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UrduNew research from Washington University in St. Louis suggests that the day-long implicit bias-oriented training programs now common in most U.S. police departments are unlikely to reduce racial inequity in policing.
Tag: Psychological Science
Stereotyping veterans as heroes may limit their future careers
While much of the American public venerates people who enlist in the military, constantly referring to all veterans as “heroes” may direct them into lower-paying careers associated with selflessness, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.
Events Serve as “Stepping Stones” en Route to Retrieved Memories
Lost your keys again? One way to retrace your steps involves scanning your memory to find them, such as reaching back to the last moment you clearly remember having them—say, as you walked in the door—before skipping ahead to a “phone call” event and then a “watching TV” event, at which point you might recall placing the keys next to the remote.
The Dangers of “Bureaucra-think&”: Research Demonstrates Structural Bias and Racism in Mental Health Organizations
New research shows that mental health organizations may systematically transmit bias and racism through common bureaucratic processes and, in some cases, through staff merely doing their job.
Young chimpanzees and human teens share risk-taking behaviors
Adolescent chimpanzees share some of the same risk-taking behaviors as human teens, but they may be less impulsive than their human counterparts, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. The study gets at age-old nature/nurture questions about why adolescents take more risks: because of environment or because of biological predispositions?
Similarities in Human and Chimpanzee Behavior Support Evolutionary Basis for Risk Taking
Research suggests that findings about human risk preferences also apply to risk-taking in chimpanzees, our closest evolutionary ancestor in the animal kingdom, and that individual chimps’ risk preference is stable and trait-like across situations.
Male gender bias deters men from some career paths
Men are less likely to seek careers in early education and some other fields traditionally associated with women because of male gender bias in those fields, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.
Volatile pay for gig workers linked to health problems
Gig workers, waiters, salespeople and others who rely on fluctuating income may be paying for wage volatility with their health, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.
In negotiations, hoodwinking others has a cost, study finds
Lying to another person to get the better of them in a financial negotiation might win you more money, but you are likely to end up feeling guilty and less satisfied with the deal than if you had been honest, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.
Fear of Professional Backlash May Keep Women from Speaking Up at Academic Conferences
Women are less likely to ask questions during question-and-answer sessions at academic conferences. Research in Psychological Science suggests that this may be due to anxiety about how colleagues will receive their comments.
Negative self-perception appears to self-perpetuate, researchers find
At the end of a bad day, how do you feel about yourself? The answer could indicate not only how your self-perception formed, but also how it renews, according to experimental results from a research group in Japan.
Feeling poorer than your friends in early adolescence is associated with worse mental health, study finds
Young people who believe they come from poorer backgrounds than their friends are more likely to have lower self-esteem and be victims of bullying than those who feel financially equal to the rest of their peer group, according to a new study from psychologists at the University of Cambridge.
Was I Happy Then? Our Current Feelings Can Interfere with Memories of Past Well-Being
Many of us spend our lives chasing “happiness,” a state of contentment that is more difficult for some to achieve than others. Research in Psychological Science suggests that one reason happiness can seem so elusive is that our current feelings can interfere with memories of our past well-being.
New Psychological Science Findings Link Local Prejudice to Police Militarization, Offer Hope for Fostering Belief in Science
Findings also help explain why happy people are more optimistic, how false visual memories can be perpetuated, and why feeling good often just means feeling better.
The early bird may just get the worm
Night owls may be looking forward to falling back into autumn standard time but a new study from the University of Ottawa has found Daylight Saving Time may also suit morning types just fine.
Different people interpret facial impressions very differently, study reveals
Researchers used an algorithm to allow people to refine what they thought the facial expression of a particular emotion should look like.
Low sense of personal control increases people’s affinity for tighter, rules-based culture
People who feel a lack of personal control in their lives are more likely to prefer a culture that imposes order, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. These “tighter” cultures, in turn, perpetuate their existence by reducing individuals’ sense of personal control and increasing their sense of collective control.
