https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/uoh-vec102516.php
Public Release: 26-Oct-2016
Vitamin E can modify the risk of pneumonia in some older men depending on their lifestyle
University of Helsinki
Many people have been advised to take vitamin supplements to boost their immune systems. However, a recent study published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that taking vitamin E supplements led to an increased risk of pneumonia for more than one in four older men (28%) who smoked and did not exercise. However, the opposite effect was true for older men who exercised and did not smoke - in that vitamin E actually decreased their risk of contracting pneumonia.
The findings of this study - which focused on men aged 50 to 69 years old at the baseline of the trial- are particularly striking because analyses in nutritional epidemiology usually assume a uniform effect of a nutrient. However, the author of the study - Dr. Harri Hemilä of the University of Helsinki, Finland - found that the effect of vitamin E on health outcomes may depend on various characteristics of people and their lifestyles. Therefore, a single universal estimate of the vitamin E effect might be substantially misleading for some population groups.
•••••
Drawing on the I2 statistic for the first time for this type of analysis, Dr. Hemilä concluded that nearly all variation in the vitamin E effect on pneumonia risk over five subgroups was explained by true differences in the vitamin E effect rather than by chance variation.
Vitamin E increased pneumonia risk by 68% among men who had the highest exposure to smoking and who did not exercise (22% of the ATBC participants), while vitamin E actually decreased pneumonia risk by 69% among participants who had the least exposure to smoking and who exercised during their leisure time (7·6% of the ATBC participants). The author claims that these findings refute there being a uniform effect of vitamin E supplementation on the risk of pneumonia.
•••••
Given the current limited understanding about who might benefit, Dr. Hemilä recommends that vitamin E should not be suggested for the general population for improving the immune system. The author concludes that there is a need for further research on vitamin E for non-smoking elderly men who exercise in their leisure time.
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Cut exposure to synthetic chemicals to ward off 150,000+ European diabetes cases
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/b-cet102516.php
Public Release: 26-Oct-2016
Cut exposure to synthetic chemicals to ward off 150,000+ European diabetes cases
...And save billions of euros in associated costs every year, estimate researchers
BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal)
Cutting exposure to common environmental synthetic chemicals by 25 per cent might ward off more than 150,000 cases of diabetes in Europe and save €4.5 billion every year, suggest estimates published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.
A mounting body of evidence suggests that environmental 'pollutants,' such as phthalates (plasticisers), pesticides, and polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs for short (used in coolant fluids in fridges and other electrical apparatus) contribute to metabolic disorders--particularly obesity and diabetes--by disrupting the production and regulation of hormones in the body.
•••••
Public Release: 26-Oct-2016
Cut exposure to synthetic chemicals to ward off 150,000+ European diabetes cases
...And save billions of euros in associated costs every year, estimate researchers
BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal)
Cutting exposure to common environmental synthetic chemicals by 25 per cent might ward off more than 150,000 cases of diabetes in Europe and save €4.5 billion every year, suggest estimates published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.
A mounting body of evidence suggests that environmental 'pollutants,' such as phthalates (plasticisers), pesticides, and polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs for short (used in coolant fluids in fridges and other electrical apparatus) contribute to metabolic disorders--particularly obesity and diabetes--by disrupting the production and regulation of hormones in the body.
•••••
Iron supplements in the fight against lead
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/ez-isi102616.php
Public Release: 26-Oct-2016
Iron supplements in the fight against lead
ETH Zurich
Lead is a toxic heavy metal that was added to petrol for use in cars until as recently as 25 years ago. It is particularly harmful to the developing brains of infants, children and teenagers, and the damage it does is irreversible.
The situation becomes significantly worse if people are exposed to a high level of lead at the same time as they are suffering from iron deficiency. In the small intestine, lead and iron bind to the same transport protein, which absorbs the metals into the bloodstream. If someone consumes too little iron with their food, the transporter increases its activity, and can carry lead into the bloodstream instead, leading to increased levels of the toxic heavy metal in the body and brain.
A team of researchers led by ETH professor Michael B. Zimmermann from the Laboratory of Human Nutrition have now shown in a study that fortifying food with iron produces a striking reduction in blood lead concentration in children exposed to high levels of the metal.
This is the result of a trial involving over 450 children carried out by Zimmermann's former doctoral student Raschida Bouhouch and colleagues in southern Morocco. It is the first controlled prospective study to investigate the connection between iron deficiency and lead poisoning and to demonstrate that iron fortification can reduce blood lead levels. The study came about within the framework of a North-South project conducted by ETH Zurich and the University and University Hospital of Marrakesh.
Mining in the surrounding area meant that children of preschool and school age were exposed to an increased quantity of lead. At the same time, the level of iron in their blood was relatively low, placing them in a high-risk group.
•••••
Before the study began, the children's blood contained on average 4.3 micrograms of lead per decilitre. Biscuits with added sodium iron EDTA facilitated a reduction in blood lead concentration to 2.9 micrograms per decilitre. The biscuits also brought about an improvement in the children's iron status. On the other hand, the reduction in lead concentration had no effect on cognitive performance, as the researchers discovered during the corresponding tests.
Nevertheless, Zimmermann is very happy with the study's results: "The finding - that you can reduce blood lead concentration in exposed individuals with just a short intervention - is hugely significant for public health services," says the ETH professor.
•••••
Zimmermann attributes the lack of improvement in cognitive performance to the fact that lead leaves behind lasting damage that cannot be reversed by administering iron. "Nevertheless, it definitely makes sense to use iron fortification to prevent brain damage in exposed sectors of the population," says the nutrition specialist. Iron supplementation may even provides foetuses in the womb with effective protection against subsequent brain damage.
•••••
Lead contamination of food and water is still a serious problem in mining and heavy industry areas in Africa, India and China, but the issue is not yet resolved even in industrialised Western countries.
•••••
Public Release: 26-Oct-2016
Iron supplements in the fight against lead
ETH Zurich
Lead is a toxic heavy metal that was added to petrol for use in cars until as recently as 25 years ago. It is particularly harmful to the developing brains of infants, children and teenagers, and the damage it does is irreversible.
The situation becomes significantly worse if people are exposed to a high level of lead at the same time as they are suffering from iron deficiency. In the small intestine, lead and iron bind to the same transport protein, which absorbs the metals into the bloodstream. If someone consumes too little iron with their food, the transporter increases its activity, and can carry lead into the bloodstream instead, leading to increased levels of the toxic heavy metal in the body and brain.
