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People With “Fused” Identities Are Willing to Die for Their Social Group
People who are “fused” with a group—a bond even stronger than group identification—will take extreme actions to protect other group members, but not outsiders, conclude researchers in a new study published in Psychological Science, a
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Smokers Trying to Give Up – Don’t Stop Thinking About Cigarettes
Blocking thoughts of cigarettes helps reduce smokers’ intake at first, but means they smoke more than usual when they stop suppressing, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for
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Preschoolers Use Statistics to Understand Others
Children are natural psychologists. By the time they’re in preschool, they understand that other people have desires, preferences, beliefs, and emotions. But how they learn this isn’t clear. A new study published in Psychological Science
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People Who Cannot Escape a System Are Likely to Defend the Status Quo
The freedom of emigration at will is internationally recognized as a human right. But, in practice, emigration is often restricted, whether by policy or by poverty. A new study published in Psychological Science, a journal
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People Who Are Angry Pay More Attention to Rewards Than Threats
Anger is a negative emotion. But, like being happy or excited, feeling angry makes people want to seek rewards, according to a new study of emotion and visual attention. The researchers found that people who
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People Think Immoral Behavior Is Funny–But Only if It Also Seems Benign
What makes something funny? Philosophers have been tossing that question around since Plato. Now two psychological scientists think they’ve come up with the formula: humor comes from a violation or threat to the way the
