-
The Three Equations for a Happy Life, Even During a Pandemic
It seems strange to launch a column on happiness during a pandemic. The timing is, well, awkward, isn’t it? Maybe not. We’re stuck at home; our lives on COVID time have slowed to a near halt. This creates all sorts of obvious inconveniences, of course. But in the involuntary quiet, many of us also sense an opportunity to think a little more deeply about life. In our go-go-go world, we rarely get the chance to stop and consider the big drivers of our happiness and our sense of purpose. ... The scientific study of happiness has exploded over the past three decades. The Nobel Prize winners Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton (both at Princeton University) publish extensively on the subject.
-
Maintaining Lockdown and Preparing an Exit Strategy: A View from Social and Behavioral Sciences
Belgian social psychologists presented this memo to the federally appointed committee that is preparing “the gradual exit strategy” from the COVID-19-related lockdown in Belgium.
-
APS Fellow Alison Gopnik Named Guggenheim Fellow
Alison Gopnik, an APS Fellow who is recognized internationally for her study of children’s learning and development, has been selected as a 2020 Guggenheim Fellow.
-
Social Distancing Isn’t the Right Language for What Covid-19 Asks of Us
It is a remarkable thing to consider that only a few months ago, most of humanity did not know what social distancing was. The term’s popularity, and the need for it, emerged as Covid-19 did.But as it has become both part of our lexicon and a defining feature of our lives, a growing group of people are calling for the term—though not the actions—to be changed. We should be physical distancing, they say, not social distancing. ... In 2010, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a professor of psychology at Brigham Young University published research showing that people with weaker social ties had a 50% increased likelihood of dying early than those with stronger ones.
-
What Studies Reveal About Social Distancing And Remote Working During Coronavirus
COVID-19 struck fast and hard when the whole world was unprepared for it. From social distancing, working from home (WFH) and panic buying, life took a sudden turn for the worse. As the new normal takes a foothold, mental health has become a bigger national concern as more Americans are forced to remain isolated away from loved ones and support systems. New studies are popping up to show the benefits and concerns of social distancing and remote working. These studies run the gamut from fears and vulnerabilities to a rise in virtual meetings that might be the future of work. ...
-
New Research in Psychological Science
A sample of research on mate preferences across countries, preference biases in candidate selection, cue visibility and task switching, and persuasion by nonhuman artificial agents.
