229 posts · 115,028 views
The goal of this blog is to better understand why people think, feel, and behave the way they do. What's unique, in some ways, about this blog is that we'll be generating theories about people's behavior from cutting-edge psychological science!
Psych Your Mind
229 posts
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- May 2, 2012
- 11:37 AM
- 373 views
Pets with benefits: Social support from other species
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
The millions of Americans who own pets spend billions of dollars on them annually, shower them in love, and – anecdotally – talk and post about them constantly (you know who you are). But besides providing us something totally adorable to photograph and cuddle with, what good is it to have a furry, domesticated animal running around your home?
Read More->... Read more »
McConnell, A., Brown, C., Shoda, T., Stayton, L., & Martin, C. (2011) Friends with benefits: On the positive consequences of pet ownership. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(6), 1239-1252. DOI: 10.1037/a0024506
- April 30, 2012
- 01:20 PM
- 350 views
The Secret to Maintain Sexual Desire
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
Soon after I got engaged, a married
friend told me about the Penny Game. In this game, a newlywed couple puts a
penny in a jar each time they have sex during the first year of marriage. Then, starting the second year, the couple takes out a penny each time they have sex. Supposedly, the couple will never again have enough sex to empty the jar. This old wives' tale represents a commonly held belief that sexual desire declines over the course of a relationship. But is this true? And does it happen to everyone?
Sexual desire and sexual frequency do tend to decline over the course of a relationship. Several large-scale surveys have found evidence for this, and one study even found that the link between sexual frequency and relationship duration was stronger than the link between sexual frequency and age (Johnson et al., 1994). So young or old, sexual desire is likely to peak at the beginning of a new relationship and steadily decline from there.
But is that the end of the story? Once we enter into a long-term relationship, do we have to sit back and accept that our hottest days are behind us? According to recent research, not necessarily.... Read more »
Impett, E., Strachman, A., Finkel, E., & Gable, S. (2008) Maintaining sexual desire in intimate relationships: The importance of approach goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94(5), 808-823. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.94.5.808
- April 27, 2012
- 02:37 AM
- 329 views
Friday Fun: Mad Men With Power Moves
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
When Mad Men started it's final season on AMC, I got a good laugh when I was alerted to the hashtag #draping. The lead character of Mad Men, Don Draper (Jon Hamm), is pictured in advertisements for the popular television show sitting on a couch with his hand draped over the back of the couch, holding either a cigarette or a cocktail. It appears that fans of the popular show have taken to posing in this fashion, and then posting to tumblr.
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Tiedens, L., & Fragale, A. (2003) Power moves: Complementarity in dominant and submissive nonverbal behavior. Journal of Personality , 84(3), 558-568. DOI: 10.1037//0022-3514.84.3.558
- April 25, 2012
- 05:45 AM
- 368 views
The Body Problem: Why are we so afraid of bodily functions?
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
The children's book Everyone Poops, which documents the pooping styles and sizes of a range of animals and a little boy, did not get the greatest critical reception. Publishers Weekly said: "Okay, so everyone does it–does everyone have to talk about it? True, kids... may find it riveting, but their parents may not want to read to them about it... Call it what you will, by euphemism or by expletive, poop by any name seems an unsuitable picture book subject." Don't ask, don't tell seems to be the dominant ideology when it comes to poop. According to one grateful reader, the book helped her child "realize that pooping was normal," which is great, but it also suggests that the default belief is that pooping is somehow abnormal and shameful.
It's not just poop that we're uncomfortable with. We're also uncomfortable with body hair, body fat, breast-feeding, puberty, periods, digestive sounds, nudity, and pretty much anything else that involves natural body processes. Even Adam and Eve felt compelled to cover themselves with fig leaves. Why are our bodies so embarrassing?
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Goldenberg, J., Pyszczynski, T., Greenberg, J., & Solomon, S. (2000) Fleeing the Body: A Terror Management Perspective on the Problem of Human Corporeality. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 4(3), 200-218. DOI: 10.1207/S15327957PSPR0403_1
- April 23, 2012
- 11:32 AM
- 355 views
An Inconvenient Truth: Race in America (Part I)
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
source
It is an American tragedy whenever an unarmed teenage boy--of any color--is fatally shot. And when you strip down the Trayvon Martin shooting to its core, that is exactly what we were all faced with in Florida several weeks ago--a senseless tragedy. As a result, there has been a re-emergence of questions about the meaning of race in today's America. I will be taking on some of these tough questions in a series of blog posts I'm calling "An Inconvenient Truth." In this discussion of race in America, I will pull no punches.
