Interesting studies in social psychology [Research]

These are some of the more interesting studies that caught my eye in 2009.

One dollar a day to prevent teen pregnancy
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104803094&ft=1&f=1007

The city of Greensboro, N.C., has experimented with a program designed for teenage mothers. To prevent these teens from having another child, the city offered each of them $1 a day for every day they were not pregnant. It turns out that the psychological power of that small daily payment is huge. A single dollar a day was enough to push the rate of teen pregnancy down, saving all the incredible costs — human and financial — that go with teen parenting.

Persuasion-wise, it reminds me of army recruiters in San Diego's streets during Comic-Coon. With clown make-up, and offering $1 bills. Only to get you to a meeting.

Naturally, once you take the bill you are psychologically committed.

This also reminded me of cult and "workshop" recruitment attempts. Who said these tools of persuasion can't be used for good?

Want to keep your wallet? Carry a baby picture
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article6681923.ece

What would you do if you found a wallet on the street? Leave it? Take it to a police station? Post it back to the owner? Keep it, even?

The answer, scientists have found, depends rather more on evolution than morality.

Smiling increases good samaritan behavior
http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/01/03/smiling-increases-good-samaritan-behavior/

We tend to think that “good people tend to do good things.” But what if it wasn’t a person’s intrinsic “goodness” or personality that influenced their behavior, but something far simpler?

What if a simple smile could change a person’s behavior?