Dr. Krzystof Kaniasty has done extensive research on how people cope and recover from natural and human-induced disasters. The key, he says, is community.
Academic study from USC and University of San Diego professors shows how mistreatment when coupled with race can make consumers pay more for goods and services to elevate status.
A University of Kentucky psychology professor just might have found the way to avoid the fall season's inevitable skirmishes between opposing football fans. And it could all start by simply appreciating the fact you can enjoy a beautiful fall afternoon watching a sport you love.
Using brain-imaging technology for the first time, scientists have gained new insights into how some students overcome their fears and succeed in math. For the highly math anxious, researchers found a strong link between math success and activity in a network of brain areas involved in controlling attention and regulating negative emotional reactions.
Men are funnier than women, but only just barely and mostly to other men. So says a psychology study from the University of California, San Diego Division of Social Sciences.
People who try to boost their self-esteem by telling themselves they’ve done a great job when they haven’t could end up feeling dejected instead, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.
If you’re dealing with a crabby co-worker or sour-faced friend, perhaps some new research can help. It sheds light on the question: Can eating sweets make you—well—sweet? A new study by researchers at North Dakota State University, Fargo, Gettysburg College and Saint Xavier University suggests people with a “sweet tooth” have sweeter dispositions.
A new study by a Temple University Fox School of Business professor finds those who view their car as an extension of themselves have stronger aggressive driving tendencies.
Psychologists looked at the extent to which children attribute fault to peers with undesirable characteristics, and how they anticipate interacting with these peers. They found that obese and aggressive peers are disliked and blamed for having these faults.
A new study reveals how the delay computer users sometimes experience when making video calls over the internet can actually help communication in some circumstances, while it is frustrating in many others.
A new study presents the first evidence that a basic sense of fairness and altruism appears in infancy. Babies as young as 15 months perceived the difference between equal and unequal distribution of food, and their awareness of equal rations was linked to their willingness to share a toy.
Children as young as 3 are likely to say that things made by humans have owners, but that natural objects, such as pine cones and sea shells, are not owned, according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association.
Our life experiences – the ups and downs, and everything in between – shape us, stay with us and influence our emotional set point as adults, according to a new study led by Virginia Commonwealth University researchers.
Parents under long-term stress often find it challenging to tap into the patience, responsiveness, and energy required for effective child rearing. Now research from a University of Rochester team helps to explain why chronic stress and parenting are such a toxic mix. The study finds that ongoing strains, like poverty or depression, disrupt the body’s natural stress response, making mothers more likely to engage in a host of problematic parenting behaviors.
While there’s no crying in baseball, as Tom Hanks’ character famously proclaimed in “A League of Their Own,” crying in college football might not be a bad thing, at least in the eyes of one’s teammates.
In looking for the culprit as to why people tend to display tinges of racism, sexism or ageism, even towards members of their own group, a research team, led by the Georgia Institute of Technology, found that our culture may be partially to blame. The research is posted in the latest edition of the British Journal of Social Psychology.
A single high dose of the hallucinogen psilocybin, the active ingredient in so-called “magic mushrooms,” was enough to bring about a measureable personality change lasting at least a year in nearly 60 percent of the 51 participants in a new study, according to the Johns Hopkins researchers who conducted it.
When you start a new job, your boss may be more likely to trust you than you are to trust him or her, a new study suggests. The reason has to with the role that social status plays in relationships.
Racial perception is altered by cues as simple as clothes. Computerized faces with business attire were more likely to be seen as White while faces with blue-collar attire were seen as Black. Tracking trajectories of the computer mouse used in choosing a race revealed subtle bias.
Stereotypes suggest women are more cooperative than men, but an analysis of 50 years of research shows that men are equally cooperative, particularly in situations involving a dilemma that pits the interests of an individual against the interests of a group.
UCLA researchers and colleages have found that certain types of subtle advertisements reduce activity in the decision-making areas of the brain, suggesting that some ads seduce, rather than persuade, consumers to buy their products.
Intuition may lead people toward a belief in the divine and help explain why some people have more faith in God than others, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.
Wouldn’t it be nice if all those hours kids spent glued to their PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 or Nintendo DS video games actually resulted in something tangible? Better grades, perhaps? Improved concentration? Superior driving skills?
Young children who watch fast-paced, fantastical television shows may become handicapped in their readiness for learning, according to a new University of Virginia study published in the October issue of the journal Pediatrics.
Mounting casualities in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars might seem like a reason for people to denounce the war and demand a way out. But a new “sunk-cost” psychology study finds that highlighting casualties before asking for opinions on these wars actually sways people toward a pro-war attitude. This sunk-cost mindset may also explain why losers stay in stock market.
