The Mason Spirit

When you think of people suffering from social anxiety, you probably characterize them as shy, inhibitive, and submissive; however, new research from Mason psychologists Todd Kashdan and Patrick McKnight suggests that a subset of socially anxious people act out in aggressive, risky ways—and that their behavior patterns are often misunderstood. In their new study, “The…

Continue Reading Some Bullies Are Just Shy

A recent study completed by Mason researcher Mona Ternus found that a woman’s military deployment affects her health, as well as that of her adolescent children. The research shows that deployment served as a catalyst for health and behavior change of both mothers and their adolescent children—and the longer the deployment, the greater the effect….

Continue Reading Military Deployment Affects Health of Women and Teens

Think of the coldest place on Earth—and then multiply that cold dozens of times. That’s the average temperature of some of the moons orbiting Jupiter. Evidence suggests that oceans may lie beneath the icy surfaces of Jupiter’s moons Titan and Europa. But could living organisms possibly survive in such a place? Mason biochemist Paul Cooper…

Continue Reading Looking for Life on Jupiter’s Icy Moons

Dinosaurs have been depicted throughout popular culture as the largest animals to have ever walked on Earth. While they still retain this status, a new study suggests that some dinosaurs may actually have weighed as little as half as much as previously thought. Geoffrey Birchard, associate professor of environmental science and policy at Mason, was…

Continue Reading Putting Dinos on a Diet

Apologizing for negative outcomes—a practice common even with children—may lead accounting auditors to receive more favorable verdicts in court, according to a study by researchers at George Mason University and Oklahoma State University. Assistant accounting professors Rick Warne of Mason and Robert Cornell of Oklahoma State found that remedial tactics, such as apologizing or first-person…

Continue Reading The Power of Apologies

Malicious hackers from Russia and China have infected software programs related to the U.S. electrical grid that could be used to shut down the system at any time. Sound like a plot from the television series 24? Unfortunately, the situation was not created by Hollywood. In April 2009, the Wall Street Journal reported that national…

Continue Reading Helping to Protect the Nation’s Most Valuable Assets