One of the main talking points (but definitely not the only one) in the Trayvon Martin shooting, and in the eventual arrest of his killer, George Zimmerman, has been race. Did race play a role in Zimmerman's actions that day? Was Zimmerman unfairly judging Martin based on his skin color? If Martin was of another racial/ethnic group, would the same things have happened?
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Devine, P. (1989) Stereotypes and prejudice: Their automatic and controlled components. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56(1), 5-18. DOI: 10.1037//0022-3514.56.1.5
- April 19, 2012
- 05:25 PM
- 326 views
Using Social Psychology to Stay Healthy
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
source
Imagine the following scenario. You learn that a family member has been diagnosed with an illness. This illness has a genetic basis and as such, you could be at risk for it as well. There is, however, a screening for the genetic marker, and you can find out whether you are likely to develop this illness. Do you complete the screening or do avoid it?
Though few of us will face this specific scenario, many of us will face something similar. Heart disease runs in many families, as do certain forms of cancer, thyroid problems, etc. If your sibling or a grandparent suffered from one of these, would you get screened as well? What about common illnesses? Again, heart disease is among the top killers worldwide. Have you ever had your heart checked out?
Health screening is an important part of disease prevention and control. Agencies, such as The American Cancer Society or The American Heart Association provide clear guidelines for who should get screened, and when. Doctors are well aware of these guidelines and encourage patients to get screened. Early detection can often prevent or slow the course of a disease. Nevertheless, many people ignore screening recommendations. WHY? Read More->... Read more »
Howell JL, & Shepperd JA. (2012) Reducing information avoidance through affirmation. Psychological science, 23(2), 141-5. PMID: 22241812
- April 16, 2012
- 04:03 PM
- 372 views
Call Me Crazy: The Subtle Power of Gaslighting
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
"Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over, but had me believing it was always something that I'd done," sings Kimbra in Gotye's "Somebody that I used to know." In psychology, this phenomenon is called "gaslighting," a term that has its origins in a 1938 play (and a 1940 film) called Gas Light, where a man leads his wife to believe that she is insane in order to steal from her. When she notices strange events, such as the gas light dimming that occurs when he turns on the lights in the attic to search for her collection of jewels, he tells her it's just her imagination. His goal is to remove her credibility so that her complaints can be attributed to her psychosis, rather than to his misdeeds. Gaslighting is now used to refer to any attempt to make another person doubt their sense of reality.
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Gass, G., & Nichols, W. (1988) Gaslighting: A marital syndrome. Contemporary Family Therapy, 10(1), 3-16. DOI: 10.1007/BF00922429
- April 11, 2012
- 10:46 AM
- 323 views
Rue and Racism: Intergroup dynamics and the Hunger Games
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
In the original, written version of The Hunger Games, it’s made fairly clear that both Rue and her fellow District 4 tribute, Thresh, are African American. Yet when faced with their ethnicity on the movie screen, many people have expressed great disappointment (to state it delicately) over these tragic characters not being White. But why?
Well, it turns out that empathy across group boundaries is a complicated matter. Although part of the glue holding society together is a desire to reduce the suffering of others, and though we’re quick to empathize with and help members of our own groups, this dynamic can go haywire when it must extend to members of different groups (Cikara, Bruneau, & Saxe, 2011).
Read More-... Read more »
Cikara, M., Bruneau, E., & Saxe, R. (2011) Us and Them: Intergroup Failures of Empathy. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20(3), 149-153. DOI: 10.1177/0963721411408713
- April 10, 2012
- 12:07 AM
- 287 views
Mind Games: The Psychology of the Hunger Games
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
Guest blogger, Maya, is back with a two-part post on the psychology of the Hunger Games. So sit back and enjoy another round of “at the movies with a psychologist.”
