Get It Under Control

August 17, 2012 / MHBAdmin / No comments

By: Alvina Ng

Source: K8

As much as we would like to avoid it, it is highly likely that at some point in our lives, we will have to deal with that annoying or caustic coworker in the cubicle next to us. This coworker is one of the main reasons you may come to dislike your job and may one day think about quitting. Well, a number of longitudinal studies are indicating that having a stress-inducing coworker can actually be more detrimental to one’s health than merely causing general frustration.

A longitudinal study starting in 1988 very systematically followed 820 adults after a health examination, followed by routine interviews regarding their working conditions and the people they work with. Based on the aggregate results, office conditions do play a significant role on an employee’s health conditions. More morbidly put, it appears that the less friendly one’s coworkers were, the higher the risk one was at for death. The study came to one conclusion: the lack of control may be the reason for the risk of high mortality.

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Polaroid Impressions

August 16, 2012 / MHBAdmin / No comments

By: Jennifer Miller

Standing in the 85 degree heat with a group of eager college kids waiting to talk to you probably does not bode well with the mood of a recruiter. Students in full business attire, wanting more than anything to land their dream job while talking to someone for 5 minutes at an overcrowded booth: this was the scene at a recent job fair on USC’s campus. Now, HR is not my expertise in any way, but I think I now have some good insight into the mind of a recruiter. These job fairs are not about hiring everyone that could possibly fit the position, but they are an opportunity for the best of the best to stand out in the crowd. These “cream of the crop” students are often the ones that make the best first impression. Drenched in sweat, but still able to make enough of an impression for a recruiter to remember you… that’s impressive.

Most students in business schools are told to make the best first impression that they can. It is how you get your foot in the door. So put yourself in the shoes of a recruiter. Who will you pick? A: The well-dressed guy who walks up, smiles, shakes his hand and immediately asks questions or B: the equally well-dressed guy that walks up, hesitates, and waits for the recruiter to start talking. At something like a job fair, recruiters want that initial “wow” with a student so that they can make an instant decision if this is someone who should get an interview or even a second thought. It does not guarantee a job, but it’s a good starting point.

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Darwin’s Black Friday

August 15, 2012 / MHBAdmin / No comments

By: Wendy Lin

Most of us looked forward to the feast that Thanksgiving brings, along with the warm and loving aura of the holiday. Sweet moments of families gathering around the table, chattering happily and laughing heartily are cherished. Until it hits midnight. The quiet night becomes filled with anxious murmuring, and the impatience builds up to exploding frustration. The minute those doors to the “treasures” opens, protect yourself, men and women, because it has become a war zone.

Black Friday, as this phenomenon is called, holds its demonic powers over the people through time-limited discounted prices. Electronic products are especially to die for, as hundreds of dollars can be saved. And I literally mean, “to die for.” An article posted last November, after our most recent Black Friday, described exactly how primitive people can become in the face of a holiday deal. We saw pepper-spraying, mugging, stabbing, and shooting as channels of aggression, just to satisfy materialistic needs. Whoever can come out of it alive is – as they would like to think – the winner, so perhaps Black Friday is the modern-day form of Darwin’s so-called “survival of the fittest.”

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How Effective is Peer Pressure in Social Media?

August 14, 2012 / MHBAdmin / No comments

By: Kara Johnson

Source: B2C.com

In this age of social media, user reviews and recommendations are everywhere we look.  You can read other consumer’s opinions on practically any product on the market from toothpaste to travel destinations.  How influential are other consumer’s opinions and do they really cause us to change our minds about products?  A new study conducted by the HP Labs shows that peer pressure in social media is indeed effective and can have important implications for online marketing.  However, this study indicates that peer pressure in social media is more effective in reversing decisions when fewer people disagree than when many people disagree.

The study conducted by the HP Labs showed participants a picture of two loveseats on a computer screen.  Under the pictures, was the sentence “Your close friend wants your opinion on a loveseat for their living room.  Which do you suggest?”  Participants were asked to select their preference by clicking a button under the loveseat of their choice.  After varying intervals of time, participants were then shown the same items again and asked to make their selection again.  However, this time, participants were told that a varying number of other people had preferred the opposite loveseat than the one they had chosen.  The findings from this study showed that people were more likely to change their decision if only a moderate number of people had chosen the opposite loveseat versus a large number of people opposing their decision.

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Smokeless Tobacco and Social Learning

August 13, 2012 / MHBAdmin / No comments

By: Robert Davies

 

Source: NESN.com

The first game of the 2011 World Series between the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals aired last October. In the weeks leading up to the game, US senators were consistently asking the Major League Baseball Players Association to voluntarily ban the use of all tobacco products on the field, in the dugout, in the clubhouse, and in the locker rooms. They asked that the ban include smokeless tobacco, like dip and chewing tobacco, long-time mainstays of the baseball world.

The reasoning behind the proposed ban is the use of smokeless tobacco not only endangers players’ health, but it sets an example for all the children who idolize their favorite players. A World Series games, for example, can draw over 10 million views, many of them children. The senators argue that children will watch their favorite players use tobacco, and thus, be more inclined to use it themselves. Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory supports the senators’ stance. Social Learning Theory states that we learn new information and behaviors from watching others (i.e., observational learning).

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