psychology

Black or white? Which do you prefer?

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:04:44 +0200

Image by "Trysk".

Despite being boycotted by several countries, the UN convention on racism opens in Geneva on Monday. A hard topic to tackle; racism exists under many forms, in every continent, and to varying degrees. But how do you know if you're racist?

Harvard University's online Implicit Associations Test, developed in 1998 and updated for the US elections 2008, claims to scientifically measure your racist tendencies. After selecting your home country, a tutorial presents the questionnaire. Test takers have to tick faces by labelling them with a ‘good' or ‘bad', and in the quickest time possible.

It's a highly controversial method. It cannot distinguish how the person behaves in reality and cannot take into account whether the time delay is due to a hatred of minorities or a guilty conscience towards them. With a bit of training, it can easily be manipulated.

Wearing red drives men crazy - proven

Sophie Team Observers — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:57:27 +0100

Photo: "nycuk" on Flickr.

A study published on Tuesday claims to prove that women wearing red are more likely to drive men crazy than if clad in any other colour. We tested the theory on our Observers from Iran to Japan, and found it not far from the truth.

There are few things that have a profound effect on each and every of the world's cultural pockets. The prohibition of incest, noted by Lévi-Strauss, is considered the only truly universal code. The colour red likewise strangely unites people across the world - by causing controversy wherever it's found.

The study released on Tuesday claims to prove that a woman wearing red is found far more attractive than in other colours, with men admitting to spending more money, and being more interested in sex with, a woman donned in rouge. The study, released by the University of Rochester, New York, seems to offer evidence on the long term relationship between human psychology and the colour red. A colour that appears in varying forms in almost every culture around the world; and with an equally provocative effect in each.

How is red perceived in your country?

An original remedy for the socially excluded

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:29:45 +0200

Ogle at the ogler of your choice.

Millions of young men live their lives entirely on the Internet, unable to leave the house, in fear of human contact. In response to this troubled niche, an entertainment company has come up with a possible cure. Videos of girls that stare into the camera.... and occasionally say good morning...

A "Hikikomori", according to Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, is "an individual who refuses to leave their parents' house, and isolates themselves away from society in their homes for a period exceeding six months". It's hard to estimate how many have fallen prey to this anti-social depression, but some estimate it at around one million in Japan alone.

Avex, one of the largest independent entertainment-related subsidiaries in Japan, has managed to come up with a product for the unusual audience. They believe the "Just Looking" collection, will help those "young males who aren't used to socializing with women (...) become more accustomed to making eye contact and/or handle the fact that a sentient being sits across from them and awaits interaction." A former sufferer tells us whether he thinks it will work, and how he escaped the solitude of a hikikomori lifestyle.

Could it happen to you?

Ségolène Team Observers — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:49:10 +0200

This rather violent breakdown is not an isolated case. According to recent stats from the EU, three to four percent of the continent's workforce has either witnessed or experienced a violent attack at work. Here, a stress-at-work specialist and somebody with first-hand crisis experience comment on the video.

UPDATE (11.06 - 3.20pm) : We weren't sure where this video came from (which is what we mentioned at the start of the post). Someone commented on the post that it had been talked about by the Russian press and somebody else told us that it was fake. So we asked one of our Observers for Russia, Ostap Karmodi, to check. He found out that it's a promotion for Russian director Timur Bekmambetov's latest movie, "Wanted". So it is in fact a video with a commercial goal rather than a real video. Thanks to people who commented on the post and to our Observer Ostap.

Video dated 23 May 08 and posted on Break http://www.break.com/. The authenticity of the video hasn't been verified. There are plenty of similar documents on YouTube.