Watching The Hunger Games come to life on screen (at, full disclosure, a midnight show), I found that actually witnessing the slaughter of several teenagers was more gut-wrenchingly graphic than it had seemed in the books. So when (PYM blogger and fellow social psychologist) Amie asked me whether the movie was gruesome, I had to admit it was. But because I can’t resist translating my bizarrely specific psychological know-how to daily advice, I encouraged her to use her favorite emotion regulation strategy while viewing the more horrifying scenes. Just what does this mean, and what other aspects of The Hunger Games could social psychology address? Allow me to elaborate.
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Davis, M. (1983) Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44(1), 113-126. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.44.1.113
Dutton, D., & Aron, A. (1974) Some evidence for heightened sexual attraction under conditions of high anxiety. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 30(4), 510-517. DOI: 10.1037/h0037031
Gross, J., & John, O. (2003) Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(2), 348-362. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.348
Sheppes G, & Meiran N. (2008) Divergent cognitive costs for online forms of reappraisal and distraction. Emotion (Washington, D.C.), 8(6), 870-4. PMID: 19102598
- April 4, 2012
- 03:17 AM
- 356 views
How to survive a break-up: Give yourself a break
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
There is no shortage of advice on how to recover from a bad break-up: keep busy, don't contact your ex, go out with friends, make a break-up mix (preferably one that includes "I will survive"), etc. But according to a new study, something important is missing from this list.
In the study, led by David Sbarra and published in Psychological Science, participants who had recently separated from their spouses were recorded talking for four minutes in a stream-of-consciousness format about the separation. Then four judges rated the extent to which these statements included evidence of self-compassion, which involves treating yourself with kindness and understanding rather than beating yourself up when things go wrong.Read More-... Read more »
Sbarra, D., Smith, H., & Mehl, M. (2012) When Leaving Your Ex, Love Yourself: Observational Ratings of Self-Compassion Predict the Course of Emotional Recovery Following Marital Separation. Psychological Science, 23(3), 261-269. DOI: 10.1177/0956797611429466
- April 2, 2012
- 10:33 AM
- 334 views
Genes and the Power of the Situation
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
In this post, we consider how the situation in which you were raised determines how much your genes influence your intelligence.... Read more »
Turkheimer E, Haley A, Waldron M, D'Onofrio B, & Gottesman II. (2003) Socioeconomic status modifies heritability of IQ in young children. Psychological science, 14(6), 623-8. PMID: 14629696
- March 28, 2012
- 02:19 PM
- 352 views
The girl who feels no pain: 3 fascinating neurological disorders
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
This post is the first in a short series on “What I learned in my undergrad neuroscience classes.” Today, I describe a few fascinating neurological disorders.
Have you watched episodes of medical shows like Grey’s Anatomy or House and wondered where they come up with some of their disorders? Are there really people out there who feel no pain, or who only have half a brain? There are. In undergrad I took a few neuroscience classes and learned fascinating details about neurological disorders. It seems that if you want to understand how the brain works, one of the best approaches is look at what happens when parts of the brain malfunction. Although I’ve forgotten 85% of what I learned, some of the more unbelievable details have stuck with me, and I thought I’d share a few of them with you today. So without further ado, here are some of the neurological disorders that I can’t get out of my head:Read More->... Read more »
Kerkhoff, G. (2001) Spatial hemineglect in humans. Progress in Neurobiology, 63(1), 1-27. DOI: 10.1016/S0301-0082(00)00028-9
McNeil, J., & Warrington, E. (1993) Prosopagnosia: A face-specific disorder. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A, 46(1), 1-10. DOI: 10.1080/14640749308401064
- March 26, 2012
- 12:05 PM
- 371 views
The NFL Needs a Lesson in Bounded Ethicality
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
source
Over the last week we learned that the New Orleans Saints defense was delivering bonus money to players who were able to injure opposing offensive players. When the NFL discovered this bounty system, they conducted a swift investigation and handed out a stiff punishment: Gregg Williams, the defensive coordinator, was suspended indefinitely, Sean Payton, the head coach, was suspended for one year, and several fines were levied on the Saints organization itself. The result of these punishments is that we likely won't see the Saints making a run at the Super Bowl any time soon.
I'm sure the NFL thinks of this sort of punishment as sending a clear message to its teams: Don't promote or engage in unethical or unsportsmanlike acts that put the health and safety of other players at risk... or else the punishment will be severe. Will this severe punishment really deter future bounty systems? Or ensure greater health and safety of NFL players? Based on my understanding of psychology principles, I'm not convinced this penalty will do anything more than torpedo the 2012 season of one NFL franchise.
