BS: Size Really Matters?

Subject: BS: Size Really Matters?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 24 Jun 13 - 10:22 PM

Device size affects your assertiveness, study says

> Devin Coldewey NBC News
> 24 June 2013
> © Regis Duvignau / Reuters

> Are people with laptops and big phones more assertive than iPod and feature-phone users? Or do assertive people just tend to get bigger screens? Surprisingly, a recent Harvard study found that using a bigger device actually does seem to affect people's behavior.

> Maarten Bos and Amy Cuddy, researchers at Harvard's Business School, wanted to determine whether the type of device people use changes how they act around other people. Their previous research (PDF) showed that adopting certain "expansive" postures, body chemistry and behavior can be affected.

> For instance, if you're leaning over a desk at someone with arms wide, you're more likely to act assertively than if you're sitting with legs and arms crossed in a chair. Of course, an assertive person would be more likely to take the "power position" than a less-assertive person. But the researchers' study showed that while postures like that would be taken by assertive people, others would become more assertive when adopting them as well.

> So it makes sense to suppose that devices or other factors that make someone adopt a more closed, reserved posture would also influence them to act less assertively, while larger devices that allow an expansive posture would increase assertion.

> Bos and Cuddy's research, "iPosture: The Size of Electronic Consumer Devices Affects Our Behavior," bore this out: 75 people were randomly assigned either an Apple iPod, tablet, laptop, or desktop computer on which to complete a task. Afterward, they were told to wait five minutes for the experimenter to return with their compensation for participating.

> The twist (as there always is in psychology studies) was that the experimenter would not return for 10 minutes, and the researchers were measuring how long it took for the participant to come find the experimenter, if they did at all — a behavior classified as assertive.

> The researchers found that participants who had used larger devices were nearly twice as likely to seek out the experimenter, and did it on average two and a half minutes earlier. There is a steady increase in the assertive behavior that correlates nicely with device size.

> There was no effect, however, on participants' risk-taking behavior, measured by how they gambled in a short card-based game earlier in the experiment. The researchers thought that this could indicate that behavioral changes don't happen instantly, but take a few minutes to take effect.

> The team is now working on a study that looks at how the position you take when you sleep could be affecting your personality. In the meantime, the researchers advise that people concerned about their assertiveness or passivity to pay more attention to their habits and posture, as they appear to have quite a strong effect on how you act.

It must be noted that the report indicates that only Apple Devices were used in the test. Further testing would be required to determine whether the effects found apply to persons lacking that particular personality defect characteristic.

While the report doesn't indicate much about the subjects tested, that it came from the Harvard Business School suggests that test subjects may have been mostly students there, so persons lacking some degree of sleaze factor might respond differently.

HOW BIG IS YOURS????

John

Subject: RE: BS: Size Really Matters?
From: Janie
Date: 24 Jun 13 - 10:32 PM

Uh, I'm still using a very low end unsmart and unchic flip cell phone, completely wrapped in a very uncool leather case to keep it from getting clogged up by all the dust and litter in my purse and because it is also my pager which I need to have with me, usually clipped on on the waistband of my pants where it creates an unsightly bulge under the hem of my shirt or blouse. Pretty much the same model I have used since the mid-90's.

It ain't big, it is just bulky. And I ain't assertive.

Subject: RE: BS: Size Really Matters?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 24 Jun 13 - 11:26 PM

This is probably why Spaw always whips his dick out when he's dealing with cops or judges....usually in just that order.

Subject: RE: BS: Size Really Matters?
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 24 Jun 13 - 11:34 PM

Sighs matter...

Subject: RE: BS: Size Really Matters?
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 25 Jun 13 - 02:06 AM

Taking an example from the musical world:

Size matters for members of the fiddle family – but it's the violin that normally takes the lead with the double base only in a support role.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: Size Really Matters?
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 25 Jun 13 - 06:41 AM

I don't often subscribe to generalisations. There are always so many exceptions to the 'rule'. I would say I'm quite a secure, assertive and maybe even a bit bossy person. I'd be the one to intervene or challenge in a situation out in public (eg litter droppers, rudeness to elderly people, dirty tables in a cafe, bewildered tourists etc) I like to think of myself as an old matriarch elephant (and I have the fat bum to prove it) Yet my phobile moan (hate the things) is a cheap and tacky Nokkia, just for car breakdowns. My handbag is very small with only bare essentials inside. I have a very small TV, as I prefer to read. I like neat, unobtrusive and tidy little things. So for me, size is important - ie Small is Good. (except my rear end, which is decidedly a Bit Large)

Subject: RE: BS: Size Really Matters?
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 25 Jun 13 - 07:26 AM

The twist (as there always is in psychology studies) was that the experimenter would not return for 10 minutes, and the researchers were measuring how long it took for the participant to come find the experimenter, if they did at all — a behavior classified as assertive.

The really assertive ones would have made off with the i-Pod/laptop etc. instead of waiting for the return of the experimenter

Subject: RE: BS: Size Really Matters?
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 25 Jun 13 - 11:06 AM

LOL Nigel! So they would!

Subject: RE: BS: Size Really Matters?
From: olddude
Date: 25 Jun 13 - 11:30 AM

Size matters with firearms ... A 50 cal is a lot better then a .22

Subject: RE: BS: Size Really Matters?
From: Bill D
Date: 25 Jun 13 - 11:54 AM

"A 50 cal is a lot better then a .22"

Better for who doing what? Better for Dirty Harry, or better for granny to kill rats in the barn?

Subject: RE: BS: Size Really Matters?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 25 Jun 13 - 01:34 PM

Yes, it depends on what you want to kill. A 50 cal is very good if it's a bear, but what if it's a squirrel?

I have a friend who clearly thinks size matters. You should see the size of his f-ing flatscreen TV. Personally, I think it's too large, and the picture looks worse for it. I prefer the effect on a somewhat smaller screen.

Subject: RE: BS: Size Really Matters?
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 25 Jun 13 - 01:35 PM

If you make just the right shot, the 50 cal de-heads them, guts them and cooks the insides.

Subject: RE: BS: Size Really Matters?
From: GUEST,Bert
Date: 25 Jun 13 - 02:32 PM

Try Size Doesn't Matter here

Subject: RE: BS: Size Really Matters?
From: Leadfingers
Date: 25 Jun 13 - 06:03 PM

When I wa in the R A F we had a lad in the section who was VERY concerned about Size . A couple of us took him aside and spent about an hour convincing him that size was not really important , and he stayed convinced right until the paper fell off the wall .