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What Makes Us Vibe?
Think about your friends—the people you spend a lot of time with, see movies with, those people you'd text to grab a drink or dinner after a long week. Now think back to why you first became friends and ask yourself: was it because you like them? Or because you are like them? A recent study, led by Carolyn Parkinson, a psychologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, suggests that the answer may involve a complex network of brain regions that gets to the root of how friendship exists in our brains. When I spoke with her, Parkinson told me that a key focus of her research is learning how social networks might shape or be shaped by how our brains process information.
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Buying organic makes you selfish, research shows — this explains the Whole Foods parking lot
Last week, a couple in Chapel Hill, N.C., got married in a Whole Foods Market. The newlyweds, Ross and Jacqueline Aronson, described it as the culmination of a dream romance that blossomed during arm-in-arm walks through the aisles of organic produce and goodies, plucking dewy fresh ingredients for the gourmet meals Ross likes to cook for the two of them. I’ve never been to Ross and Jacqueline’s Whole Foods or, for that matter, any Whole Foods that matches the scenes they describe.
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Testosterone on the Team
A new research report found that testosterone levels are associated with how diverse and homogeneous business teams perform, but in opposite ways.
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New Research From Psychological Science
A sample of research exploring visuospatial perspective taking while reading, childhood origins of environmental behavior, and the psychological mechanisms underlying engagement in social issues on Twitter.
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How Reciprocity Can Magnify Inequality
A series of studies show that people tend to reciprocate others’ actions in ways that increase disparities in wealth.
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Is Fandom Really Worth It?
There’s a lot of losing in sports. Only one team can win at a time, and only one champion escapes the season without tears. But that doesn’t stop Americans from spending nearly $56 billion a year on sporting events, while dropping many billions more on jerseys, cable packages, buffalo wings—to say nothing of the substantial emotional costs incurred. (Having logged many fan-hours on behalf of the pre-success Cubs and post-success Arsenal FC, I’ve paid my fair share.) Is fandom worth it? At first glance, the evidence isn’t encouraging.