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Kern, M., & Chugh, D. (2009) Bounded Ethicality: The Perils of Loss Framing. Psychological Science, 20(3), 378-384. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02296.x
- March 23, 2012
- 02:26 AM
- 352 views
Friday Fun: The Ryan Gosling Obsession
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
When Bradley Cooper was named People Magazine's Sexist Man Alive this year, angry protesters swarmed People's headquarters (okay, there were only about 15 protesters, but still). According to one, Ryan's "left arm alone makes him the Sexiest Man Alive. Hello, look at his abs!" Ryan is also the subject of the "Hey Girl" meme, which started with a single tumblr that inspired multiple off-shoots, like feminist Ryan Gosling, typographer Ryan Gosling, and biostatistics Ryan Gosling (featured at left). What can explain this singular obsession? What is it that sets Ryan apart?
Source
1. His Feminine Side. According to a writer at Time Magazine, Ryan is "tough but emotional." He'll protect you (he recently broke up a fight in Manhattan), but he has a soft side too (he takes Ballet classes and sings with children). The appeal of this balance is reflected in research on attraction, which suggests that, contrary to popular belief, women don't necessarily always prefer super-masculine men. One study found, for example, that a majority of women in wealthy western countries like the US preferred men with feminine facial features (think Johnny Depp, as opposed to Vin Diesel). According to evolutionary perspectives, highly masculine features such as a strong jaw are presumed to be signs of strength, health, and better reproductive potential, but they are also linked with fidelity difficulties. The researchers reasoned that women in countries with better health care would be less concerned with virility and more concerned with caregiving potential. During ovulation, however, attraction to masculine features increases, as do wandering eyes. Some scholars go so far as to argue that women may cheat on their sensitive spouses with hunky guys at their most fertile points in order to maximize both the health of the offspring and the quality of its care. An alternative strategy is to find someone who is both hunky and sensitive, which may be why Ryan is in such high demand.
Source
2. His Humility. Despite being venerated by half of America, Ryan Gosling thinks he's "weird looking" and he laughs bashfully when reporters bring up his heartthrob status. This, of course, just makes people love him more. Although research supports the cliche that confidence is sexy, a healthy dose of humility may be even sexier: research suggests that people feel more attracted to and less threatened by those who display moderate levels of modesty. Ryan's demeanor may also make him appear more approachable and real, allowing his admirers to more easily indulge in their fantasies of one day becoming Mrs. (or Mr.) Ryan Gosling.
JTT
3. Good Old Conformity. One of the basic principles of social psychology concerns the powerful influence of the opinions and preferences of our peers. We like to think that we're more immune to these influences than we actually are. Is it possible that Ryan might be like that JTT look-alike in your middle school who everyone had a crush on but no one actually knew? This is not to say that Ryan is undeserving of the admiration he receives, but rather that his God-like status may be driven to some degree by the power of social influence, and the fuel of social media. But no need to give up your obsession - experts consider moderate celebrity worship to be a "healthy past-time," even if there's no hope for a Notebook-esque romance with Ryan in the near future.
References:
DeBruine LM, Jones BC, Crawford JR, Welling LL, & Little AC (2010). The health of a nation predicts their mate preferences: cross-cultural variation in women's preferences for masculinized male faces. Proceedings. Bi... Read more »
DeBruine LM, Jones BC, Crawford JR, Welling LL, & Little AC. (2010) The health of a nation predicts their mate preferences: cross-cultural variation in women's preferences for masculinized male faces. Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society, 277(1692), 2405-10. PMID: 20236978
Tangney, J. (2000) Humility: Theoretical Perspectives, Empirical Findings and Directions for Future Research. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 19(1), 70-82. DOI: 10.1521/jscp.2000.19.1.70
- March 21, 2012
- 03:10 AM
- 335 views
Neighborly Love: The Psychology of Mr. Rogers
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
Mr. Rogers is undoubtedly one of the most beloved cultural icons in American history. His TV show, Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, ran for more than thirty years and inspired many generations of young viewers. Admittedly, I remember sometimes finding the show a little cheesy and slow-paced (I wanted to be watching Saved By The Bell or Full House instead). But there was also something comforting about Mr. Rogers' kind, gentle demeanor. When he looked at me and said, I like you just the way you are, I felt like he really meant it, even though he didn't actually know me. Mr. Rogers' message of unconditional acceptance is a simple one, but from a social psychological perspective it's more complicated than it might seem. As much as we extoll Mr. Rogers, most of us do little more than pay lip service to his ideals, despite our best intentions. So what's getting in the way?
