Description: Sometimes you may run across references to large scale studies that take broad, general looks at parts or sectors of the population and sometimes those large survey studies take a look at aspects of mental health. Before taking the results of such studies at face value it is well worth taking a moment or… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Social Psychology
Suffering => Wisdom?
Description: How you think of yourself can make a big difference in how you manage yourself when things in your life change. Now THAT is a vague general statement that I suspect you can see some truth in even if what you think may not match up with what I, or others, might have in…
Description: If you cannot say something nice say nothing at all! Did you ever get that advice? It is possibly good advice for young children who are learning how to “play nice” together but what about in adulthood and especially what about in work settings where you might be training or managing others or working… Read more »Can Criticism be Positive?
Predicting Personality from Twitter Posts? Hmmm…
Description: How accurately do you think you could predict peoples’ Big Fiver personality profiles by reviewing their twitter posts? Really, pick a percentage! Are peoples’ Twitter personalities different than those they show in face-to-face interactions? Now, with your number picked (assuming it was not a zero), think about what you would look for in your… Read more »
Human Basics: The Silent Treatment
Description: Have you ever had another person give you the silent treatment as in ignore you and not respond to or interact with you even when you were in the same room as them? Oh, and I should add, if this HAS happened to you was the person giving you the silent treatment over 5… Read more »
Psychology of Inventory Placement and Impulse Buying
Description: Two large grocery stores near my home have been undergoing renovation for the past few months (though it feels like it has been a year!). Way the long drawn out process? Well the renovations are large and complex but as I wandered around trying to find my “usual stuff” to buy I started to… Read more »
Aging and Fake News: A Big Deal?
Description: Who is most susceptible to fake news? Children? Young adults? Middle aged adults? The elderly? Let’s leave children out of the question for now as their fake news exposures and uptakes are, at least to some extent, their parents’ concern. What about the elderly? ON the one hand they have less access to the… Read more »
This is Your Brain on Revenge
Description: I have been re-watching Game of Thrones recently and as a result have seen a great many depictions of acts of revenge (if you have not watched the series, you can trust me on this). Now it is a bit of a leap to jump from Game of Thrones to the “real world” but… Read more »
Brain Bases of Social Hierarchies
Description: Mammals are aware of social hierarchies, right? You are sitting around a table sharing pizza with a few other people. There is one slice left and you want it. As you reach out for it another hand also reaches out for it. What do you do? It depends, right? What if you are sitting… Read more »
Why Being Able to Tell How Nikola is Feeling by Looking Might Be Important
Description: We humans are remarkably good at expressing our emotions through our facial expressions (think about how hard it is to hide them, say, for example when you are playing poker or otherwise trying to noy show others what you are feeling). We are rather good at reading other people’s facial expressions too. Darwin wrote… Read more »
Books for Success!
