Category: psychology

Posted on

According to Science, You Can Only Have up to 150 Friends

No matter how incredibly charming you are, there is apparently a natural limit to how many friends you can have: and that number is 150.

It’s known as “Dunbar’s number” because British anthropologist Robin Dunbar came up with the figure. Dunbar defines a friend as “the number of people you would not feel embarrassed about joining uninvited for a drink if you happened to bump into them in a bar,” and back in the 1990s, he asserted that people can only maintain 150 social relationships that stable at any given point in time.

Photo Credit: iStock

Dunbar went on the claim that we devote 40% of our social time to the five people who are closest to us. The next 20% is devoted to the next closest 10.

These numbers are now widely accepted in social science. Some companies, like W. L. Gore and Associates (the producers of Gore-Tex) even limit the size of their offices to 150 employees.

Dunbar’s number didn’t appear out of thin air; he came up with it by studying primates. He found that primates with bigger brains were able to track more social relationships, and from his research he predicted an average human social network size of 148 based on the size of the human brain.

Then he rounded up.

Photo Credit: iStock

Not all social scientists agree with Dunbar. But the 150 figure is consistent with other figures throughout history, such as the estimated size of neolithic farming villages and the average size of army units from Roman times to the present day.

So, the next time you want to gently turn down a new friend, just tell ’em you’ve already reached your Dunbar number.

The post According to Science, You Can Only Have up to 150 Friends appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

5 Facts About Being Left-Handed Around the Globe

The right hand has been the dominant hand for ages, spanning time and cultures. And because populations of left-handed people are relatively stable at 10% globally, it’s not surprising that right-handedness has been the default classification among humankind. It can represent anything from power, rational, conscious and logical thought, depending on the culture.

Now, since most of us are right-handed, we don’t even think about how we use it so much more: we shake hands on the right, we pass food with the right, we gesture with the right. Even lefties are so inculcated into the cult of the right hand that they also shake hands on the right – it’s just how it’s done.

And so maybe you want to bust of out of that mold and start using your left hand willy-nilly. Just be careful; in some cultures, the right v left hand debate is more than just a curiosity. It gets downright intense.

5. Pass the food to the right

Photo Credit: Raw Pixel

Okay, so you’re sitting at family dinner and passing around serving plates. Have you noticed that the motion is usually counter clockwise? This is actual set-down etiquette in Western cultures, put in place so as not to disrupt the flow of plates being passed. It’s interesting that this is a common practice because someone, a long time ago, determined that passing to the right was better than passing to the left.

4. Passing food or objects in India

Photo Credit: Pexels, Fancy Crave

There is a distinct difference on right hand versus left-hand usage in India. Rough Guides explains:

“Rule one eat with your right hand only. In India, the left hand is for wiping your bottom, cleaning your feet and other unsavoury functions (you also put on and take off your shoes with your left hand), while the right hand is for eating, shaking hands and so on.”

It would be an insult to offer something to someone with your left hand and most likely that person will not take it.

3. Dining in Ethiopia

Photo Credit: Pexels, Fancy Crave

Ethiopians typically eat with their hands, forgoing any plates. Often you would share a large dish with friends, which is why eating with only your right hand is so important.

Remember how in India the left is used for unsavory functions? Same with this culture. So when you use only one hand (the right one) to dip pieces of injera into the communal bowl, you are reducing the risk of contamination.

2. Shaking hands

Photo Credit: Raw Pixel

You guessed it! Shaking hands with your right hand is a rite! Have you ever come across someone that shakes with their left? It’s awkward! In many cultures, including America, left-hand shakes are considered an insult and refer to insincere promises.

1. Sign Language

Photo Credit: Raw Pixel

Okay, this doesn’t exactly have strict rules over which hand to use. But the key to signing is to stick with your dominant hand. Which for most of the world is the right. Sorry, lefties.

Jon Miller from Signing Saavy says:

“When signing, it does not matter if you sign as left-hand or right-hand dominant. The biggest thing to remember is to pick which hand you want to use as the dominant hand and stick with it. You should not switch back and forth between dominant hands. Most signers will be able to understand your signs no matter which hand you use as the dominant hand.”

