It's been nearly three years since Farrah Fawcett passed away following a battle with cancer, but her longtime love Ryan O'Neal is still coming to terms with her passing. As part of the mourning process, the 71-year-old actor wrote a memoir (which was released Tuesday) that's titled Both of Us and offers an intimate -- and sometimes raw -- look at their time together.
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Public release date: 30-Apr-2012
Share ] Contact: Timothy Wall
walltj@missouri.edu
573-882-3346
University of Missouri-Columbia
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Contemplating death doesn't necessarily lead to morose despondency, fear, aggression or other negative behaviors, as previous research has suggested. Following a review of dozens of studies, University of Missouri researchers found that thoughts of mortality can lead to decreased militaristic attitudes, better health decisions, increased altruism and helpfulness, and reduced divorce rates.
"According to terror management theory, people deal with their awareness of mortality by upholding cultural beliefs and seeking to become part of something larger and more enduring than themselves, such as nations or religions," said Jamie Arndt, study co-author and professor of psychological sciences. "Depending on how that manifests itself, positive outcomes can be the result."
For example, in one study American test subjects were reminded of death or a control topic and then either imagined a local catastrophe or were reminded of the global threat of climate change. Their militaristic attitudes toward Iran were then evaluated. After being reminded of death, people who were reminded of climate change were more likely to express lower levels of militarism than those who imagined a local disaster.
"The differences seen in this study resulted from the size of the group with which the test subjects identified," said Ken Vail, lead author and psychology doctoral student. "In both cases, they responded to the awareness of mortality by seeking to protect the relevant groups. When the threat was localized, subjects aggressively defended their local group; but when the threat was globalized, subjects associated themselves with humanity as a whole and became more peaceful and cooperative."
After real catastrophes, such as the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and the Oklahoma City bombing, people's heightened fear and awareness of death had both positive and negative effects.
"Both the news media and researchers tended to focus on the negative reaction to these acts of terrorism, such as violence and discrimination against Muslims, but studies also found that people expressed higher degrees of gratitude, hope, kindness and leadership after 9/11." Vail said. "In another example, after the Oklahoma City bombing, divorce rates went down in surrounding counties. After some stimuli escalates one's awareness of death, the positive reaction is to try to reaffirm that the world has positive aspects as well."
In their personal lives, people also were influenced to make positive choices after their awareness of death was increased. Studies found that conscious thoughts of death can inspire intentions to exercise more. Other studies found that keeping mortality in mind can reduce smoking and increase sunscreen use.
Even subconscious awareness of death can more influenced behavior. In one experiment, passers-by who had recently overheard conversations mentioning the value of helping were more likely to help strangers if they were walking within sight of cemeteries.
"Once we started developing this study we were surprised how much research showed positive outcomes from awareness of mortality," said Arndt. "It seems that people may be just as capable of doing the opposite and 'looking on the bright side of death,' as the Monty Python song says."
###
The paper "When Death is Good for Life: Considering the Positive Trajectories of Terror Management" was published online on April 5, 2012, in Personality and Social Psychology Review, a journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP).
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 30-Apr-2012 Share ] Contact: Timothy Wall
walltj@missouri.edu
573-882-3346
University of Missouri-Columbia
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Contemplating death doesn't necessarily lead to morose despondency, fear, aggression or other negative behaviors, as previous research has suggested. Following a review of dozens of studies, University of Missouri researchers found that thoughts of mortality can lead to decreased militaristic attitudes, better health decisions, increased altruism and helpfulness, and reduced divorce rates.
"According to terror management theory, people deal with their awareness of mortality by upholding cultural beliefs and seeking to become part of something larger and more enduring than themselves, such as nations or religions," said Jamie Arndt, study co-author and professor of psychological sciences. "Depending on how that manifests itself, positive outcomes can be the result."
For example, in one study American test subjects were reminded of death or a control topic and then either imagined a local catastrophe or were reminded of the global threat of climate change. Their militaristic attitudes toward Iran were then evaluated. After being reminded of death, people who were reminded of climate change were more likely to express lower levels of militarism than those who imagined a local disaster.