A team of researchers led by ETH professor Michael B. Zimmermann from the Laboratory of Human Nutrition have now shown in a study that fortifying food with iron produces a striking reduction in blood lead concentration in children exposed to high levels of the metal.
This is the result of a trial involving over 450 children carried out by Zimmermann's former doctoral student Raschida Bouhouch and colleagues in southern Morocco. It is the first controlled prospective study to investigate the connection between iron deficiency and lead poisoning and to demonstrate that iron fortification can reduce blood lead levels. The study came about within the framework of a North-South project conducted by ETH Zurich and the University and University Hospital of Marrakesh.
Mining in the surrounding area meant that children of preschool and school age were exposed to an increased quantity of lead. At the same time, the level of iron in their blood was relatively low, placing them in a high-risk group.
•••••
Before the study began, the children's blood contained on average 4.3 micrograms of lead per decilitre. Biscuits with added sodium iron EDTA facilitated a reduction in blood lead concentration to 2.9 micrograms per decilitre. The biscuits also brought about an improvement in the children's iron status. On the other hand, the reduction in lead concentration had no effect on cognitive performance, as the researchers discovered during the corresponding tests.
Nevertheless, Zimmermann is very happy with the study's results: "The finding - that you can reduce blood lead concentration in exposed individuals with just a short intervention - is hugely significant for public health services," says the ETH professor.
•••••
Zimmermann attributes the lack of improvement in cognitive performance to the fact that lead leaves behind lasting damage that cannot be reversed by administering iron. "Nevertheless, it definitely makes sense to use iron fortification to prevent brain damage in exposed sectors of the population," says the nutrition specialist. Iron supplementation may even provides foetuses in the womb with effective protection against subsequent brain damage.
•••••
Lead contamination of food and water is still a serious problem in mining and heavy industry areas in Africa, India and China, but the issue is not yet resolved even in industrialised Western countries.
•••••
Reading the right sexual cues
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/s-rtr102616.php
ublic Release: 26-Oct-2016
Reading the right sexual cues
Improving cue reading could help college students get the dating game right
Springer
Both college men and women focus primarily on a photographed woman's nonverbal emotional cues when making snap decisions about whether she is expressing sexual interest at a particular moment in time. But their judgments also are based to a large degree on how attractive she is and the provocativeness of her attire. Physical attractiveness plays a much larger role in how college men than women make these quick judgments. Female students in turn tend to pick up more than men on clothing style and the woman's emotional cues. This is according to a study1 in the journal Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, published by Springer. Around 500 students were asked to give their first impressions about the current sexual interest of women in a series of photographs.
•••••
The findings looked different among students who held more rape-supportive attitudes (as determined by their results from the assessment). These attitudes are hostile to rape victims, including false beliefs about rape and rapists, for example women enjoy sexual violence. Both males and females in this group, relative to their peers, relied less on the photographed women's emotional cues and more on their attire and their attractiveness. This is problematic because appearance-related cues such as clothing and physical beauty are less accurate nonverbal signals of a woman's current (or momentary) sexual interest in a particular man than the woman's nonverbal emotional cues.
It was found that the students who received instruction on non-verbal cues before assessing the photographs were more likely to note emotional cues than aspects such as clothing and physical beauty when making their judgments. Receiving such guidelines also shifted the focus of students who held more supportive attitudes towards rape.
•••••
ublic Release: 26-Oct-2016
Reading the right sexual cues
Improving cue reading could help college students get the dating game right
Springer
Both college men and women focus primarily on a photographed woman's nonverbal emotional cues when making snap decisions about whether she is expressing sexual interest at a particular moment in time. But their judgments also are based to a large degree on how attractive she is and the provocativeness of her attire. Physical attractiveness plays a much larger role in how college men than women make these quick judgments. Female students in turn tend to pick up more than men on clothing style and the woman's emotional cues. This is according to a study1 in the journal Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, published by Springer. Around 500 students were asked to give their first impressions about the current sexual interest of women in a series of photographs.
•••••
The findings looked different among students who held more rape-supportive attitudes (as determined by their results from the assessment). These attitudes are hostile to rape victims, including false beliefs about rape and rapists, for example women enjoy sexual violence. Both males and females in this group, relative to their peers, relied less on the photographed women's emotional cues and more on their attire and their attractiveness. This is problematic because appearance-related cues such as clothing and physical beauty are less accurate nonverbal signals of a woman's current (or momentary) sexual interest in a particular man than the woman's nonverbal emotional cues.
It was found that the students who received instruction on non-verbal cues before assessing the photographs were more likely to note emotional cues than aspects such as clothing and physical beauty when making their judgments. Receiving such guidelines also shifted the focus of students who held more supportive attitudes towards rape.
•••••
Climate change: Voters will be hot under the collar by 2099
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/s-ccv102616.php
Public Release: 26-Oct-2016
Climate change: Voters will be hot under the collar by 2099
Harvard study of 1.5 billion votes is the first to project how climate change will impact democratic elections
Springer
By 2099 the nature of democratic politics could change in costly ways for politicians because of climate change, says Nick Obradovich of Harvard University in a paper in Springer's journal Climatic Change. Leveraging a century's worth of political science research, he predicts that voters' disgruntlement about the societal effects of climatic extremes and weather-related disasters they experience will translate into more frequent turnover of political parties elected in and out of office, and will keep politicians of especially warmer, poorer countries more on their toes than is currently the case.
•••••
According to Obradovich, turnover directly related to politician performance is vital to a well-functioning democracy. He notes, however, that findings from the study indicate that democratic turnover might increase as a result of climatic events that are outside the control of individual politicians.
"Such exogenously driven political turnover may shorten democratic time horizons, inducing parties and their politicians to focus on short-run policies at the expense of important longer-run strategies," he warns. "Such altered political time horizons may have a particularly deleterious impact on climate mitigation, as the long-run benefits of mitigation are unlikely to be observed from one election to the next."
