This is one of the findings of research presented this week, Thursday 7 January 2016, at the British Psychological Society’s Division of Occupational Psychology annual conference by Dr Almuth McDowall and colleagues from Birkbeck University of London, Lane4 and PayData. The research, sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, included in depth scrutiny of publicly available pay data and other evidence, a survey with 52 senior decision makers and a workshop with fourteen Human resource directors, executives and reward specialists. The results showed the gap between CEO pay >>>

Many of us assume that humans think and act rationally, so when it comes to buying behaviour, we believe that people will buy the best things that they can for the lowest price. But research is revealing aspects of human behaviour that are surprising, suggesting that many consumers are far less calculative. Brands and ad professionals need to take note, because successful messaging doesn’t always involve telling people that something is the best, the cheapest or the right thing to do. In fact, such messaging can often appear counter-intuitive. Richard Shotton is head of insight at Zenith Optimedia. >>>

On the whole, psychology has emerged as a modern voodoo priesthood. Think of the vaunted place afforded figures like Dr. Phil. Introduced to the culture through the old Oprah show, Phil McGraw met a perceived need for sage counsel felt by a national audience of stay-at-home moms. Advice from someone with a degree in psychology is widely accepted as somehow authoritative. Psychologists even offer testimony that can tilt the scales in cases determining a defendant's fate. But what are any of their observations based on?Dr. Michael Hurd stands out among the field. He offers psychological counsel >>>