Monthly Archives: July 2009
Delving into the Psychology of Belief and Superstition
A great deal of recent research is focused on identifying the psychological and neurological underpinnings of belief and superstition. In the first video below, Bruce Hood, experimental psychologist at Bristol University and author of SuperSense: Why We Believe in the Unbelievable, answers questions concerning how … Continue reading
When it Comes to Laying Blame, Bias Gives Master Minds a Pass
Consider this scenario: A major pharmaceutical company that manufacturers drugs for cancer patients decides to sell the rights to sell the drugs to a smaller company. The smaller company raises the price of the drugs from $160 to $1100 — … Continue reading
Filed under About Research
Being in Someone Else’s Head is Exhausting
More and more research suggests that our brains have difficulty differentiating between observing an action and actually participating in it. Empathy, for example, seems to hinge in part on our ability to “take on” another’s emotions through vicarious experience. I … Continue reading
Filed under About Research
Men Living with Mom and Dad Have a Taste for the Ultraviolence
The incidence of twentysomething men still living with their parents has been on the rise for many years, even more now as the economy tumbles. But a new study suggests that mom and dad are not doing junior any favors by letting … Continue reading
Filed under About Research
Would You Suffer Short-term Indignity to Preserve Long-term Integrity?
Let’s say that you’re negotiating with someone about how to split a sum of money that you both can rightly claim, but that the other person, regrettably for you, has in his possession. You have one opportunity to make the … Continue reading
Filed under About Research
Drinking and Sex Expectations are Partners in the Dating Mind
Drinking and sex are, needless to say, close acquaintances from way back. Even when only moderately consumed, alcohol functions as a sort of social lubricant. When heavily consumed, other things can, and often do, happen. But how do expectations figure … Continue reading
Filed under About Research
When Your Self-View is Skewed, So Goes Your Mood
Some people walk around this planet thinking so highly of themselves that their feet barely touch the ground. Others think so low of themselves that they hardly ever lift their chins. And according to a new study, both sorts of … Continue reading
Filed under About Research, Uncategorized
David DiSalvo is a science, technology and culture writer whose work appears in Scientific American Mind, Psychology Today and a variety of other places.
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