Study shows messiness leads to behavior decline

November 20, 2008 By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID , AP Science Writer

(AP) -- Does a messy neighborhood make a difference on how people act? It sure does! Graffiti on the walls, trash in the street, bicycles chained to a fence, all resulted in a decline in how people behaved in a series of experiments.

Content from The Associated Press expires 15 days after original publication date. For more information about The Associated Press, please visit www.ap.org .

Similar stories from PHYSorg:

Software cos. eye key patent case in Supreme Court

11 hours ago | 5 / 5 (2) | 1

Decision day for health care in the House

Nov 07, 2009 | 1 / 5 (1) | 0

In Europe, most swine flu shots by invitation only

Nov 06, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

Online collaboration with built-in clarity

Nov 06, 2009 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

New 'Call of Duty' could set entertainment record

Nov 06, 2009 | 3 / 5 (3) | 0

Rate this story - 4.7 /5 (20 votes)

rank
1
2
3
4
5

view popular

Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.

Display comments: newest first

Alexa - Nov 20, 2008
- Rank: not rated yet
Just read the Gladwell's book, everything was described here already...

http://brothersju.../Tipping Poin.htm
- report abuse
- - Current rank
  - 1
  - 2
  - 3
  - 4
  - 5
Doug_Huffman - Nov 20, 2008
- Rank: not rated yet
In law enforcement it is the 'Broken Window Hypothesis'
- report abuse
- - Current rank
  - 1
  - 2
  - 3
  - 4
  - 5

Other News

Growth in secular attitudes leaves Americans room for belief in God

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

Oct 31, 2009 | 4 / 5 (5) | 115

(PhysOrg.com) -- The nature of the American religious experience is changing as a rising number of people report having no formal religious affiliation, even though the number of Americans who say they pray is increasing, ...

Forest clearances sealed ancient civilisation's downfall

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

Nov 02, 2009 | 4.9 / 5 (8) | 5

(PhysOrg.com) -- An ancient South American civilisation which disappeared around 1,500 years ago helped to cause its own demise by damaging the fragile ecosystem that held it in place, a study has found. ...

New study further disputes notion that amputee runners gain advantage from protheses

Other Sciences / Other

Nov 04, 2009 | 5 / 5 (4) | 5

A study by six researchers, including a University of Colorado at Boulder associate professor and his former doctoral student, shows that amputees who use running-specific prosthetic legs have no performance ...

New theory on fairness in economics targets CEO pay

Other Sciences / Economics

Nov 03, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (11) | 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Chief executives in 35 of the top Fortune 500 companies were overpaid by about 129 times their "ideal salaries" in 2008, according to a new type of theoretical analysis proposed by a Purdue University researcher ...

Racial segregation key factor in subprime lending

Other Sciences / Economics

Nov 06, 2009 | 3 / 5 (2) | 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- New study examines impact of segregation on the prevalence of high-cost loans in U.S. metro areas. Subprime loans disproportionately located in segregated areas.