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How Campaigns Use Psychology to Get Out the Vote
We’re one month away from the presidential election. The campaigns are in high gear, trying to get their messages out, and hoping that those messages will be enough to motivate voters to both go to the polls—and to vote in their favor. But just how solid are people’s political opinions at this point? Can anyone be swayed at this point by another debate, campaign ad, or stump speech talking point? And how do campaigns judge the mood of the electorate to better position their messages? Dr.
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Political Tribes Are Predictable
With the US election imminent, we view who to vote for as one of the most important choices in our lives. But, writes John T. Jost, whether liberal or conservative, our political affinities as adults can be predicted from early childhood. American and global studies show that temperament and psychological traits such as threat sensitivity correlate with ideological divides. A mix of nature and nurture means our political beliefs are at least partly heritable – though not inevitable.
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The No. 1 Most Critical Thing That Keeps Us Happier and Healthier—And 3 ‘Surprisingly Simple’ Ways to Get Started
When I’m sitting with a stressed-out patient in my office and I raise the importance of healthy relationships, they almost always intellectually understand. Of course they do! They’re brilliant! And they want to please me. They nod and smile. In reality, though, creating and maintaining healthy connections can be challenging. It takes time, energy, and work. ...
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How a Small But Vocal Minority of Social Media Users Distort Reality and Sow Division
Researchers at New York University have concluded that social media is not an accurate reflection of society, but more like a funhouse mirror distorted by a small but vocal minority of extreme outliers. It's a finding that has special resonance this election season. John Yang speaks with psychology professor Jay Van Bavel, one of the authors of the paper that reported the research, to learn more.
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The Big Idea: Why It’s OK Not to Love Your Job
A few years ago, I went to a retirement event for someone who, in his late 80s at the time, had spent more than 60 years as a professor at New York University. He had been embedded in every aspect of academic life, from mentoring and research to fundraising. Over the years he had managed to teach 100,000 students the university’s Introduction to Psychology course. Ted is one of those institutional pillars who can tell you what the place was like in 1965. These days, most people don’t last more than four years in one job. I walked into Ted’s party thinking it would be full of students and teachers, but I was wrong.
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Philip Zimbardo, 91, Whose Stanford Prison Experiment Studied Evil, Dies
Philip G. Zimbardo, a towering figure in social psychology who explored how good people turn evil in the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment, which devolved into chaos after college students acting as guards started abusing other students acting as prisoners, died on Oct. 14 at his home in San Francisco. He was 91.
