recent research

This week over at Kevin Lewis' blog:

• Milgram experiment revisited: perhaps subjects weren't passively following orders, but creatively working with a leader they identified with.
• The commitment principal exercised on hotel guests: when they symbolically commit to environmental practices at check in, they're 25% more likely to reuse their towels. (Katie Baca-Motes)
• One way to make someone pursue a goal may be to ask them to put it aside. (Kurt Carlson)
• As amnesiacs show us, remembering which candidates share our views does not happen at a conscious level. (Jason Coronel)
• What gets us to the polls on election day? Genes, for one. (Peter John Loewen) And for two. (Robert Klemmenson)
• If you want to change someone's mind on a policy, try attacking the policy's underlying values. (Kevin Blankenship)
• Policy and participation: a review of how the two impact each other. (Andrea Louise Campbell)
• More evidence that non-partisans, especially those less savvy, are more open to persuasion - in this case, from interest groups. (Gregory Nedenriepp)
• Good news for deliberative democracy: those more confident in their views are those most likely to change them. (Julia Albarracin)
• The post-debate rap session: when focused on who won (versus who held what policy) and gains in policy understanding are lost. (Raymond Pingree)
• Inter-citizen discussions matter: how they influenced Polish citizens' support of intervention in Iraq. (Elizabeth Radziszewski)
• Expanding our "moral circle" (how many people we think worthy of moral consideration) makes us better environmentalists. (Broyka Bratanova)