"The differences seen in this study resulted from the size of the group with which the test subjects identified," said Ken Vail, lead author and psychology doctoral student. "In both cases, they responded to the awareness of mortality by seeking to protect the relevant groups. When the threat was localized, subjects aggressively defended their local group; but when the threat was globalized, subjects associated themselves with humanity as a whole and became more peaceful and cooperative."
After real catastrophes, such as the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and the Oklahoma City bombing, people's heightened fear and awareness of death had both positive and negative effects.
"Both the news media and researchers tended to focus on the negative reaction to these acts of terrorism, such as violence and discrimination against Muslims, but studies also found that people expressed higher degrees of gratitude, hope, kindness and leadership after 9/11." Vail said. "In another example, after the Oklahoma City bombing, divorce rates went down in surrounding counties. After some stimuli escalates one's awareness of death, the positive reaction is to try to reaffirm that the world has positive aspects as well."
In their personal lives, people also were influenced to make positive choices after their awareness of death was increased. Studies found that conscious thoughts of death can inspire intentions to exercise more. Other studies found that keeping mortality in mind can reduce smoking and increase sunscreen use.
Even subconscious awareness of death can more influenced behavior. In one experiment, passers-by who had recently overheard conversations mentioning the value of helping were more likely to help strangers if they were walking within sight of cemeteries.
"Once we started developing this study we were surprised how much research showed positive outcomes from awareness of mortality," said Arndt. "It seems that people may be just as capable of doing the opposite and 'looking on the bright side of death,' as the Monty Python song says."
###
The paper "When Death is Good for Life: Considering the Positive Trajectories of Terror Management" was published online on April 5, 2012, in Personality and Social Psychology Review, a journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP).
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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Welcome to Growing Up Geek, an ongoing feature where we take a look back at our youth and tell stories of growing up to be the nerds that we are. Today, we have our new editor, Jon Fingas.
You might say I started early. Some of my first memories of technology -- or of anything, really -- were of mashing the keyboards on Compaq PC clones at my dad's workplace when I was three. Little did I know that I'd started on a path towards technology that would lead me towards mashing the keyboards for a career that would land me here at Engadget.
Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Jon Fingas
Growing Up Geek: Jon Fingas originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 May 2012 16:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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A woman and a child walk in front of the electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo, Japan, Tuesday, May 1, 2012. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell Tuesday amid a stronger yen and signs of a slowing U.S. economy, while other key Asian stock indexes were closed for a public holiday. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)
A woman and a child walk in front of the electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo, Japan, Tuesday, May 1, 2012. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell Tuesday amid a stronger yen and signs of a slowing U.S. economy, while other key Asian stock indexes were closed for a public holiday. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)
A trader works at a foreign exchange market, where the U.S. dollar is traded at 79.82 yen in Tokyo, Japan, Tuesday, May 1, 2012. The Nikkei Stock Average in Tokyo fell 1 percent to 9,422.83. Export shares struggled as the dollar hovered below the 80-yen mark. The greenback hasn't been this weak against the Japanese currency since February.(AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)
LONDON (AP) ? Global markets mostly edged higher on Tuesday on signs that Chinese manufacturing continues to grow, though trading volumes were thin due to a holiday in much of Europe and Asia.
The state-affiliated China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said its purchasing managers' index, or PMI, rose to 53.3 in April from March's 53.1. A reading above 50 signifies expansion.
Although analysts had expected to see an improvement to 53.6, it was the fifth-straight monthly gain and the highest level in a year, noted Dariusz Kowalczyk, senior economist at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong.
"The message is that Chinese manufacturing is growing," he wrote in a report. "The risk of hard landing remains manageable and became a bit more remote. This should be positive for sentiment in Asia and globally."
Investors will look to a similar survey in the U.S., the manufacturing ISM report, later in the day for more clues on the health of the recovery in the world's largest economy.
While the survey is expected to show a modest slowdown in activity, it will be scrutinized for any signs that companies are hiring more. That will be key to shaping market expectations of the main U.S. jobs indicator, the non-farm payrolls, due Friday.
Though most European indexes were closed, Britain's FTSE remained open and was up 0.2 percent to 5,751.27 by midday in London. Better-than-expected earnings from Lloyds Banking Group helped financial stocks, though BP PLC shares dropped after it reported a decline in profits.