Embedding advertisements in violent video games leads to lower brand recall and negative brand attitudes suggesting advertisers should think twice about including such ads in a media campaign, according to researchers at The University of Texas at Austin.
A new paper by USC researchers reveals why bad eating habits persist even when the food we’re eating doesn’t taste good. The study also reveals the surprisingly simple ways we can counter our habits to gain control over what we eat.
Facial expressions have been called the “universal language of emotion,” but people from different cultures perceive happy, sad or angry facial expressions in unique ways, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.
A landmark study in the late 1960s and early 1970s used marshmallows and cookies to assess the ability of preschool children to delay gratification. If they held off on the temptation to eat a treat, they were rewarded with more treats later. Some of the children resisted, others didn't. A newly published follow-up revisits some of the same children, now adults, revealing that these differences remain: Those better at delaying gratification as children remained so as adults; likewise, those who wanted their cookie right away as children were more likely to seek instant gratification as adults. Furthermore, brain imaging showed key differences between the two groups in two areas: the prefrontal cortex and the ventral striatum.
Scientists from the Monell Center report that approximately one third of patients with unexplained body malodor test positive for the metabolic disorder trimethylaminuria (TMAU). A diagnosis offers relief to these individuals, as once the disease is identified, the debilitating symptoms can be ameliorated.
Not only does the phenomenon called baby fever exist, it is found in both men and women, according to researchers from Kansas State University. Gary Brase, associate professor of psychology, and his wife, Sandra Brase, a project coordinator with the College of Education, have spent nearly 10 years researching baby fever: the physical and emotional desire to have a baby.
Giving your heart to a supportive spouse turns out to be an excellent way to stay alive, according to new research from the University of Rochester. Happily wedded people who undergo coronary bypass surgery are more than three times as likely to be alive 15 years later as their unmarried counterparts, reports a study published online August 22 in Health Psychology, a publication of the American Psychological Association.
When it comes to mental illness, the sexes are different: Women are more likely to be diagnosed with anxiety or depression, while men tend toward substance abuse or antisocial disorders, according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association.
Fatigue can lead to dangerous errors by doctors, pilots and others in high-risk professions, but individuals who work together as a team display better problem-solving skills than those who face their fatigue alone, new research shows.
A new study finds that stress experienced by young female rats can impair their future offspring, but can also improve resilience. Similar effects might transpire in humans.
Think about how much you fight and argue with your spouse today. A new study suggests that your current level of conflict probably won’t change much for the remainder of your marriage.
Inpatient hospitalizations for children and adolescents with a psychiatric diagnosis increased significantly over a 12-year period (1996 to 2007), according to a report in the early online edition in Archives of General Psychiatry.
Biologists and psychologists know that light affects mood, but a new University of Virginia study indicates that light may also play a role in modulating fear and anxiety.
For many young adults, college is the most exciting time in their life. For others, it’s a time of despair, leading to suicide. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among people between the ages of 14 and 25 in the United States. Wichita State University psychologist Maureen Dasey-Morales talks about the warning signs and myths surrounding suicide.
High schools in Virginia where students reported a high rate of bullying had significantly lower scores on standardized tests that students must pass to graduate, according to research presented at the 119th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association.
Social media present risks and benefits to children but parents who try to secretly monitor their kids’ activities online are wasting their time, according to a presentation at the 119th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association.
People who are cyberstalked or harassed online experience higher levels of stress and trauma than people who are stalked or harassed in person, according to a presentation at the American Psychological Association’s 119th Annual Convention.
Dieters may not need as much willpower as they think, if they make simple changes in their surroundings that can result in eating healthier without a second thought, said a consumer psychologist at the American Psychological Association’s 119th Annual Convention.
Almost 1 million criminal cases may be compromised each year in the United States because suspects don’t understand their constitutional rights, according to research presented at the 119th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association.
Picture black and white students at an Ivy League college learning about black students who are a year or so ahead of them in that school. They’re told that the older black students were anxious about fitting in and how they would be viewed in college when they first arrived. But as the older black students got more involved in campus life, they began to find the school rewarding, even exciting as their life course took shape.
Nearly half of college students who are U.S. military veterans reported thinking of suicide and 20 percent said they had planned to kill themselves, rates significantly higher than among college students in general, according to a study presented at the American Psychological Association’s 119th Annual Convention.
The American Psychological Association will feature three public demonstrations of psychological science applications, including one that enables “seeing” with one’s ears rather than eyes.