•••••
Public Release: 26-Oct-2016
Climate change: Voters will be hot under the collar by 2099
Harvard study of 1.5 billion votes is the first to project how climate change will impact democratic elections
Springer
By 2099 the nature of democratic politics could change in costly ways for politicians because of climate change, says Nick Obradovich of Harvard University in a paper in Springer's journal Climatic Change. Leveraging a century's worth of political science research, he predicts that voters' disgruntlement about the societal effects of climatic extremes and weather-related disasters they experience will translate into more frequent turnover of political parties elected in and out of office, and will keep politicians of especially warmer, poorer countries more on their toes than is currently the case.
•••••
According to Obradovich, turnover directly related to politician performance is vital to a well-functioning democracy. He notes, however, that findings from the study indicate that democratic turnover might increase as a result of climatic events that are outside the control of individual politicians.
"Such exogenously driven political turnover may shorten democratic time horizons, inducing parties and their politicians to focus on short-run policies at the expense of important longer-run strategies," he warns. "Such altered political time horizons may have a particularly deleterious impact on climate mitigation, as the long-run benefits of mitigation are unlikely to be observed from one election to the next."
•••••
Indirect effects of rising CO2 levels on ecosystems more important than previously thought
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/uos-ieo102616.php
Public Release: 26-Oct-2016
Indirect effects of rising CO2 levels on ecosystems more important than previously thought
University of Southampton
The indirect effects of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, such as changes in soil moisture and plant structure, can have a bigger impact on ecosystems than previously thought.
•••••
A study, involving researchers from the University of Southampton, found that water-limited ecosystems in arid and semi-arid regions, such as The Great Plains and South-West United States and some in Australia and Mediterranean Europe, were particularly impacted by these indirect effects. For those ecosystems, the importance of the indirect effects was as much as or in some cases, greater than, the direct effects.
•••••
Public Release: 26-Oct-2016
Indirect effects of rising CO2 levels on ecosystems more important than previously thought
University of Southampton
The indirect effects of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, such as changes in soil moisture and plant structure, can have a bigger impact on ecosystems than previously thought.
•••••
A study, involving researchers from the University of Southampton, found that water-limited ecosystems in arid and semi-arid regions, such as The Great Plains and South-West United States and some in Australia and Mediterranean Europe, were particularly impacted by these indirect effects. For those ecosystems, the importance of the indirect effects was as much as or in some cases, greater than, the direct effects.
•••••
Skin patch to treat peanut allergy shows benefit in children
Public Release: 26-Oct-2016
Skin patch to treat peanut allergy shows benefit in children
NIH-funded study suggests patch is safe, convenient mode of treatment
NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
A wearable patch that delivers small amounts of peanut protein through the skin shows promise for treating children and young adults with peanut allergy, with greater benefits for younger children, according to one-year results from an ongoing clinical trial. The treatment, called epicutaneous immunotherapy or EPIT, was safe and well-tolerated, and nearly all participants used the skin patch daily as directed.
The ongoing trial is sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and conducted by the NIAID-funded Consortium of Food Allergy Research (CoFAR), which is led by Hugh Sampson, M.D., of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.
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Bitter political climate chills some scientific pursuits
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/acs-102616.php
Public Release: 26-Oct-2016
Bitter political climate chills some scientific pursuits
American Chemical Society
The House of Representatives Science, Space & Technology Committee has been operating in lockstep with the combative political climate this election season. Since last year, the committee chair has issued more than 25 subpoenas to investigate science agencies and others. But rather than bring misdeeds to light, some scientists say the efforts are having a chilling effect, according to an article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society.
Jeff Johnson, a special correspondent to C&EN, reports that Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican and the chair of the House science committee, has unilaterally launched the probes over the vehement objections of committee Democrats. The subjects of the probes include the peer-review process at the National Science Foundation, climate change research at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, and security at the National Institute of Standards & Technology. Most recently, Smith has also been trying to obtain correspondence between eight environmental advocacy groups and state attorneys general in connection to a science-based fraud investigation of ExxonMobil.
In response to the latest investigation, more than 2,000 scientists signed a letter to Smith urging him to end the probe, which they perceive as an effort to protect oil companies and suppress science. One signer says the hostile climate is indeed having a harmful side effect: Some scientists are shying away from conducting research that could draw unwanted political ire. A former Republican chair of the committee, Sherwood Boehlert, laments the current infighting, but says he's hopeful that the upcoming election will help Congress get back on a more productive and collegial track.
Public Release: 26-Oct-2016
Bitter political climate chills some scientific pursuits
American Chemical Society
The House of Representatives Science, Space & Technology Committee has been operating in lockstep with the combative political climate this election season. Since last year, the committee chair has issued more than 25 subpoenas to investigate science agencies and others. But rather than bring misdeeds to light, some scientists say the efforts are having a chilling effect, according to an article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society.
Jeff Johnson, a special correspondent to C&EN, reports that Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican and the chair of the House science committee, has unilaterally launched the probes over the vehement objections of committee Democrats. The subjects of the probes include the peer-review process at the National Science Foundation, climate change research at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, and security at the National Institute of Standards & Technology. Most recently, Smith has also been trying to obtain correspondence between eight environmental advocacy groups and state attorneys general in connection to a science-based fraud investigation of ExxonMobil.
In response to the latest investigation, more than 2,000 scientists signed a letter to Smith urging him to end the probe, which they perceive as an effort to protect oil companies and suppress science. One signer says the hostile climate is indeed having a harmful side effect: Some scientists are shying away from conducting research that could draw unwanted political ire. A former Republican chair of the committee, Sherwood Boehlert, laments the current infighting, but says he's hopeful that the upcoming election will help Congress get back on a more productive and collegial track.
School principals shape students' values via school climate
Public Release: 26-Oct-2016
School pincipals shape students' values via school climate
Association for Psychological Science
Over time, students' personal values become more similar to those of their school principal, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Associational for Psychological Science. The findings indicate that principals' values are linked with aspects of school climate which are, in turn, linked with students' own values.
"Given the vast amount of time children spend in school, it is important to assess the impact that schools have on children, beyond their impact on children's academic skills," say researchers Yair Berson (New York University and Bar-Ilan University) and Shaul Oreg (Cornell University and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem). "Our findings show that schools contribute to the formation of children's values."
•••••
The researchers found that students' values became more similar to those of their principal over the two-year study period.
"Principals' personal outlook on life is reflected in the overall school atmosphere, which over time becomes reflected in schoolchildren's personal outlook and eventual behavior," Berson and Oreg explain in their paper.
