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 »
Posts Categorized: Attitude Formation Change
The Psychology of Blame
Description: I do not know if you have been tracking it but my friends and family in and around Ottawa have drawn my attention to the protest/occupation on central Ottawa by the Truckers’ Convoy. The group is comprised of people opposed to the recent vaccination requirements for cross border passage by truckers and demanding an… Read more »
Population Behavior Change via Nudging is Good and Effective, Right? Maybe NOT
Description: What is a nudge? Might be a slight poke in the arm used to get someone’s attention or to announce your arrival to a friend who had their back turned to you. But more than a tap, nudges more typically are thought of as things that get people moving in a particular direction. As… Read more »
Social Psychology of Grudges versus Resentments?
Description: A lot of the time, when you consider the concepts being discussed, examined and studied in psychological research I suspect that you saying to yourself things like “OK that makes sense” or “I can see how they are looking at that” or perhaps “I might define that a little bit differently.” What I am… Read more »
Psychological Drivers of Misinformation Belief: A Not So New But Critical Topic
Description: Given our direct and media shared experiences surrounding recent events such as the COVID pandemic, American elections and related capital events, climate change and much else you cannot be unaware of the phenomenon of misinformation and related beliefs. You may be aware of concerns over social media “echo chambers” that become sole sources for… Read more »
Disgust: A VERY Powerful Social Tool
Description: OK, quick! Think of an example of something that is disgusting. That did not take long, did it? Theorize for a minute about what \makes something disgusting. Add to your theory a component having to do with possible values of disgust, that is, about what possibly positive roles it might play in our lives… Read more »
Schizophrenia: What’s In a Name?
Description: You have heard the term stigma before, right? It involves the stubborn attachment of negative assumptions or beliefs to a socially marked situation or circumstance. Stigma also is viewed as the inappropriate, ongoing, application of those negative beliefs or assumption when they really should not be in play. For example, imagine you have met… Read more »
Vaccine Hesitancy 201
Description: We are all very tired of talking about and worrying about Covid and its many issues and yet we are also, as I write this, wondering what the Omicron variation is going to do to our ability to cope and manage individually, withing our communities and especially within our medical systems. Any sort of… Read more »
Reducing Racism Via Exposure: A Population Level, 70 Year Study
Description: What might we do to reduce the level of racially based discrimination within a population? You have likely heard of some version of the Exposure hypothesis. It suggests that prejudice might be reduced through exposure to diverse individuals preferably in situations where they work together towards a common goal. Research involving relatively small numbers… Read more »
Psychology of Covid: Re-emerging and Adaptation
Description: No matter how you spent the past year I suspect that it was different than the previous 5, 10, or many many more years and that the biggest difference was the nature and extent of your social contacts. Perhaps you got really good at zoom (despite the force personal appearance fixations it can produce);… Read more »
Books for Success!
