeting either that day or next week. Prospective doctoral students with Caucasian male names were 26% more likely to be granted an appointment with a professor when requesting one for...
CRESTVIEW, Fla., May 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent donation by Florida Entrepreneur Andrew Dwyer on behalf of DVS Group of Crestview, FL, will go a long way in assisting the abused and neglected women of Northwest Florida. As a result of Mr. Dwyer's generous donation, three residential houses will be converted into undisclosed emergency shelters used to house women and children victimized by domestic assaults and abuse. The financial donation of an undisclosed amount will help...