This pattern was consistent for all of the values except for one: conservation values.
"Values that have to do with maintaining the status quo -- emphasizing tradition, conformity and security - showed a different pattern, whereby principals' values are associated with children's values, but without the mediating role of the school climate," say Berson and Oreg.
The researchers speculate that unstudied mechanisms - such as principals' selection of teachers - might explain this exception.
•••••
Extreme cold winters fueled by jet stream and climate change
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/uos-ecw102616.php
Public Release: 26-Oct-2016
Extreme cold winters fueled by jet stream and climate change
University of Sheffield
•••••
Scientists have agreed for the first time that recent severe cold winter weather in the UK and US may have been influenced by climate change in the Arctic, according to a new study.
The research, carried out by an international team of scientists including the University of Sheffield, has found that warming in the Arctic may be intensifying the effects of the jet stream's position, which in the winter can cause extreme cold weather, such as the winter of 2014/15 which saw record snowfall levels in New York.
•••••
The researchers have found that the recent pattern of cold winters is primarily caused by natural changes to the jet stream's position; however, the warming of the Arctic appears to be exerting an influence on cold spells, but the location of these can vary from year to year.
Previous studies have shown that when the jet stream is wavy there are more episodes of severe cold weather plunging south from the Arctic into the mid-latitudes, which persist for weeks at a time. But when the jet stream is flowing strongly from west to east and not very wavy, we tend to see more normal winter weather in countries within the mid-latitudes.
"We've always had years with wavy and not so wavy jet stream winds, but in the last one to two decades the warming Arctic could well have been amplifying the effects of the wavy patterns," Professor Hanna said. He added: "This may have contributed to some recent extreme cold winter spells along the eastern seaboard of the United States, in eastern Asia, and at times over the UK (e.g. 2009/10 and 2010/11).
•••••
Public Release: 26-Oct-2016
Extreme cold winters fueled by jet stream and climate change
University of Sheffield
•••••
Scientists have agreed for the first time that recent severe cold winter weather in the UK and US may have been influenced by climate change in the Arctic, according to a new study.
The research, carried out by an international team of scientists including the University of Sheffield, has found that warming in the Arctic may be intensifying the effects of the jet stream's position, which in the winter can cause extreme cold weather, such as the winter of 2014/15 which saw record snowfall levels in New York.
•••••
The researchers have found that the recent pattern of cold winters is primarily caused by natural changes to the jet stream's position; however, the warming of the Arctic appears to be exerting an influence on cold spells, but the location of these can vary from year to year.
Previous studies have shown that when the jet stream is wavy there are more episodes of severe cold weather plunging south from the Arctic into the mid-latitudes, which persist for weeks at a time. But when the jet stream is flowing strongly from west to east and not very wavy, we tend to see more normal winter weather in countries within the mid-latitudes.
"We've always had years with wavy and not so wavy jet stream winds, but in the last one to two decades the warming Arctic could well have been amplifying the effects of the wavy patterns," Professor Hanna said. He added: "This may have contributed to some recent extreme cold winter spells along the eastern seaboard of the United States, in eastern Asia, and at times over the UK (e.g. 2009/10 and 2010/11).
•••••
New evidence that politics, not economics, drives inequality
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/osu-net102616.php
Public Release: 26-Oct-2016
New evidence that politics, not economics, drives inequality
Study included data sensitive to rise of the '1 percent'
Ohio State University
One of the biggest surprises about rising income inequality in the United States may be that economic factors aren't the biggest cause, a new study suggests.
Sociologists at The Ohio State University found that political factors, along with increases in college-educated adults, provided the best explanations for the rise in income inequality in the United States between 1978 and 2011.
But even higher education levels became less important after the 1980s, said David Jacobs, lead author of the study and professor of sociology at Ohio State.
The study found that presidential administrations that were sympathetic to employers but unfavorable to labor drove up levels of income inequality.
•••••
The study used a variety of sources to analyze political and economic factors that could be tied to inequality at the state level for each of the 33 years in the study. "Statistics work better with more cases. With 49 states and 33 years to work with, we had 1,615 cases," Jacobs said.
Jacobs said one strength of this study is that it used IRS data on incomes, which is extremely sensitive to changes in the economic well-being of the top 1 percent in the United States.
"The gap between the top earners and the rest of Americans has really been growing and our study was able to capture that change," Jacobs said.
The study found that the presidential administration in power was far and away the biggest political factor linked to economic inequality in each year of the study.
The importance of the presidential administration remained even after the researchers took into account more than 20 other possible explanatory variables, such as stock market values, poverty levels, the number of people employed in finance careers, and the number of people employed in rural occupations. Many of these factors, among others controlled for in this study, have been cited by economists in the past as possible causes of growing inequality, Jacobs said.
After all these and other factors are held constant, the Reagan administration's policies led to an 18 percent increase in inequality, the study found.
Other than the presidential administration, the remaining parts of government had little or no effect on inequality, the study showed. The U.S. Congress had no effect and neither did state governors. State legislatures had a very small effect.
Jacobs said the study was not able to isolate the exact policies that led to increases in inequality, although he had some ideas. The Reagan administration made tax codes more favorable to the affluent, deregulated many industries including finance, weakened unions and reduced spending on programs for the poor.
"I believe it was a lot of policies that each contributed a little bit to growing inequality, and when you added them all up the results were large," Jacobs said.
While presidential administrations and higher education levels through the 1980s had the largest effects on inequality, Jacobs said two other factors also played smaller but significant roles. Manufacturing employment had a fairly strong relationship with income inequality, with researchers finding that a 10 decrease in this employment would produce about a 3.1 percent increase in inequality.
The researchers also found that growth in minority populations was linked to increases in inequality.
•••••
Public Release: 26-Oct-2016
New evidence that politics, not economics, drives inequality
Study included data sensitive to rise of the '1 percent'
Ohio State University
One of the biggest surprises about rising income inequality in the United States may be that economic factors aren't the biggest cause, a new study suggests.
Sociologists at The Ohio State University found that political factors, along with increases in college-educated adults, provided the best explanations for the rise in income inequality in the United States between 1978 and 2011.
But even higher education levels became less important after the 1980s, said David Jacobs, lead author of the study and professor of sociology at Ohio State.