There you have it! When in doubt, go for the right.

The post 5 Facts About Being Left-Handed Around the Globe appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Find out Why Smoking Weed Might Give You the Munchies

With all the states and counties relaxing restrictions on consuming cannabis, people who might not have partaken regularly (or at all) could find themselves enjoying a puff here and there.

If you’re not a regular, then you might not be prepared for the phenomenon known as the “munchies” (just grab some Doritos, you’ll be fine) – but either way, thanks to a recent collaboration of scientists, we might finally have an explanation.

View this post on Instagram

What do you prefer for munchies??????????????

A post shared by 420Cartoons (@420_cartoons) on

The paper was published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, and it goes a long way toward revealing the reasons smoking weed makes you want to attack an order of fries or a bag of cookies.

750 participants signed up for the study, which used a tool called the Cannabinoid Eating Experience Questionnaire, which asked them to rate how pleasurable the experience of eating becomes when stoned.

It also asked them to rate their level of hunger and the ability to feel full while stoned.

The numbers don’t lie; smoking weed increases both appetite responses. Participants were hungrier, ate more, and felt more pleasure at eating food when they were partaking.

The scientists didn’t get into the neurological or biological reasons we might respond this way, though other studies have shown that stimulating cannabinoid receptors boosts the ability to smell food (in mice).

Interestingly, this study did find that the more one uses cannabis, the less likely one is to get “the munchies,” so the receptors could dull in time, or get used to the repeated effects.

Just something to think about if you’re thinking of toking up – but with food delivery available pretty much everywhere now, I’d say you don’t have to worry.

The post Find out Why Smoking Weed Might Give You the Munchies appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Find out Why Smoking Weed Might Give You the Munchies

With all the states and counties relaxing restrictions on consuming cannabis, people who might not have partaken regularly (or at all) could find themselves enjoying a puff here and there.

If you’re not a regular, then you might not be prepared for the phenomenon known as the “munchies” (just grab some Doritos, you’ll be fine) – but either way, thanks to a recent collaboration of scientists, we might finally have an explanation.

View this post on Instagram

What do you prefer for munchies??????????????

A post shared by 420Cartoons (@420_cartoons) on

The paper was published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, and it goes a long way toward revealing the reasons smoking weed makes you want to attack an order of fries or a bag of cookies.

750 participants signed up for the study, which used a tool called the Cannabinoid Eating Experience Questionnaire, which asked them to rate how pleasurable the experience of eating becomes when stoned.

It also asked them to rate their level of hunger and the ability to feel full while stoned.

The numbers don’t lie; smoking weed increases both appetite responses. Participants were hungrier, ate more, and felt more pleasure at eating food when they were partaking.

The scientists didn’t get into the neurological or biological reasons we might respond this way, though other studies have shown that stimulating cannabinoid receptors boosts the ability to smell food (in mice).

Interestingly, this study did find that the more one uses cannabis, the less likely one is to get “the munchies,” so the receptors could dull in time, or get used to the repeated effects.

Just something to think about if you’re thinking of toking up – but with food delivery available pretty much everywhere now, I’d say you don’t have to worry.

The post Find out Why Smoking Weed Might Give You the Munchies appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Find out Why Smoking Weed Might Give You the Munchies

With all the states and counties relaxing restrictions on consuming cannabis, people who might not have partaken regularly (or at all) could find themselves enjoying a puff here and there.

If you’re not a regular, then you might not be prepared for the phenomenon known as the “munchies” (just grab some Doritos, you’ll be fine) – but either way, thanks to a recent collaboration of scientists, we might finally have an explanation.

View this post on Instagram

What do you prefer for munchies??????????????

A post shared by 420Cartoons (@420_cartoons) on

The paper was published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, and it goes a long way toward revealing the reasons smoking weed makes you want to attack an order of fries or a bag of cookies.

750 participants signed up for the study, which used a tool called the Cannabinoid Eating Experience Questionnaire, which asked them to rate how pleasurable the experience of eating becomes when stoned.

It also asked them to rate their level of hunger and the ability to feel full while stoned.

The numbers don’t lie; smoking weed increases both appetite responses. Participants were hungrier, ate more, and felt more pleasure at eating food when they were partaking.

