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• WSU, CSU Researchers Find Price Tag’s Leftmost Digit Makes a Big Difference

  

  PULLMAN, Wash. – Consumers may consider themselves savvy bargain hunters, but they often make surprising choices based on the first – or leftmost – digit of a price, according to a new study by Colorado State University and Washington State University. Read more

• Washingtonians Voice Support for Merit Selection of Judges

  SPOKANE, Wash.— The results of a Fall, 2008 survey of registered voters across Washington state indicates that the state’s residents appear ready to change the way in which the state’s judges are selected. This finding is contained in a report of the results of a statewide survey of nearly 1,200 registered voters conducted by Nicholas Lovrich, Director of the Division of Governmental Studies and Services in Pullman, and David Brody, associate professor and academic director of the Criminal Justice Program at Washington State University in Spokane. Read more

• WSU Sociology Professor Awarded Grant to Research Volunteerism

  PULLMAN, Wash.- A Washington State University researcher will receive a $190,560 grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service to expand scholarly and policy research and deepen understanding about volunteering, national and community service, and civic engagement in America. Associate Professor of Sociology Thomas Rotolo, in conjunction with Duke University Sociology Professor John Wilson, will examine how social contexts influence individual decisions to volunteer. Rotolo and his colleague will build on existing research to explain the variation in volunteering rates and intensity based on geographical differences. Read more

• Offering Up Bad Jokes a Good Way to Draw ‘Friendly Fire,’ WSU Researcher Shows

  

  PULLMAN, Wash. – Offering up a joke – at least one of that isn’t politically incorrect or “off-color” – is rarely considered particularly risky socially. But a recent study at Washington State University suggests jokesters do risk receiving a surprising amount of derision from their audience – particularly when it’s made up of those they love most. Read more

• Concern Over Economy Grows Among Washington State Residents

  

  PULLMAN, Wash.— The current economic crisis is important to Washington state residents. A survey conducted by the Social and Economic Sciences Research Center (SESRC) at Washington State University shows that citizens increasingly see the economy as an important issue faced by the state, as well as economic development and jobs as the highest priority for tax dollars. Asked which of several issues was the most important one facing the state, almost 50 percent of respondents said it is the economy, followed by health care and education (16 percent each), jobs and wages (11 percent), reducing taxes (5 percent), and the environment (4 percent). Read more

• WSU Researchers Find Celebrity Endorsements Motivate Younger Voters

  PULLMAN, Wash. - Celebrity endorsements have emerged as an effective political strategy for engaging younger voters and getting them to the polls, according to a newly published study by researchers at Washington State University. Featured in the most recent issue of the journal “Mass Communications and Society,” the study by researchers from the university’s Edward R. Murrow College of Communication attempted to gauge the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement campaigns in lowering complacency among young voters and prompting their participation in the political process. Read more

• Children’s Internet Use and Cyber Bullying

  PULLMAN, Wash.--Children left to navigate cyberspace on their own with few or no parental rules seem to exhibit more anxiety, more depression and less pro-social behavior, according to a study by Washington State University researchers. Read more

Related News

• WSU Researcher’s Book Offers Tips on Countering Workplace Revenge

  PULLMAN, Wash. – The recent conviction of a disgruntled sheet-metal assembler at a Boeing Co. manufacturing plant in Pennsylvania for doing more than $100,000 in damage to a Chinook helicopter and causing a two-day plant shutdown provided a rare public glimpse at the kinds of problems companies can experience at the hands of their own vengeful employees.

• Study Finds Early Primaries Would Boost States’ Impact on White House Races

  As they prepare to caucus this weekend in the shadow of Super Tuesday’s much-publicized presidential primary, a new study by a Washington State University professor and political scientist suggests Washington’s voters could likely have boosted their impact on the race for the White House had they instead participated in an earlier primary process.

• WSU Researchers Report Statewide Decline in Child Safety Restraint Use

  Washingtonians may lead the nation in buckling up when they drive, but recent research at Washington State University shows the state’s drivers are not nearly so conscientious when it comes to providing proper child safety restraints for the children riding with them.

• WSU Researcher Casts Doubt on Reports of Increasing Violence by Teen-aged Girls

  While law enforcement agencies are continuing to report a rising trend in violent crime arrests of girls aged 12 to 17, a study by a Washington State University sociologist and her research associate shows there has been little actual change in the rate at which young females commit all forms of violent crime in the U.S. for nearly two decades.

• WSU Researcher Shows Your Spouse’s Personality May be Hazardous to Your Health

  To the long list of things to consider when choosing a mate, there is now evidence suggesting that your spouse’s personality can have a major influence on your own ability to recover from – and perhaps even survive – a major challenge to your health. It is a finding drawn from a study by a team of researchers including John M. Ruiz, an assistant professor of psychology at Washington State University, as well as Karen A. Matthews and Richard Schulz, at the University of Pittsburgh, and Michael F. Scheier with Carnegie Mellon University.

• WSU Researchers Explore Consumers’ Online Buying Behavior

  With U.S. consumers now spending billions of dollars online each year, researchers at WSU’s College of Business, including John Wells (l) and D. Veena Parboteeah (r), are discovering that retailers can add certain features to their Web sites that enhance the ‘entertainment value ‘of the shopping experience, prompting an increase in ‘impulse buying’ and driving up the amount of money consumers are willing to spend.