Our social judgments reveal a tension between morals and statistics
People make statistically-informed judgments about who is more likely to hold particular professions even though they criticize others for the same behavior, according to findings published in...
View ArticleImplicit attitudes can change over the long term
Data from more than 4 million tests completed between 2004 and 2016 show that Americans' attitudes toward certain social groups are becoming less biased over time, according to research published in...
View ArticleHow psychological science is benefiting the world
Technological advances have allowed psychological scientists to measure everything from cognitive impairments to everyday decision-making. Now, the scientists are using their research to inform tools,...
View ArticleData show no evidence that teens' social media use predicts depression over time
Longitudinal data from adolescents and young adults show no evidence that social media use predicts later depressive symptoms, according to research published in Clinical Psychological Science, a...
View ArticlePutting yourself in their shoes may make you less open to their beliefs
Trying to take someone else's perspective may make you less open to their opposing views, according to findings published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
View ArticlePolicy statements on the effects of media overlook scientific complexity
As different forms of media infuse everyday life, several organizations and associations have issued public statements about the various effects of media exposure. However, a scholarly review suggests...
View ArticleEffective self-control strategies involve much more than willpower, research...
It's mid-February, around the time that most people waver in their commitment to the resolutions they've made for the new year. Many of these resolutions—whether it's to spend less time looking at...
View ArticleYou recognize your face even when you don't 'see' it
Given the limited capacity of our attention, we only process a small amount of the sights, sounds, and sensations that reach our senses at any given moment—what happens to the stimuli that reach our...
View ArticleTrigger warnings do little to reduce people's distress, research shows
Trigger warnings that alert people to potentially sensitive content are increasingly popular, especially on college campuses, but research suggests that they have minimal impact on how people actually...
View ArticleStress in childhood and adulthood have combined impact on hormones and health
Adults who report high levels of stress and who also had stressful childhoods are most likely to show hormone patterns associated with negative health outcomes, according to findings published in...
View ArticleScreen time—even before bed—has little impact on teen well-being: study
Data from more than 17,000 teenagers show little evidence of a relationship between screen time and well-being in adolescents. The study, published in Psychological Science, a journal of the...
View ArticleMost links between personality traits and life outcomes are replicable
Studies showing links between personality traits and life outcomes, such as marital stability and vocational achievements, provide a reasonably accurate map of the relationship between personality and...
View ArticlePeople with happy spouses may live longer
Research suggests that having a happy spouse leads to a longer marriage, and now study results show that it's associated with a longer life, too. The study was published in Psychological Science, a...
View ArticleWe are more envious of things that haven't happened yet
We are more envious of someone else's covetable experience before it happens than after it has passed, according to research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for...
View ArticleI loved her, I loved her not: How current thinking can sway our memories of love
As our memories fade, we rely on our current assessment of a person to remember how we felt about them in the past, and new research suggests this extends to some of the most central figures in our...
View ArticleDownward head tilt can make people seem more dominant
We often look to people's faces for signs of how they're thinking or feeling, trying to gauge whether their eyes are narrowed or widened, whether the mouth is turned up or down. But findings published...
View ArticleYour spending data may reveal aspects of your personality
How you spend your money can signal aspects of your personality, according to research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Analyses of over 2...
View ArticleEmotion-detection applications built on outdated science, report warns
Software that purportedly reads emotions in faces is being deployed or tested for a variety of purposes, including surveillance, hiring, clinical diagnosis, and market research. But a new scientific...
View ArticleGenetic variation contributes to individual differences in pleasure
Differences in how our brains respond when we're anticipating a financial reward are due, in part, to genetic differences, according to research with identical and fraternal twins published in...
View ArticleFake news can lead to false memories
Voters may form false memories after seeing fabricated news stories, especially if those stories align with their political beliefs, according to research in Psychological Science.
View ArticleA lack of background knowledge can hinder reading comprehension
The purpose of going to school is to learn, but students may find certain topics difficult to understand if they don't have the necessary background knowledge. This is one of the conclusions of a...
View ArticleParental burnout can lead to harmful outcomes for parent and child
When the daily stress of parenting becomes chronic it can turn into parental burnout, an intense exhaustion that leads parents to feel detached from their children and unsure of their parenting...
View ArticleHardship during the Great Recession linked with lasting mental health declines
People who suffered a financial, housing-related, or job-related hardship as a result of the Great Recession were more likely to show increases in symptoms of depression, anxiety, and problematic drug...
View ArticleSound-shape associations depend on early visual experiences
Data from individuals with different types of severe visual impairment suggest that the associations we make between sounds and shapes—a "smooth" b or a "spiky" k—may form during a sensitive period of...
View ArticleMisperceptions about racial economic progress are pervasive
The vast majority of Americans underestimate the magnitude of economic inequality between Whites and racial minorities, particularly Black and Latinx people, new data indicate.
View ArticleScientists identify a personality feature that could predict how often you...
Individuals who make concrete plans to meet their goals may engage in more physical activity, including visits to the gym, compared to those who don't plan quite so far ahead, research shows. These...
View ArticleHigh wealth inequality linked with greater support for populist leaders
People who live or think they live in a more economically unequal society may be more supportive of a strong, even autocratic leader, a large-scale international study shows.
View ArticleTouting flavor before nutrition encourages healthy eating
Most people want to eat healthier, but efforts to encourage healthy eating by providing nutrition information have not drastically changed habits. A new study suggests that labels emphasizing taste and...
View ArticleNew addiction treatments hold promise for stemming the opioid crisis,...
Concerns over the opioid epidemic have sparked a strong scientific interest in why some people become addicted while others don't. Now, researchers are proposing novel treatment strategies that could...
View ArticleUnder time pressure, people tell us what we want to hear
When asked to answer questions quickly and impulsively, people tend to respond with a socially desirable answer rather than an honest one, a set of experiments shows.
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