The scientists didn’t get into the neurological or biological reasons we might respond this way, though other studies have shown that stimulating cannabinoid receptors boosts the ability to smell food (in mice).

Interestingly, this study did find that the more one uses cannabis, the less likely one is to get “the munchies,” so the receptors could dull in time, or get used to the repeated effects.

Just something to think about if you’re thinking of toking up – but with food delivery available pretty much everywhere now, I’d say you don’t have to worry.

The post Find out Why Smoking Weed Might Give You the Munchies appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Amazon Employees Are Suspiciously Tweeting About Their Amazing Work Conditions

In years past, Amazon has been in the news for having unfit working conditions for many of their employees, especially employees working in their call and fulfillment centers (FC).

According to NewsWeek, “An undercover investigation in the United Kingdom revealed that warehouse employees resort to urinating in bottles and trash cans around the warehouse so that they won’t miss their strict time targets.”

Photo Credit: Unsplash, Daniel Eledut

Insane.

For obvious reason, Amazon has been on a mission to squash these so-called rumors, so they turned to their “FC Ambassadors” for help. These employees are on a team that posts on Twitter and social media about how much they enjoy working with Amazon.

While the retail juggernaut insists these people are real and speaking their true minds, Twitter followers smelled something fishy. Many were curious about the strangely stilted language being used. This FC Ambassador mission started over a year ago, and since then there has been some serious backlash.

One Twitter user wrote:

Here are some Amazon FC Ambassadors doing their thing…or not…who knows?

Are these people even real?

An Amazon spokesperson said,

“FC ambassadors are employees who work in our FCs and share facts based on their personal experience. It’s important that we do a good job educating people about the actual environment inside our fulfillment centers, and the FC ambassador program is a big part of that along with the FC tours we provide.

Thousands of guests across the world have come to see for themselves what it’s like to work inside one of our FCs. If you haven’t visited, we recommend it.”

But Twitter folks aren’t having it.

You get the point. As a way to combat this further, Amazon has been offering FC tours for anyone who would like to check it out. You can follow #AmazonFCTour for more on that. In the meantime, we can all sit back and watch this unfold.

The post Amazon Employees Are Suspiciously Tweeting About Their Amazing Work Conditions appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Pay Attention! Here Are 5 Signs You May Be About to Get Fired.

Have you ever walked into work and a really weird feeling rolls over you? Maybe you can’t put your finger on it or perhaps you received some looks from co-workers. Either way, you’re wondering if you’re on the chopping block.

No one likes that feeling, and job security isn’t really a thing nowadays. So now you’re contemplating looking for a new job, or maybe your rational side is telling you to calm down.

If you’re wondering if a firing is impending, here are a few tell-tale signs.

5. Your conversation with a manager is in your inbox

You just left your manager’s office. The news wasn’t good. She lectured you on getting tasks done faster or on that conflict between you and another employee. Either way, she just sent your action plan in an email. She outlined your conversation and the ways she expects you to behave moving forward.

Yikes.

Don’t fret. All you need to do is be on your toes and follow through with her request. Most managers will document meetings in this manner. Perhaps it’s to create a “file of proof” against you. But don’t lose hope. Take this as a warning and turn things around.

4. Your manager follows up on that project

A day later, your manager sends a follow up on that project she wants on her desk, tomorrow. But she said it wasn’t due until the end of the week!  What do you do? Well,  instead of taking a long lunch or chatting with co-workers, hunker down and meet the new deadline.

Photo Credit: Tim Gouw, Pexels

3. Your responsibilities are dwindling

This should be a real red flag. If you all of a sudden find that your work is being given to another employee, it might be a good idea to start looking for another job.

Also, it couldn’t hurt ask your manager why. There might be other reasons. Are you moving into a different role? Are you being put on a different project? If you don’t ask for clarity, you may not get it. On the other hand, you might not like what you hear.

2. You didn’t get invited to a team meeting

You just returned from lunch to find your team is MIA. Where did they go? You peek around the conference room and see them. Why aren’t you? You check your inbox for the meeting request to find you didn’t receive one.

Getting left out of team meetings could mean you are no longer needed, so you best check with your team after they wrap up to get some insight.