The study found that presidential administrations that were sympathetic to employers but unfavorable to labor drove up levels of income inequality.
•••••
The study used a variety of sources to analyze political and economic factors that could be tied to inequality at the state level for each of the 33 years in the study. "Statistics work better with more cases. With 49 states and 33 years to work with, we had 1,615 cases," Jacobs said.
Jacobs said one strength of this study is that it used IRS data on incomes, which is extremely sensitive to changes in the economic well-being of the top 1 percent in the United States.
"The gap between the top earners and the rest of Americans has really been growing and our study was able to capture that change," Jacobs said.
The study found that the presidential administration in power was far and away the biggest political factor linked to economic inequality in each year of the study.
The importance of the presidential administration remained even after the researchers took into account more than 20 other possible explanatory variables, such as stock market values, poverty levels, the number of people employed in finance careers, and the number of people employed in rural occupations. Many of these factors, among others controlled for in this study, have been cited by economists in the past as possible causes of growing inequality, Jacobs said.
After all these and other factors are held constant, the Reagan administration's policies led to an 18 percent increase in inequality, the study found.
Other than the presidential administration, the remaining parts of government had little or no effect on inequality, the study showed. The U.S. Congress had no effect and neither did state governors. State legislatures had a very small effect.
Jacobs said the study was not able to isolate the exact policies that led to increases in inequality, although he had some ideas. The Reagan administration made tax codes more favorable to the affluent, deregulated many industries including finance, weakened unions and reduced spending on programs for the poor.
"I believe it was a lot of policies that each contributed a little bit to growing inequality, and when you added them all up the results were large," Jacobs said.
While presidential administrations and higher education levels through the 1980s had the largest effects on inequality, Jacobs said two other factors also played smaller but significant roles. Manufacturing employment had a fairly strong relationship with income inequality, with researchers finding that a 10 decrease in this employment would produce about a 3.1 percent increase in inequality.
The researchers also found that growth in minority populations was linked to increases in inequality.
•••••
School environment key to retaining teachers, promoting student achievement, study finds
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/bu-sek102616.php
Public Release: 26-Oct-2016
School environment key to retaining teachers, promoting student achievement, study finds
New research identifies four organizational and administrative factors that can decrease teacher turnover and lift student test scores in math
Brown University
A school is more likely to retain effective teachers, a new study reports, if it is led by a principal who promotes professional development for teachers, is characterized by collaborative relationships among teachers, has a safe and orderly learning environment and sets high expectations for academic achievement among students, a new study reports.
•••••
The authors also found evidence that improving a school's climate may help promote gains in students' academic achievement. Improvements in two dimensions -- school safety and academic expectations -- predicted faster growth in math test scores, according to Kraft.
"The degree to which students and teachers feel their school is a safe, orderly learning environment is of central importance for student achievement in the New York City middle schools we studied," the authors wrote.
These findings "replicate and extend previous research findings that schools with higher-quality school contexts have students who experience larger achievement gains," the researchers wrote. They also noted that organizational improvements that take place over time correspond with increases in student achievement gains.
•••••
Public Release: 26-Oct-2016
School environment key to retaining teachers, promoting student achievement, study finds
New research identifies four organizational and administrative factors that can decrease teacher turnover and lift student test scores in math
Brown University
A school is more likely to retain effective teachers, a new study reports, if it is led by a principal who promotes professional development for teachers, is characterized by collaborative relationships among teachers, has a safe and orderly learning environment and sets high expectations for academic achievement among students, a new study reports.
•••••
The authors also found evidence that improving a school's climate may help promote gains in students' academic achievement. Improvements in two dimensions -- school safety and academic expectations -- predicted faster growth in math test scores, according to Kraft.
"The degree to which students and teachers feel their school is a safe, orderly learning environment is of central importance for student achievement in the New York City middle schools we studied," the authors wrote.
These findings "replicate and extend previous research findings that schools with higher-quality school contexts have students who experience larger achievement gains," the researchers wrote. They also noted that organizational improvements that take place over time correspond with increases in student achievement gains.
•••••
Integrated neighborhoods more common across the US, study finds
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/bu-inm102616.php
Public Release: 26-Oct-2016
Integrated neighborhoods more common across the US, study finds
New research tracking population shifts over 30 years shows that increasing neighborhood-level diversity is a near-universal trend in urban areas
Brown University
In all parts of the United States, the number of neighborhoods that sustain a mix of black, white, Asian and Hispanic residents over time is growing quickly, a new study finds.
"It is striking that while the all-white neighborhood is disappearing, its main replacement is the most diverse kind, which includes substantial shares of whites, blacks, Hispanics and Asians," said the study's coauthor John Logan, professor of sociology at Brown University. "Given the persistence of residential segregation and the deep divide that still separates whites from other groups, it is reassuring to see this one sign of progress."
•••••
Logan pointed out that the news is not all good, however. While the number of global neighborhoods is on the rise, the study also found increasing numbers of all-minority neighborhoods caused by white residents moving out of previously mixed areas -- close to a 50 percent increase over the 30-year period.
The poorest neighborhoods, Logan said, are mostly black, mostly Hispanic, or a combination of these two groups. Despite the publicity devoted to urban gentrification, he added, the study found that it is very rare for whites to move into these areas.
"Overall change in segregation has been modest because the trend toward global neighborhoods is partly counteracted by growing all-minority neighborhoods," Logan said. "But prior to 1980, change was always toward greater racial separation."
Logan said that in his view, "it would be too much to expect that decades of growing separation would be suddenly reversed. The upside is that now we can see how positive change can occur and hope that it will continue."
•••••
Public Release: 26-Oct-2016
Integrated neighborhoods more common across the US, study finds
New research tracking population shifts over 30 years shows that increasing neighborhood-level diversity is a near-universal trend in urban areas
Brown University
In all parts of the United States, the number of neighborhoods that sustain a mix of black, white, Asian and Hispanic residents over time is growing quickly, a new study finds.
"It is striking that while the all-white neighborhood is disappearing, its main replacement is the most diverse kind, which includes substantial shares of whites, blacks, Hispanics and Asians," said the study's coauthor John Logan, professor of sociology at Brown University. "Given the persistence of residential segregation and the deep divide that still separates whites from other groups, it is reassuring to see this one sign of progress."
