-
How Uber Uses Psychological Tricks to Push Its Drivers’ Buttons
The New York Times: The secretive ride-hailing giant Uber rarely discusses internal matters in public. But in March, facing crises on multiple fronts, top officials convened a call for reporters to insist that Uber was changing its culture and would no longer tolerate “brilliant jerks.” Notably, the company also announced that it would fix its troubled relationship with drivers, who have complained for years about falling pay and arbitrary treatment. “We’ve underinvested in the driver experience,” a senior official said. “We are now re-examining everything we do in order to rebuild that love.” Read the whole story: The New York Times
-
New Research From Psychological Science
A sample of new research exploring thinking fast and risk-related framing effects, the relationship between pronounceability and risk, and numerical cognition in wild baboons.
-
What Are Everyday Daydreamers Like?
Scientific American: “Before experimenting, isn’t it appropriate to know as exactly as possible on what one is going to experiment?” -- Sartre Rarely do I read a scientific paper that overwhelms me with so much excitement, awe, and reverence. Well, a new paper in Psychological Science has really got me revved up, and I am bursting to share their findings with you!
-
Everybody Lies, And That’s Not Always A Bad Thing
NPR: When we think about dishonesty, we mostly think about the big stuff. We see big scandals, big lies, and we think to ourselves, I could never do that. We think we're fundamentally different from Bernie Madoff or Tiger Woods. But behind big lies are a series of small deceptions. Dan Ariely, a professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University, writes about this in his book The Honest Truth about Dishonesty. Read the whole story: NPR
-
The Law’s Emotion Problem
The New York Times: In the 1992 Supreme Court case Riggins v. Nevada, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy acknowledged — perhaps unwittingly — that our legal system relies on a particular theory of the emotions. The court had ruled that a criminal defendant could not forcibly be medicated to stand trial, and Justice Kennedy concurred, stressing that medication might impair a defendant’s ability to exhibit his feelings. This, he warned, would interfere with the critical task, during the sentencing phase, of trying to “know the heart and mind of the offender,” including “his contrition or its absence.” But can a judge or jurors infer a defendant’s emotions reliably, as Justice Kennedy implied?
-
Can You Blend in Anywhere? Or Are You Always the Same You?
New York Magazine: There are those people — you know who you are — who always know just what to say, and how to behave, and what to wear, no matter where they are or whom they’re with. You could invite them to a black-tie wedding or trivia night at a dive bar, and either way, they’ll figure out how to fit right in. And then there are those — you know who you are, too — who are always, utterly themselves, no matter the context. After all, they reason, why would anyone want to go around faking their personality? Mark Snyder, a psychology researcher at the University of Minnesota, has been dividing the world in two this way for as long as he can remember.
