A colleague is doing research on mixed emotions across cultures, so this headline caught my eye: "Religious people experience more mixed emotions than non-believers" The website PsyPost summarized (possibly with the help of AI) the empirical research. The original empirical journal article is available here, and might be paywalled. The study found that people who …
Doing almost anything is better with friends
Last fall, some social scientists published a study using data from one of my favorite national surveys--the American Time Use Survey. (I'm a nosy psychologist who is fascinated by how people spend their days.). They concluded that doing almost any daily activity is more enjoyable when we do it with friends. Here's how the research …
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“Running on little sleep? You’re twice as likely to get hurt”
Here's a research synopsis from the Science Daily website with the headline, "Running on little sleep? You're twice as likely to get hurt." The way this heading is phrased, it makes it sound like a causal claim. Phrases such as "twice as likely" don't make it causal, but the "if...then..." nature of the headline does …
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Color psychology
It's not hard to find TikTok, IG, or webposts about a field called "color psychology." It generally argues that different colors have specific effects on your mood, behavior, and energy. Put your critical thinking hat on while we take a look at some of its claims. Can the color you choose to wear really impact …
Gender bias in teacher ratings
I think if you asked most students if they think women professors are worse teachers than men professors, they'd say "no" emphatically. None of us wants to be biased--we want our ratings of faculty members to reflect their actual teaching ability. That's why this study might come as a (disappointing) surprise. The research was covered …
Emotional fallout from the comment section
It is time for another joint blog post by Beth Morling and Jess Hartnett! It’s about a recently-published article that allows you to think about everything from the ethical use of AI to factorial ANOVA. The study investigated how people respond emotionally to online comments. Photo: fizkes/Shutterstock Part I: Student Learning Activity When we scroll …
Women’s politics predict partner preferences
In a recent study summarized in PsyPost ,we learn that depending on their political leanings, women report seeking different traits and qualities in their potential romantic partners. The study found that straight women look for different qualities in their romantic partners, depending on their political views. Photo: Depiction Images/Shutterstock The study surveyed over 13,000 women …
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Does a free basic income make people less motivated to work?
On Sept 20, I posted about an experiment that randomly assigned low-income families with newborns to receive an extra $333 or $20 per month. In that study, adding more income didn't have much of an effect. This time, I’m sharing a somewhat similar experiment on basic income that is being conducted in Germany. In this …
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Does extra cash help low-income babies’ development?
Would babies benefit if their families received extra cash every month? Photo: Cavan Images/Alamy Stock Photo When psychologists and sociologists take a big-picture view of early childhood development, they almost always notice a correlation between income and child behavior. Specifically, children being raised in poverty tend to perform worse than higher-income children on language development, …
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Correlates of cuddling
The study correlated cuddling style with stress and attachment. Photo: LightField Studios/Shutterstock If you share a bed with your sweetheart, you might be interested in this example of correlational research summarized by PsyPost. Their headline reads, "Study finds couples who cuddle at bedtime feel more secure and less stressed." Here are some introductory statements: Study …