Read More-... Read more »
Baumeister, R., & Leary, M. (1995) The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497-529. DOI: 10.1037//0033-2909.117.3.497
Goetz, J., Keltner, D., & Simon-Thomas, E. (2010) Compassion: An evolutionary analysis and empirical review. Psychological Bulletin, 136(3), 351-374. DOI: 10.1037/a0018807
- March 19, 2012
- 02:07 PM
- 330 views
There are two ways to right: The perils of naive realism
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
Last weekend my husband and I got into a fight over a pillowcase. It was one of those times where it was clearly his fault, and I was sure he would apologize the next day. He didn't. Instead he seemed surprised that I wasn't apologizing to him. How could we have such different views of the same conflict? Which one of us was right?
It turns out that we were both right, in our own way. Misunderstandings like the one that led to a fight over a pillowcase occur because people tend to be naïve realists. That is, we believe that we see social interactions as they truly are, and that other people see them the same way that we do. However, one of the most enduring contributions of social psychology is the understanding that two people can interpret the same social interaction in very different ways based on their own personal knowledge and experiences (Asch, 1952). What does this mean for me? I thought my husband had taken my pillowcase as a joke. He knew he had done it on accident. These different pieces of knowledge led us to interpret the same conversation in very different ways.
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Robinson, R., Keltner, D., Ward, A., & Ross, L. (1995) Actual versus assumed differences in construal: "Naive realism" in intergroup perception and conflict. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68(3), 404-417. DOI: 10.1037//0022-3514.68.3.404
Todd, A., Hanko, K., Galinsky, A., & Mussweiler, T. (2010) When Focusing on Differences Leads to Similar Perspectives. Psychological Science, 22(1), 134-141. DOI: 10.1177/0956797610392929
- March 16, 2012
- 09:20 AM
- 350 views
Friday Fun: An Insider's Guide To Psychology Prose
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
source
I have been writing empirical articles for a little while now, and one of things I have come to notice is that there is a very specific style that social psychologists develop in their articles. It's not a style that is reflected in other disciplines of science or even in other realms of psychology. Nor is this style represented in popular guides to academic writing (e.g., Gullickson, 1997) or in the official publication manual of the American Psychological Association.
In today's Friday Fun post I thought that it might be fun to examine these stylistic techniques to (1) give you, as a consumer of science research, a bettering understanding of the articles you read, and (2) illustrate that sometimes journal article writing actually can have a second meaning. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on other patterns in science writing covered here or not. I've also included example quotes from my own writing!
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Gullickson, T. (1997) Writing in Psychology: A Student Guide. PsycCRITIQUES, 42(1). DOI: 10.1037/000075
APA Publications and Communications Board Working Group on Journal Article Reporting Standards. (2008) Reporting standards for research in psychology: why do we need them? What might they be?. The American psychologist, 63(9), 839-51. PMID: 19086746
- March 12, 2012
- 03:33 PM
- 443 views
Why we sometimes make bad decisions: The anchoring and adjustment heuristic
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
How much to pay for the house of your dreams
Imagine you are interested in buying a house and you've been out looking on the weekends. You find a 3 bedroom, 2 bath bungalow on a quiet street that already feels like home. The asking price is $475,000 (for those of us living in pricier areas, play along by imagining it's 1995). You want the house, but you don't want to pay too much. You've noticed other comparable homes in the area seem to go for anything from $350,000 to $600,000. So how much do you offer? Have a number in mind? Now, read through the scenario again, but this time imagine that the asking price is $439,999. How much would you offer then? Do you come up with a different number?
Let's try a different example: First, what are the last two digits of your telephone number? Got that number in mind? Now, I'd like you to think about what percentage of African countries are in the United Nations. Do you think there are more or less than the telephone number? How many more or less? Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman did a similar study in their seminal 1974 paper on biases in judgment and they found that people who had a lower number (after spinning a wheel of fortune) estimated fewer countries than people who had a higher number. For example, the median answer for people who spun a '10' was 25%, whereas the median answer for people who spun a '65' was 45%. So why does a random number influence our judgment about something unrelated?
