When in doubt, shout

Discover:

In a new study, David Gal and Derek Rucker from Northwestern University have found that when people’s confidence in their beliefs is shaken, they become stronger advocates for those beliefs. The duo carried out three experiments involving issues such as animal testing, dietary preferences, and loyalty towards Macs over PCs. In each one, they subtly manipulated their subjects’ confidence and found the same thing: when faced with doubt, people shout even louder.

[..] In all three cases, Gal and Zucker found that doubt turns people into stronger advocates. More subtly, their study shows that this effect is stronger if someone’s identity is threatened, if the belief is important to them, and if they think that others will listen. It all fits with a pattern of behavior where people evangelize to strengthen their own faltering beliefs.

Want your wallet returned if lost?

Be sure to carry a baby picture. It's evolution, people.

By the by, Children of Men is an excellent movie.

Bloggy personality traits

Via Andrew:

The results of two studies indicate that people who are high in openness to new experience and high in neuroticism are likely to be bloggers. Additionally, neuroticism was moderated by gender indicating that women who are high in neuroticism are more likely to be bloggers... The results indicate that personality factors impact the likelihood of being a blogger and have implications for understanding those who blog.

I'm pretty confident I qualify as extremely open to new experience. Like, 95th percentile.

I wasn't as sure about neuroticism, so I took this little quiz and got 78%.

Update: Tried the openness to experience, 97%.