•••••
Logan pointed out that the news is not all good, however. While the number of global neighborhoods is on the rise, the study also found increasing numbers of all-minority neighborhoods caused by white residents moving out of previously mixed areas -- close to a 50 percent increase over the 30-year period.
The poorest neighborhoods, Logan said, are mostly black, mostly Hispanic, or a combination of these two groups. Despite the publicity devoted to urban gentrification, he added, the study found that it is very rare for whites to move into these areas.
"Overall change in segregation has been modest because the trend toward global neighborhoods is partly counteracted by growing all-minority neighborhoods," Logan said. "But prior to 1980, change was always toward greater racial separation."
Logan said that in his view, "it would be too much to expect that decades of growing separation would be suddenly reversed. The upside is that now we can see how positive change can occur and hope that it will continue."
•••••
Money can buy happiness but it's costly to bank on that without measuring debt
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/pu-pmc102616.php
Public Release: 26-Oct-2016
Prof: Money can buy happiness but it's costly to bank on that without measuring debt
Purdue University
Yes, money can lead to happiness, but how much debt one has should also be considered in the money-happiness equation, according to a new a study from Purdue University.
"There has been a lot of research looking at whether and how income makes people happy in life, but few studies have examined whether debt can detract from happiness. We found that carrying student loan debt is almost as important as income in predicting financial worry and life satisfaction," said Louis Tay, an assistant professor of psychological sciences, who studies the effects of income and money on happiness.
The study's results are published in the Journal of Happiness Studies. The survey results are from the Gallup-Purdue Index, which provides a measure of how college graduates are doing on five key dimensions of well-being: purpose, social, physical, financial and community. Tay also is member of the committee evaluating results of the ongoing survey.
•••••
Public Release: 26-Oct-2016
Prof: Money can buy happiness but it's costly to bank on that without measuring debt
Purdue University
Yes, money can lead to happiness, but how much debt one has should also be considered in the money-happiness equation, according to a new a study from Purdue University.
"There has been a lot of research looking at whether and how income makes people happy in life, but few studies have examined whether debt can detract from happiness. We found that carrying student loan debt is almost as important as income in predicting financial worry and life satisfaction," said Louis Tay, an assistant professor of psychological sciences, who studies the effects of income and money on happiness.
The study's results are published in the Journal of Happiness Studies. The survey results are from the Gallup-Purdue Index, which provides a measure of how college graduates are doing on five key dimensions of well-being: purpose, social, physical, financial and community. Tay also is member of the committee evaluating results of the ongoing survey.
•••••
Pollution exposure is higher in city kids who are active, finds study
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/cumc-pei102616.php
Public Release: 26-Oct-2016
Pollution exposure is higher in city kids who are active, finds study
Increased exposure to pollutants may offset health benefits of regular exercise
Columbia University Medical Center
Children from urban areas of New York City who engaged in vigorous daily exercise had greater exposure to black carbon, a traffic-related pollutant, than children who were less active, according to a study by a multidisciplinary team of researchers from Columbia University's College of Physicians & Surgeons and Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health.
The researchers also found that while physically active children had reduced airway inflammation compared to less active children, this association that was offset by having high black carbon exposure.
Findings from the study were published recently online in the journal Environmental Research.
Black carbon, a pollutant that is also an indicator of diesel exhaust exposure, is known to have an adverse impact on health. However, little research has examined whether children living in urban areas receive a higher dose of the pollutant when they engage in regular physical activity.
•••••
The study revealed that the active children were exposed to 25 percent greater concentration of black carbon compared to non-active children. Daily physical activity was associated with reduced airway inflammation, but that effect primarily occurred among the children who were exposed to lower concentrations of black carbon. Exercise had no effect on airway inflammation among children exposed to the highest concentrations of black carbon.
•••••
Public Release: 26-Oct-2016
Pollution exposure is higher in city kids who are active, finds study
Increased exposure to pollutants may offset health benefits of regular exercise
Columbia University Medical Center
Children from urban areas of New York City who engaged in vigorous daily exercise had greater exposure to black carbon, a traffic-related pollutant, than children who were less active, according to a study by a multidisciplinary team of researchers from Columbia University's College of Physicians & Surgeons and Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health.
The researchers also found that while physically active children had reduced airway inflammation compared to less active children, this association that was offset by having high black carbon exposure.
Findings from the study were published recently online in the journal Environmental Research.
Black carbon, a pollutant that is also an indicator of diesel exhaust exposure, is known to have an adverse impact on health. However, little research has examined whether children living in urban areas receive a higher dose of the pollutant when they engage in regular physical activity.
•••••
The study revealed that the active children were exposed to 25 percent greater concentration of black carbon compared to non-active children. Daily physical activity was associated with reduced airway inflammation, but that effect primarily occurred among the children who were exposed to lower concentrations of black carbon. Exercise had no effect on airway inflammation among children exposed to the highest concentrations of black carbon.
•••••
UCI and NASA document accelerated glacier melting in West Antarctica
See the article at the link below for how the shape of the underlying bedrock affects the rate of melting.https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/uoc--uan102116.php
Public Release: 25-Oct-2016
UCI and NASA document accelerated glacier melting in West Antarctica
Study findings will help improve predictions about global sea level rise
University of California - Irvine
Two new studies by researchers at the University of California, Irvine and NASA have found the fastest ongoing rates of glacier retreat ever observed in West Antarctica and offer an unprecedented look at ice melting on the floating undersides of glaciers. The results highlight how the interaction between ocean conditions and the bedrock beneath a glacier can influence the frozen mass, helping scientists better predict future Antarctica ice loss and global sea level rise.
•••••
"Our primary question is how the Amundsen Sea sector of West Antarctica will contribute to sea level rise in the future, particularly following our observations of massive changes in the area over the last two decades," said UCI's Bernd Scheuchl, lead author on the first of the two studies, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters in August.
"Using satellite data, we continue to measure the evolution of the grounding line of these glaciers, which helps us determine their stability and how much mass the glacier is gaining or losing," said the Earth system scientist. "Our results show that the observed glaciers continue to lose mass and thus contribute to global sea level rise."