Association for Psychological Science Announces Lifetime Achievement Awards
APS’s four lifetime achievement awards—the APS James McKeen Cattell Fellow Award, the APS Mentor Award, the APS William James Fellow Award, and the APS James S. Jackson Lifetime Achievement Award for Transformative Scholarship—are the association’s highest honors, and their recipients represent the field’s most accomplished and respected scientists.
Dating profile text perceived as more original may spark more attraction
A new study involving users of online dating sites has revealed a link between the perceived originality of text in dating profiles and better impressions of attractiveness.
More than a quarter of U.S. adults say they’re so stressed they can’t function
Americans are struggling with multiple external stressors that are out of their personal control, with 27% reporting that most days they are so stressed they cannot function, according to a poll conducted for the American Psychological Association.
Statewide pandemic restrictions not related to psychological distress
Despite concerns that stay-at-home orders and other government efforts to stem the spread of COVID-19 at the start of the pandemic would cause lasting harm to people’s mental health, research published by the American Psychological Association found that state restrictions in the first six months of the pandemic were not related to worse mental health.
Can Shifting Social Norms Help Mitigate Climate Change?
An interdisciplinary team of researchers reports on how social norms—“patterns of behaviors or values that depend on expectations about what others do and/or think should be done”—can be harnessed to bring about collective climate action and policy change.
Empathizing With the Opposition May Make You More Politically Persuasive
Trying to understand people we disagree with can feel like a lost cause, particularly in contentious political environments. But research in Psychological Science suggests that cross-partisan empathy may actually make our political arguments more persuasive, rather than softening our convictions.
Anxiety during pregnancy can lead to earlier births, study finds
Women who experience anxiety about their pregnancies give birth earlier on average than those who don’t, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.
UCI research team finds positivity is not equally protective against illness across races
Research has consistently shown that positive psychological factors are linked to better physical health, including increased resistance to infectious illnesses such as the flu and the common cold. A new study from the University of California, Irvine, examines the role that race plays in this connection, comparing the results of African American and European American participants in a series of landmark experimental studies from the Common Cold Project, conducted between 1993 and 2011.
How learning about wellbeing can benefit university students’ own wellbeing
Studying wellbeing science as part of their courses could be a key way of improving how today’s students cope with the barrage of stressors they face, according to research.
Put down devices, let your mind wander, study suggests
People consistently underestimate how much they would enjoy spending time alone with their own thoughts, without anything to distract them, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.
Cooperation among strangers has increased since the 1950s
Despite common concerns that the social fabric is fraying, cooperation among strangers has gradually increased in the U.S. since the 1950s, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.
APA poll shows employees plan to seek workplaces with mental health supports
Eight in 10 U.S. workers say that how employers support their employees’ mental health will be an important consideration when they seek future job opportunities, while 71% believe their employer is more concerned about the mental health of employees now than in the past, according to a survey from the American Psychological Association.
Friends enjoy being reached out to more than we think
People consistently underestimate how much others in their social circle might appreciate an unexpected phone call, text or email just to say hello, and the more surprising the connection, the greater the appreciation, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.
People less outraged by gender discrimination caused by algorithms
People are less morally outraged when gender discrimination occurs because of an algorithm rather than direct human involvement, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.
Fewer youth attempt suicide in states with hate crime laws
When states enact hate crime laws that protect LGBTQ populations, the rate of suicide attempts among high school students drops significantly, and not just among sexual and gender minority students, but among heterosexual students as well, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.
Keeping the Faith – or Your Willingness to Push Yourself – as You Grow Older
So you could have become a pro footballer when you were younger, you say? Or really good at chess? Perhaps a world-renowned chef?
Diversity messages may backfire when companies focus on diversity’s benefits for the bottom line
Companies that justify their diversity efforts by saying that a diverse workforce will improve their bottom line risk alienating the diverse employees that they hope to attract, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.