Photo Credit: Snapwire, Pexels

1. You meet the new person and he shares your title

Your manager exits her office with a new employee. They are laughing and chatting as she introduces him to the group. You had no idea they were hiring. Hmmmm. He walks over to you and introduces himself. You ask nicely, “What will you be doing?” He answers that he was hired with the same title as you.

Before you get into a tizzy, maybe the company is growing. If not, look over any past reprimands or documented meetings from the boss  – if things were at all rocky, it might be time to dust off your resume.

 

Before you start to over-analyze any of the signs above, take a deep breath. None of them is a surefire indication of anything, so you could be just fine.

But maybe update the resume, just in case…

The post Pay Attention! Here Are 5 Signs You May Be About to Get Fired. appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

People Share the Best Weaknesses You Should Share in a Job Interview

Job interviews are pretty rough for interviewees. The nerves are palpable, and the back-and-forth between employer and job prospect can often be rife with landmines.

Then there’s the dreaded question: “What’s your biggest weakness?”

Ugh, now what? Well, we’re all in luck. These AskReddit users shared their opinions on how you should answer the most infamously difficult question to get “right.”

1. Awareness

“When I was graduating college I got interview tips from my dad who was heavily involved in the hiring process at his company for his department. His advice on this one, which I’ve used ever since and has gone great, was:

The whole “say a weakness that’s actually a positive” has been done to death and is such common knowledge that it’s no longer a clever “trick” and is now seen as avoiding the question. People want to see some self awareness, obviously don’t bring something absolutely terrible up, but mention a real flaw and most importantly what you’ve done to address or work with it.

For example the one I tend to use is that I can be forgetful so I now keep multiple sets of calendars, reminders, notes, etc to cover as much as possible.”

2. Nervous excitement

“One of my actual weaknesses: when I get nervous/excited, I tend to speak really fast and breathlessly. This can actually have a negative influence on my job as I work in healthcare and have to respond/communicate during emergencies.

For my next interview, I will bring this up, and say I have discovered that taking a second to collect myself and take a deep breath seems to calm my nerves and allow me to do/say what is needed in a more collected manner.”

3. Might work?

“What’s your greatest-”

“Weakness? Finishing other peoples’ sentences.” Calan_adan

“That’s what I was gonna’ say!”

4. Sharing

“For my current job, I said that I had a hard time sharing my ideas with new groups.”

5. Controlling

“Actual weakness: Taking on jobs by myself, not taking time to train other people to do them. In the end, I’m usually “the guy” and find myself feeling burnt out.

Probably could be worded better at an interview, but this could sound like you’re a “go-getter.” It might also encourage your employer to find opportunities for you to train other people to do things you particularly don’t like doing.”

6. Dedicated

“I said “I don’t like letting go of unfinished projects” during my interviews. I feel like it shows that I’m dedicated to the work I take on.”

7. Brutal honesty

“Show enough self awareness to know your actual weaknesses and mention how you’re working to reduce their impact on your life. For example, I have an issue with speaking compassionately. For a long time, I believed brutal honesty was the best way to go about things, but it often backfired and made people less willing to work with me because they respected me less and they thought I respected them less.

My wife has helped me with this by, for example when I say something and it’s phrased badly, she’ll say “stop. Try it again.” And I’ll rephrase it to be more empathetic and kinder while still getting across the information I want to communicate.”

8. …Yet

“If you are changing industries, your biggest weakness is not knowing the industry… yet.

If you are younger, say inexperience. Anything to show your willingness to learn and develop.”

9. Good move

“I work in healthcare and always say “Not speaking Spanish” and odds are the interviewer is also not fluent in Spanish so it comes across as not really a weakness. WIN-WIN!”

10. How will you respond?

“Frame it in terms of something you’re looking to improve. “Well, at my last performance evaluation I received some constructive criticism regarding X, so since then I’ve been doing Y and Z to focus on improving in that regard.”

Honestly though, if an interviewer asks you that ridiculous cliched question either they have no idea what they’re doing and/or don’t give a crap, or they aren’t looking for an answer but just want to see how you respond to being pushed.”