•••••
Previous studies using other techniques estimated the average melting rates at the bottom of the Dotson and Crosson ice shelves to be about 40 feet (12 meters) per year. Khazendar and his team, analyzing their direct radar measurements, found stunning rates of ice loss from the glaciers' undersides on the ocean sides of their grounding lines. The fastest-melting glacier, Smith, lost between 984 and 1,607 feet (300 and 490 meters) in thickness between 2002 and 2009 near its grounding line, or up to 230 feet (70 meters) per year.
•••••
Clinton Voters Aren’t Just Voting Against Trump
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/clinton-voters-arent-just-voting-against-trump/
By Harry Enten
Oct. 25, 2016
A simpler method for determining positive or negative support is to ask people whether their vote is affirmatively for one candidate or in protest against the other. The latest ABC News survey reveals that, in fact, Clinton’s voters feel about as positively about their candidate as any candidate’s supporters have felt about their own preferred candidate since 1980. Trump voters are less enthusiastic about him: Since 1980, no group of supporters has been less affirmative in its support for its candidate.
Right now, 56 percent of Clinton voters say they are mainly for her compared with just 42 percent of the same voters who say they are voting against Trump. This 56 percent is the highest it’s been all year in the ABC News poll, and it’s been steadily climbing for Clinton since July. In the same survey, only 41 percent of Trump supporters say they are voting for him, while 54 percent say they are mostly voting against Clinton. Those numbers are about the same as they’ve been all year.
That 56 percent of Clinton’s voters are affirmatively supporting her may not seem like a lot, but it’s about average for a presidential candidate. That’s clear from the chart below, which plots the final live-interview poll to ask this type of question in every election since 1980.
•••••
The most interesting thing about these numbers is how few of Trump’s supporters are his fans. No candidate since 1980 has had a lower percentage of voters say they plan to cast a vote for their candidate. That includes candidates whose campaigns were viewed as disastrous, including Jimmy Carter in 1980, Michael Dukakis in 1988 and Bob Dole in 1996. (The Republican party basically gave up on Dole in the final month of the 1996 election.)
•••••
By Harry Enten
Oct. 25, 2016
A simpler method for determining positive or negative support is to ask people whether their vote is affirmatively for one candidate or in protest against the other. The latest ABC News survey reveals that, in fact, Clinton’s voters feel about as positively about their candidate as any candidate’s supporters have felt about their own preferred candidate since 1980. Trump voters are less enthusiastic about him: Since 1980, no group of supporters has been less affirmative in its support for its candidate.
Right now, 56 percent of Clinton voters say they are mainly for her compared with just 42 percent of the same voters who say they are voting against Trump. This 56 percent is the highest it’s been all year in the ABC News poll, and it’s been steadily climbing for Clinton since July. In the same survey, only 41 percent of Trump supporters say they are voting for him, while 54 percent say they are mostly voting against Clinton. Those numbers are about the same as they’ve been all year.
That 56 percent of Clinton’s voters are affirmatively supporting her may not seem like a lot, but it’s about average for a presidential candidate. That’s clear from the chart below, which plots the final live-interview poll to ask this type of question in every election since 1980.
•••••
The most interesting thing about these numbers is how few of Trump’s supporters are his fans. No candidate since 1980 has had a lower percentage of voters say they plan to cast a vote for their candidate. That includes candidates whose campaigns were viewed as disastrous, including Jimmy Carter in 1980, Michael Dukakis in 1988 and Bob Dole in 1996. (The Republican party basically gave up on Dole in the final month of the 1996 election.)
•••••
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Mom's powerful message after 12-year-old daughter dies from flu
By Jennifer Earl CBS News October 25, 2016, 3:03 PM
On the way to the hospital, Pegy Lowery tried to keep her 12-year-old daughter, Piper, talking.
She knew Piper was sick with the flu, but she had no idea how serious it was until her daughter collapsed into her arms in the parking lot of Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma, Washington.
She sobbed, “Oh, mama,” as Lowery stood there holding her, screaming for help.
A couple of strangers heard her cries and picked Piper up, rushing her through the hospital door.
Three hours later, on Jan. 16, Lowery had to say goodbye to her little girl forever.
“For us, it’s been really hard,” Lowery said. “All I have now is pictures, an urn sitting on the mantle – and you know, she was just my best buddy.”
Lowery said her daughter had been seen by a doctor three times in the span of four days. She was given antibiotics. But something happened inside her daughter’s body that no one saw.
[Antibiotics have no effect on viruses, which are what cause flu.]
The H1N1 flu attacked her kidneys.
She was in renal failure the day before Lowery took her to the hospital, but no one realized it.
Now the mom is making it her mission to share Piper’s story, and encouraging others to do something her family didn’t that year: get a flu shot.
•••••
Though the mom isn’t sure whether the shot would have made a difference for her daughter, she does know that it significantly reduces the chance of getting the flu.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a 2014 study showed that the flu vaccine reduced children’s risk of flu-related pediatric intensive care unit admission by 74 percent during flu seasons from 2010-2012.
“The chances are that you have a better fighting chance to win the battle,” Lowery said of getting the flu shot.
Since Piper was afraid of needles, Lowery never pushed her to get the shot. She didn’t think it was necessary.
But this incident opened up her eyes, and she hopes it opens up the eyes of others as well.
“There are so many stigmas about the flu shot that people are either not educated or there’s this fear factor that people put into them,” Lowery said. “But H1N1, the flu, is very deadly. I want to spread this information so people can read it. It really does save lives.”
An open letter from educators on the ‘Trump Effect’: Stop the bullying
http://educationvotes.nea.org/open-letter-donald-trump-americas-educators-stop-bullying/
Increasingly, educators across the country are reporting that the divisive and hostile rhetoric used by you this presidential campaign is seeping into classrooms and schools. As educators, we know that learning cannot take place when students are anxious or afraid.
Some examples of how students have been affected by what has come to be known as the Trump Effect include:
In Indiana, students holding Trump signs chanted “Build the Wall!” while at a high school basketball game.
In Virginia, two elementary school students taunted their immigrant classmates by saying they would be deported when Trump became president.
After fellow students in Washington had repeatedly shouted slurs from their cars at one Muslim teenager, her teacher reported the girl expressed suicidal thoughts.
A Tennessee kindergarten teacher said a Latino pupil, told by classmates he will be deported and trapped behind a wall, every day asks: “Is the wall here yet?”
An elementary school teacher in Berkeley, Calif., reported one student telling another, “You were born in a Taco Bell.”