Updated Media Briefings: APS 2022 Annual Convention
Briefing 1: Friday, May 27, 10 a.m. CDT; Briefing 2: Saturday, May 28, 11 a.m. CDT.
Registration: Journalists should contact [email protected] to attend the virtual briefings.
Denial of structural racism linked to anti-Black prejudice
People who deny the existence of structural racism are more likely to exhibit anti-Black prejudice and less likely to show racial empathy or openness to diversity, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.
Treat Implicit Bias as a Public Health Problem, New Report Recommends
To turn the tide on the biases that perpetuate social injustice, the latest issue of Psychological Science in the Public Interest recommends that governments and institutions treat implicit bias as a public-health problem.
Virtual News Briefings and Research Highlights, APS 2022 Convention
Journalists are invited to attend two virtual news briefing that will cover the latest research and discoveries from the field of psychological science. Topics will include the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education, tools to support ethnic and gender minorities, fake news and misinformation, romance and relationships, and more. Register: [email protected]
If you stand like Superman or Wonder Woman, would you feel stronger?
Dominant or upright postures can help people feel – and maybe even behave – more confidently.
COVID-19 pandemic led to increase in loneliness around the world
People around the world experienced an increase in loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic, which, although small, could have implications for people’s long-term mental and physical health, longevity, and well-being, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.
Researchers’ tools show who is most easily duped by “financial bullshit”
Is it possible to predict which consumers are in the risk zone for being misled by individuals who promote “financial bullshit”?
NSF supports research studying how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine affects Americans
Irvine, Calif., May 2, 2022 — The National Science Foundation has awarded a Rapid Response Research grant of nearly $175,000 to University of California, Irvine researchers seeking to gauge the effect that the reporting of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in traditional and social media outlets has on the mental health of U.S. citizens.
Talk therapy may alleviate depression and improve quality of life for people with dementia
Feelings of anxiety and depression are common in people living with dementia and mild cognitive impairment, but the best way to treat these symptoms is currently unknown, as medicines often used to treat these symptoms may not be effective for people with dementia and may cause side effects.
Rates of handgun carriage rise among US adolescents, particularly White, rural, and higher income teens, new study finds
Handgun carrying increased significantly among rural, White and higher-income adolescents from 2002 to 2019, ominously escalating the risk of firearm-related death or injury for both these youths and others in their social sphere, researchers from Boston College’s Lynch School of Education and Human Development report in the latest edition of the journal Pediatrics.
Where the mind is without fear: Scientists discover mechanism behind the chemically induced suppression of fearful memories
Tragic events like wars, famines, earthquakes, and accidents create fearful memories in our brain. These memories continue to haunt us even after the actual event has passed.
For cooperative teams, modesty leaves the best impression
People may forgo displaying luxury brands and other signals of status when they want to convince others that they will collaborate well with a team, as people who signal their wealth and social status could be perceived as uncooperative, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.
PSPI Live: Test a Witness’s Memory of a Suspect Only Once
PSPI Live is an online symposium series that highlights papers published in the APS journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest (PSPI).
White people trained in mindfulness were three times more likely to help Black people in staged scenarios, new study finds
Could mindfulness change the way we treat people of other races? White people who received training in mindfulness meditation were three times more likely to help a Black person in staged scenarios than those who were not trained, according to a new study in Social Psychological and Personality Science.
New research casts doubt on claims that people have ‘rose-tinted glasses’
A new study casts doubt over claims that people are ‘optimistically biased’ about the future, a tendency that is thought to contribute to financial crises, people’s failure to look after their health, or inaction over climate change.
Understanding ‘Scientific Consensus’ May Correct Misperceptions About GMOs, but Not Climate Change
Explaining the meaning of “scientific consensus” may counter false beliefs about the safety of genetically modified foods. This same approach, however, is less effective in convincing skeptics that climate change is real and caused by humans