Also limiting gains in London was a drop in the U.K.'s own manufacturing survey, which showed a slowdown. Britain has fallen into a new recession, though its depth and duration remain uncertain as domestic demand and industrial activity remain relatively weak.
Wall Street appeared headed for a subdued opening, with Dow Jones industrial futures 0.1 percent higher at 13,161 and S&P 500 futures down 0.1 percent to 1,392.50.
Besides the U.S. economic indicators, investors will keep an eye on developments in Europe's debt crisis, which continues to cloud prospects for a global economic recovery.
The Spanish government said Monday that its economy ? the fourth-largest in the 17-nation eurozone ? shrank in the first three months of 2011, putting it back into recession.
Traders are worried Spain may need a bailout if it is unable to cut its budget deficit enough or has to save its banking sector, which is saddled with bad loans from an imploded property market.
Also on the horizon are elections in France and Greece.
In France, polls suggest a victory for Socialist contender Francois Hollande, who wants to renegotiate a European treaty intended to limit excessive government spending to emphasize growth over austerity. Some investors fear Hollande could upset France's delicate cooperation with Germany, which has been critical to Europe's efforts to resolve its financial crisis.
In Greece, no one party is expected to win a majority to create a government. Investors are hoping a coalition of the two main parties, which have agreed to the country's bailout terms, will win enough support to create another coalition government.
In Asia, the Nikkei Stock Average in Tokyo slid 1.8 percent to close at 9,350.95, hurt by the higher yen.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.8 percent to 4,429.50, after the Reserve Bank of Australia cut its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point to 3.75 percent in a move aimed at stimulating the economy.
Benchmarks in New Zealand and Indonesia also rose. Markets in China, South Korea, India, Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia were among those closed for public holidays.
In currency trading, the euro rose to $1.3251 from $1.3243 late Monday in New York while the dollar rose to 79.89 yen from 79.81 yen.
Benchmark oil for June delivery fell 22 cents to $104.65 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 6 cents to end at $104.87 per barrel on the Nymex on Tuesday.
___
Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.
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Rupert Mudoch told British lawmakers he "failed" and repeatedly apologized about the phone hacking scandal at his tabloid newspaper The News of the World. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.
By msnbc.com news services
Updated at 7:14 a.m. ET: LONDON -- Rupert Murdoch is?not "a fit person" to run a major international corporation, a multi-party committee of British lawmakers said Monday.
In a devastating report into the tabloid phone-hacking scandal, the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee accused the News Corp chief of exhibiting "willful blindness" towards the wrongdoing in his organisation.
The report says News Corp's British subsidiary, News International, misled Parliament about the scale of phone hacking at its News of the World weekly tabloid.
'Huge failings'
It also said the company had deliberately ignored evidence of malpractice, covered up evidence and frustrated efforts to expose wrongdoing.
"News International and its parent News Corporation exhibited willful blindness, for which the companies' directors - including Rupert Murdoch and James Murdoch - should ultimately take responsibility," it said.?
"Their instinct throughout, until it was too late, was to cover up rather than seek out wrongdoing and discipline the perpetrators," the lawmakers said in an 85 page report.?
"Even if there were a 'don't ask, don't tell' culture at News International, the whole affair demonstrates huge failings of corporate governance," they concluded.
The committee agreed unanimously that three key News International executives misled Parliament by offering false accounts of their knowledge of the extent of phone hacking at the News of The World -- a rare and serious censure which usually demands a personal apology to legislators. ??
However,?the report's conclusions about Murdoch's fitness to govern were not unanimous.?MPs from the ruling Conservative party issued a dissenting opinion, and described the characterization of Murdoch as unfit to run a company as "over the top".
The report, published on the House of Commons website in PDF format,?stated: "On the basis of the facts and evidence before the Committee, we conclude that, if at?all relevant times Rupert Murdoch did not take steps to become fully informed about?phone-hacking, he turned a blind eye and exhibited wilful blindness to what was going?on in his companies and publications.
"This culture, we consider, permeated from the?top throughout the organisation and speaks volumes about the lack of effective?corporate governance at News Corporation and News International. We conclude,?therefore, that Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a?major international company."
