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New Research in Psychological Science
A sample of research on moral obligations and family, how people view God in times of conflict, and sex differences in perceptions of sexual interest.
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Why the Democratic Majority Hasn’t Emerged
The Democrats lost to Donald Trump and may do it again. How did the world’s oldest political party, which has won four of the past seven presidential elections and received popular-vote pluralities in two more, find itself in this pickle? One symptom of the party’s ailment is that its four top-polling presidential candidates in national surveys are in their 70s and No. 5 is a 38-year-old former mayor of a city of 102,000. Why haven’t others risen? Where are the candidates with demonstrated appeal to critical segments of the electorate? One answer is that over the past decade the Democrats have had a tough time electing candidates beyond heavily Democratic constituencies. ...
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What Makes a ‘Good Samaritan’ Good? That Opinion Depends on the Beneficiary
Helping a total stranger is generally viewed as morally better and more trustworthy than someone who helps a family member. But this is true only if the helper did not have to choose between those options. [NEWS Feb. 10, 2020]
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The Iowa Caucuses and the Psychology of Impatience
If there’s one thing a democracy needs to get right, it’s an election. And, in that respect, Iowa failed Monday night. Due to an apparent software problem, the nation did not get the results of the Iowa Democratic caucus Monday night, as planned. Nor did they get the results Tuesday morning. It wasn’t until Tuesday evening that any results were released — and even then only 60% of the votes had been tallied and a winner had not yet emerged. There is, of course, another way to look at this week’s events in Iowa. And that has to do with a nation incapable of exercising even the slightest bit of patience when it comes to managing its elections. ...
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The Limits Of Nudging: Why Can’t California Get People to Take Free Money?
The Earned Income Tax Credit supplements incomes through the tax code, awarding thousands of dollars each year primarily to low-wage workers with kids. But there's a problem: a huge population of eligible workers fails to file their taxes and get the money each year. ... In 2018, the state of California and the California Policy Lab, an interdisciplinary think tank of scholars from various University of California schools, started trying to solve this problem, and they commissioned one of the most fascinating experiments in "nudging" we've seen in a while. ... Nudges are simple, low-cost interventions aimed at gently guiding people to make better decisions.
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New Research in Psychological Science
A sample of research on delay of gratification in children, the link between religiosity and violent crime, self-objectification and women’s social activism, and how object design can afford learning.