As educators, we know we are role models for our students and want them to grow up to be kind, generous and thoughtful. But you have been anything but a role model. You have called women fat pigs, attacked the Gold Star family of a fallen American soldier, want to ban Muslims from coming to our country, and made fun of people with disabilities.
Increased fear and anxiety and inflamed racial and ethnic tensions among students is not the right track for America. That is why we are calling on you to apologize to America’s students and rethink your language and the effect it has on our students, our schools, our families and our communities.
Increasingly, educators across the country are reporting that the divisive and hostile rhetoric used by you this presidential campaign is seeping into classrooms and schools. As educators, we know that learning cannot take place when students are anxious or afraid.
Some examples of how students have been affected by what has come to be known as the Trump Effect include:
In Indiana, students holding Trump signs chanted “Build the Wall!” while at a high school basketball game.
In Virginia, two elementary school students taunted their immigrant classmates by saying they would be deported when Trump became president.
After fellow students in Washington had repeatedly shouted slurs from their cars at one Muslim teenager, her teacher reported the girl expressed suicidal thoughts.
A Tennessee kindergarten teacher said a Latino pupil, told by classmates he will be deported and trapped behind a wall, every day asks: “Is the wall here yet?”
An elementary school teacher in Berkeley, Calif., reported one student telling another, “You were born in a Taco Bell.”
As educators, we know we are role models for our students and want them to grow up to be kind, generous and thoughtful. But you have been anything but a role model. You have called women fat pigs, attacked the Gold Star family of a fallen American soldier, want to ban Muslims from coming to our country, and made fun of people with disabilities.
Increased fear and anxiety and inflamed racial and ethnic tensions among students is not the right track for America. That is why we are calling on you to apologize to America’s students and rethink your language and the effect it has on our students, our schools, our families and our communities.
Rudeness in the workplace is contagious
http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/2016/10/23/rudeness-workplace-contagious-study-finds/Uge82ClN5UGbgoGBAczeOK/story.html?s_campaign=email_BG_TodaysHeadline&s_campaign=
By Megan Scudellari Globe Correspondent October 24, 2016
Yawning, laughing, and even vomiting are contagious — I feel a lump in my throat just writing that sentence. But a new study suggests there’s another kind of behavior we should be wary of catching: rudeness.
Incivility at work — including sarcasm, put-downs, and other rude behaviors — begets more incivility, according to a study in the Journal of Applied Psychology. The authors suggest such “incivility spirals” are caused by diminishing amounts of self-control during the day.
“We all have a finite amount of resources available for controlling our behaviors at work, and this study suggests when you experience incivility from others, it draws down those resources and you’re unable to inhibit your own actions going forward,” says study coauthor Christopher Rosen, a professor of management at the University of Arkansas.
In other words, it’s hard not to snap at a co-worker when you’ve already used up your energy dealing with someone snapping at you.
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Previous studies suggest rude behaviors in the workplace have doubled over the last two decades. The cause of the rise is not clear, but researchers suggest it may be due to fewer face-to-face interactions or information overload.
•••••
The team found that when a person had experienced incivility from a colleague, they were more likely to act in an uncivil manner later in the day. That person also took longer to complete the performance tasks, suggesting that he or she had reduced self-control as a result of being on the receiving end of rude behavior.
Contagious rudeness was amplified in overtly “political” workplaces, says Rosen — offices where employees jockey for power or engage in self-serving activities. This may be because in such competitive environments, employees are using up their self-control resources faster by trying to decipher colleagues’ intentions or figuring out how to succeed, he suggests.
Other situations may likewise increase rude behavior in an office. “Things like workload, the competitiveness of an industry, whether they have enough time to do their work, mental fatigue — all these factors might further amplify this effect,” says Rosen.
There may be simple solutions. Psychological research suggests that people who are able to see the bigger picture — looking past immediate irritations — are better able to override their impulses. Because of that, mindfulness or meditation could play a role in preventing incivility spirals. And offering employees short breaks on days when they are under stress or suffering from heavy workloads could make a difference. Perhaps most directly, managers can give clear, regular feedback about what behaviors are expected in the workplace, says Rosen. “Feedback on an individual basis can really shape an environment.”
By Megan Scudellari Globe Correspondent October 24, 2016
Yawning, laughing, and even vomiting are contagious — I feel a lump in my throat just writing that sentence. But a new study suggests there’s another kind of behavior we should be wary of catching: rudeness.
Incivility at work — including sarcasm, put-downs, and other rude behaviors — begets more incivility, according to a study in the Journal of Applied Psychology. The authors suggest such “incivility spirals” are caused by diminishing amounts of self-control during the day.
“We all have a finite amount of resources available for controlling our behaviors at work, and this study suggests when you experience incivility from others, it draws down those resources and you’re unable to inhibit your own actions going forward,” says study coauthor Christopher Rosen, a professor of management at the University of Arkansas.
In other words, it’s hard not to snap at a co-worker when you’ve already used up your energy dealing with someone snapping at you.
Get The Weekender in your inbox:
Previous studies suggest rude behaviors in the workplace have doubled over the last two decades. The cause of the rise is not clear, but researchers suggest it may be due to fewer face-to-face interactions or information overload.
•••••
The team found that when a person had experienced incivility from a colleague, they were more likely to act in an uncivil manner later in the day. That person also took longer to complete the performance tasks, suggesting that he or she had reduced self-control as a result of being on the receiving end of rude behavior.
Contagious rudeness was amplified in overtly “political” workplaces, says Rosen — offices where employees jockey for power or engage in self-serving activities. This may be because in such competitive environments, employees are using up their self-control resources faster by trying to decipher colleagues’ intentions or figuring out how to succeed, he suggests.
Other situations may likewise increase rude behavior in an office. “Things like workload, the competitiveness of an industry, whether they have enough time to do their work, mental fatigue — all these factors might further amplify this effect,” says Rosen.
There may be simple solutions. Psychological research suggests that people who are able to see the bigger picture — looking past immediate irritations — are better able to override their impulses. Because of that, mindfulness or meditation could play a role in preventing incivility spirals. And offering employees short breaks on days when they are under stress or suffering from heavy workloads could make a difference. Perhaps most directly, managers can give clear, regular feedback about what behaviors are expected in the workplace, says Rosen. “Feedback on an individual basis can really shape an environment.”
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