As well as damning News Corp, the report will?also embarrass Prime Minister David Cameron, who acknowledged again on Monday that politicians were in thrall to the Murdochs and whose Conservative Party faces local elections across much of Britain on Thursday.
Murdoch: Hacking scandal cost 'hundreds of millions'
Cameron was summoned to parliament on Monday to explain why he would not investigate emails revealing that a ministerial aide had assured News Corp its bid for BSkyB would be approved.
He insisted there was no need to refer the case to his independent adviser on ministerial conduct, noting the emails had been handed to a judicial inquiry into press ethics, but did concede that politicians had been too keen to please the media.
James Murdoch was back at the Leveson inquiry, where he claimed he didn't know about phone-hacking at News Corp's U.K. unit, ?and didn't remember being told about it. ITV's Juliet Bremner reports.
"I am perfectly prepared to admit that the relationship between politicians and media proprietors got too close," he said during a rowdy debate, blaming politicians of both main parties for the failing.
Committee Chairman John Whittingdale opened its hearing of James and Rupert Murdoch last year saying his committee found it inconceivable that only one reporter at the News of the World, the weekly tabloid owned by News Corp's UK subsidiary, weekly had been involved in the hacking scandal.
"In the last few weeks, not only has evidence emerged that I think has vindicated the Committee's conclusion, but abuses have been revealed that have angered and shocked the entire country," he said. "It is also clear that Parliament has been misled."
Audiences around the world witnessed the 81-year-old Rupert Murdoch - whose newspapers could make or break British politicians - saying it was the most humble day of his life and saw him hit with a foam pie at the height of the scandal last July.
He answered many of the questions in monosyllables, sometimes flummoxing the committee members, while James Murdoch infuriated them at times with lengthy management-speak.
Rupert Murdoch tells UK phone-hack inquiry: 'I'm not good at holding my tongue'
Media regulator Ofcom will take the report's findings into consideration in its continuing assessment of whether BSkyB's owners and directors are "fit and proper" persons to hold a broadcast license.
A previous critical report by the committee came before last July's revelation that people working for the News of the World had hacked into the voicemail of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, which fuelled public anger and led to more revelations.
Reuters, the Associated Press and msnbc.com's Alastair Jamieson contributed to this report.
More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:
Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world
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The Avengers faces a tough battle if they want to top Katniss and company's expected $400 million domestic earnings.
By Fallon Prinzivalli
Jennifer Lawrence in "The Hunger Games"
Photo: Lionsgate
After its sixth weekend in theaters, The Hunger Games" is still lighting up the box office. Katniss and company's cumulative gross is currently a whopping $601 million worldwide, after raking in $11.2 million in the U.S. and another $7.4 million overseas this weekend.
Standing tall at #4, the dystopian franchise's weekend dip was 23 percent, which is the lowest decline yet for the movie (its second weekend in theaters saw a 60 percent drop), according to Box Office Guru. And it wasn't far behind third-place "The Lucky One," which earned $11.3 following its second weekend.
It looks like the assembly of Earth's mightiest heroes won't even be able to stop Katniss' estimated goal. With "The Hunger Games" sitting comfortably with a domestic total of $372.4 million, it's going to take more than Thor and his mighty hammer to bring "Marvel's The Avengers" to the top. If "The Hunger Games" can rake in $400 million domestically (like box-office experts predicted), it would outperform the first films in both "Twilight" and "Harry Potter."
As audiences gear up for the highly anticipated Marvel film, only time will tell what this weekend will bring the first film in Katniss' franchise. And as far as the success of a sequel since Gary Ross is no longer on board to direct, it isn't something Josh Hutcherson, who plays Peeta, is particularly worried about.
"Gary, I think, brought so much to the movie, and he created that whole world that was so close to the book and so perfect in so many ways that it's going to be hard for Francis [Lawrence] to come in, for sure," Hutcherson told MTV News at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. "But Francis is extremely talented and everyone I've talked to says he's the best guy in the world. So I think he's going to bring a lot [to the sequel]."
What film to you think will be the bigger box-office smash: "The Hunger Games" or "The Avengers"? Sound off in the comments! Check out everything we've got on "The Hunger Games."
For young Hollywood news, fashion and "Twilight" updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com.
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