Doctors’ hours and couples’ language -- no connection whatsoever

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The only connection might be that they caught my eye this week and I’m sharing. What can I say? I’m a giver.

-- Doctors apparently work less when the risk of liability increases. This conclusion is based on data, survey responses and a lot of number-crunching, but what it comes down to is that time on the job is reduced by 1.7 hours every time the liability risk rises by 10%. So say an economist at Claremont McKenna College and Rand and another from Brigham Young University.

Here’s the news release and the abstract from the study, published in the Journal of Law and Economics.

-- Married couples who say ‘we’ instead of ‘I’ and ‘you’ may have an edge in conflict resolution. Such language seems to reflect their view of themselves as a unit -- not independent entities or, as is sometimes the case, adversaries. Further, older couples are more likely to use such language than middle-aged couples.

The findings come from researchers at UC Berkeley. They’re not brand new, but they weren’t published terribly long ago either. Besides, Valentine’s Day is coming up, and I’m quite the romantic. Or I find the use of language interesting.

Here’s the news release and the abstract from the study, published in Psychology and Aging.

-- Tami Dennis