Social Psychology
Why Do People Gossip?
Gossip can range from benign to harmful, and it occurs in a variety of settings from the workplace to our personal lives. So what makes this behavior so pervasive? A new study from researchers in Germany has some answers to this question. Let me tell you about all the juicy details you just have to…
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What It Means to Feed Someone on a First Date
For those who find first dates confusing, not to worry. We have science to help us figure out what’s going on! What does it mean, for example, when you’re on a dinner date and the other person starts feeding you? Hint: either they think you’ve done an unacceptably bad job of feeding yourself, or they…
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Body Temperature, Stress and Social Connection
When we say that someone is “warm,” we can mean that in a literal, physical sense. We might also be saying that they’re friendly, sociable and kind. This link between temperature and psychological state isn’t just metaphorical. Psychologists have found several ways in which body temperature and emotions actually do correlate with each other. One…
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Why Do Rich People Lie More?
With great power doesn’t necessarily come great honesty. It turns out that wealthier people are more likely to engage in several different kinds of unethical behavior. A 2012 study showed, for example, that people in higher socioeconomic classes were more likely to break traffic laws, cheat in order to win prizes, lie in negotiations, and…
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People Probably Agree With You Less Than You Think
If there’s one thing people never lack, it’s biases in how we think. One of these biases is what psychologists call the false consensus effect, where people tend to overestimate the extent to which other people share their views. To put it another way, people tend to assume that everyone else thinks the way they…
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Social Media Might Kind of Affect Life Satisfaction in Teens
Maybe you’ve heard that social media usage is linked to lower life satisfaction. But what does that mean? There are multiple ways social media and life satisfaction could be “linked”: People with higher life satisfaction use social media less than people with lower life satisfaction People tend to use social media more when they become…
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Gossip as a Workplace Coping Mechanism
We typically think of gossip as something frivolous. But “idle gossip” might not be so idle. Gossip can be a social bonding mechanism, and workplace gossip in particular might help people cope with the stresses of the job. In a recent study, researchers looked at how gossiping helps people deal with precarious employment situations. The…
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When a First Impression Misleads
To some extent, we all judge based on first impressions. But that doesn’t mean we judge accurately. A new study from researchers at University of Bologna suggests that our initial judgments about whether someone is trustworthy can influence our ability to read their emotions. Psychologists have known that we tend to make snap judgments about…
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More Compassionate People Can Prefer Harsher Punishments
A compassionate disposition and a desire to see someone get their “just deserts” might not seem to go together. But a new study suggests that people who are more compassionate also prefer to see harsher punishments doled out when someone perpetrates an injustice against others. As part of the study, published in Journal of Personality…
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Are People With Social Anxiety Afraid of Positive Feedback?
The way we typically think about it, social anxiety involves a fear of being evaluated negatively by other people. Which is true. But an interesting line of research suggests that people with social anxiety might also fear being evaluated positively by other people. In a recent experiment, researchers had people with and without social anxiety…
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