New research reveals historic migration’s link to present-day implicit racial bias

Roughly six million Black people moved away from the American South during the Great Migration between 1910 and 1970, hoping to escape racial violence and discrimination while pursuing economic and educational opportunities. Now, research has uncovered a link between this historic event with present-day inequalities and implicit biases.

The science of attraction: why do we fall for certain people?

In a series of studies, Charles Chu, a BU Questrom School of Business assistant professor of management and organizations, tested the conditions that shape whether we feel attracted to—or turned off by—each other. He found one crucial factor was what psychologists call self-essentialist reasoning, where people imagine they have some deep inner core or essence that shapes who they are.

Fear, social context (not mental illness) fuel violent extremist views

Christine Reyna is director of the Social and Intergroup Perception Lab at DePaul University, where researchers examine how individuals and groups legitimize and leverage prejudice and discrimination to maintain status, cultural values and systems that benefit one’s own groups — often at the expense of others.

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.

Europeans want climate action but show little appetite for radical lifestyle change -– new polling

Europeans want urgent action on climate change but remain committed meat-eaters and question policy proposals such as banning the sale of new petrol vehicles after 2030, according to a new poll from the YouGov-Cambridge Centre for Public Opinion Research that surveyed environmental attitudes in seven European countries, including the UK.

Jealous feelings can act as a tool to strengthen friendships

Jealousy can be important for maintaining friendships, which are crucial to physical and emotional health. A study conducted by scientists at Arizona State University, Oklahoma State University, and Hamilton College found feelings of jealousy were sensitive to the value of the friendship and motivated behaviors aimed at keeping friends.

Studies examine how race affects perceptions of law-involved Blacks, school discipline

The extent of discriminatory treatment Black adults and children experience at every point of contact within the legal system and the biases that result in Black children’s behavior being managed more harshly in school are detailed in two new analyses from researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Using biology to explain social psychology of cultural differences wins theoretical prize at SPSP

The idea of using principles from biology as a theoretical framework for social psychologists to understand societal differences has won the 2019 Daniel M. Wegner Theoretical Innovation Prize from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Scientists from Arizona State University and the University of California, Irvine, used adaptive phenotypic plasticity, or how the environment of a living thing affects development and behavior, as a model for how people act in different societies.

The songwriter is creative – the singer, not so much

Country music songwriters must perform a careful dance when they work with famous singers who may be less talented at writing songs but bring the needed star power to attract fans – and, importantly, to get the song recorded in the first place, research suggests. A study of 39 successful country-music songwriters found that they use two strategies to navigate creative collaboration with more famous artists.