Read More->... Read more »
Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1974) Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases. Science, 185(4157), 1124-1131. DOI: 10.1126/science.185.4157.1124
Epley, N., & Gilovich, T. (2006) The Anchoring-and-Adjustment Heuristic: Why the Adjustments Are Insufficient. Psychological Science, 17(4), 311-318. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01704.x
Epley, N., Keysar, B., Van Boven, L., & Gilovich, T. (2004) Perspective Taking as Egocentric Anchoring and Adjustment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(3), 327-339. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.87.3.327
Janiszewski C, & Uy D. (2008) Precision of the anchor influences the amount of adjustment. Psychological science, 19(2), 121-7. PMID: 18271859
- March 9, 2012
- 12:42 PM
- 411 views
Friday Fun: Four factors that keep your relationship fun
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
For years, psychologists tried to understand why relationships fail. They targeted dysfunction, focusing on factors like negative emotions and bad communication. But it turns out that not failing is not the same as succeeding when it comes to relationships. Couples who experience a lot of negative interactions are more likely to divorce in the first few years of marriage, but couples who don't experience a lot of positive affect are likely to divorce farther down the road. So how can we make sure our relationships thrive? Today, I'm going to tell you about four factors that may help.
You're never too old to have fun
1. Laugh and play together. Play isn't just for kids. Playfully teasing your partner can bring you closer together (remember, the key is to tease "playfully"!). Couples who laugh more are more satisfied in their relationships. Humor and laughter also seem to have a buffering effect - using humor during conflict can help you resolve the issue. So pick a comedy the next time you're choosing a movie for date night, come up with playful nicknames, and the next time that your partner says something that bothers you, try responding with a joke instead of getting defensive.
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Algoe, S., Gable, S., & Masiel, N. (2010) It's the little things: Everyday gratitude as a booster shot for romantic relationships. Personal Relationships, 17(2), 217-233. DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-6811.2010.01273.x
Aron, A., Norman, C., Aron, E., McKenna, C., & Heyman, R. (2000) Couples' shared participation in novel and arousing activities and experienced relationship quality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(2), 273-284. DOI: 10.1037//0022-3514.78.2.273
Gable, S., Reis, H., Impett, E., & Asher, E. (2004) What Do You Do When Things Go Right? The Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Benefits of Sharing Positive Events. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(2), 228-245. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.87.2.228
Keltner D, Young RC, Heerey EA, Oemig C, & Monarch ND. (1998) Teasing in hierarchical and intimate relations. Journal of personality and social psychology, 75(5), 1231-47. PMID: 9866185
CAMPBELL, L., MARTIN, R., & WARD, J. (2008) An observational study of humor use while resolving conflict in dating couples. Personal Relationships, 15(1), 41-55. DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-6811.2007.00183.x
- March 7, 2012
- 11:51 AM
- 352 views
In Just 1 Hour: Reducing the Achievement Gap
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
Today we bring you a post by another amazing guest blogger, Michelle Rheinschmidt. Michelle is a graduate student at Berkeley and her guest post highlights some of the astounding effects that 1 hour and a few posters can have on academic and career outcomes!
Source
We can probably think of a time when concerns about “fitting in” affected our behavior in adolescence, but what about in adulthood?
New environments, such as starting college or a new job), make people worry about whether they will be accepted by others. These concerns can be amplified when people belong to an underrepresented, stereotyped, or devalued social group (e.g., women in STEM fields, ethnic minority students). Research suggests that underrepresented students worry about whether they belong in college settings, and these concerns interfere with achievement. In fact, experimental research aimed at reducing belonging concerns has been shown to reduce race-based achievement gaps by over 50%.
Read More->... Read more »
Walton, G., & Cohen, G. (2007) A question of belonging: Race, social fit, and achievement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(1), 82-96. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.92.1.82
Walton GM, & Cohen GL. (2011) A brief social-belonging intervention improves academic and health outcomes of minority students. Science (New York, N.Y.), 331(6023), 1447-51. PMID: 21415354
Cheryan, S., Plaut, V., Davies, P., & Steele, C. (2009) Ambient belonging: How stereotypical cues impact gender participation in computer science. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97(6), 1045-1060. DOI: 10.1037/a0016239
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