The post People Share the Best Weaknesses You Should Share in a Job Interview appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Do Kids Lose What They Learn over Long Summer Breaks?

The Economist recently proclaimed, “Long summer holidays are bad for children, especially the poor.”

This was not the first time such a claim had been made about how kids lose much of what they’ve learned over the year during breaks from school.

Lawmakers, too, are concerned. Each year, bills introduced at the state level attempt to funnel money into summer education programs.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Yet, reports from research groups such as the Brookings Institute show more nuanced findings as it relates to summertime learning loss among children.

So, do kids suffer educationally from long summer breaks?

Researcher Abel J. Koury used current and nationally representative data to determine if there truly is a loss of learning during the summer in school children.

Photo Credit: Pexels

Koury estimates only 7 percent of kids lost approximately a month of learning in reading and 9 percent of kids lost in math between kindergarten and first grade. Before second grade, the percentages increase to 15 percent in reading and 18 percent in math. The majority of kids in summertime do not seem to be experiencing any loss of learning. Koury also suggests that not only are kids not experiencing significant learning loss, they are actually increasing their skills over the summer.

Koury also looked into whether loss of learning became a long-term issue, and he determined that the difference between children who experienced summertime loss of learning and children who gained skills was insignificant by the end of the school year.

Photo Credit: Max Pixel

Kids who were already strong in either reading or math were the ones who experienced the most significant loss in learning. Furthermore, homework over the summer did not seem to be a factor in whether kids gained or lost learning.

Koury concluded that letting children get outside and play was more important than worrying about their loss of learning. Summer reading lists are great and can be helpful against loss in that area, but keeping kids active and exercising should be a priority for healthy, happy and intelligent children in the long run.

The post Do Kids Lose What They Learn over Long Summer Breaks? appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

The Dunning-Kruger Effect Makes People Think They’re Great…When They Are Most Definitely Not

The Dunning-Kruger Effect is actually a psychological  response that prevents people from realizing how inept they are. It’s not a disease, condition or mental health problem.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

The Dunning-Kruger Effect is basically this: the more incompetent someone is at something, the less likely they realize it. Instead, they believe they are nailing it.

Social psychologist David Dunning, PhD, and graduate student Justin Kruger came up with the principle at Cornell University in 1999. In their study, they investigated groups of people, testing them in the areas of logic, grammar and humor. The lower an individual scored, the more they overestimated their skills. They observed when participants scored in the 12th percentile, those same participants would estimate their own scores as being in the 62nd.

Dunning and Kruger also asked subjects to judge the humor in a list of jokes. Some of the participants were considerably poor judges of the quality of the jokes. Yet, they scored themselves quite high on their ability to judge what others would find funny.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

When people believe themselves to be more competent and capable then they really are, they are showing classic Dunning-Kruger. They lack the self-awareness to recognize their own inabilities almost to the point of narcissism.

Paul Hokemeyer, PhD, a clinical and consulting psychotherapist, also adds that from a mental health standpoint, people who exhibit the Dunning-Kruger Effect are often labeled as having poor insight. They hide behind their heightened sense of ability for safety and to protect their sensitive egos.

You may have observed the Dunning-Kruger Effect in action (I’d bet most of us have). The worst worker in the office is often the one who brags about performance. Or maybe you have a friend who is the worst driver on the road, yet claims she’s the best driver out there. Or you know a guy who says he’s a highly sought after guitarist, but then you hear him play…and not so much.

Photo Credit: Max Pixel

We can all be guilty of Dunning-Kruger in varying degrees. No one wants to admit they are the worst at something, even though we can generally recognize incompetence in others. But don’t bother arguing with someone in the throes of the Dunning-Kruger Effect; remember, they don’t actually see their own inability.

The best way to avoid succumbing to Dunning-Kruger is to understand how rare it is to be an expert at something new. Ask questions or take lessons. Don’t assume anything if you haven’t been completely educated or trained on the task.

And just because you’re a genius on one subject does not mean you are a genius in general. Know when you need help with something. Ask for feedback. Accept criticism. And always be humble and willing to learn more.

The post The Dunning-Kruger Effect Makes People Think They’re Great…When They Are Most Definitely Not appeared first on UberFacts.