Birth of a story: How new parents find meaning after childbirth hints at how they will adjust

How you tell the story of a momentous event can help you make sense of what happened. Research finds new moms’ and dads’ narratives around childbirth held clues about their transition to parenthood.

Darby Saxbe, Associate Professor of Psychology, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences • conversation
June 5, 2023 • ~9 min

The allure of the ad-lib: New research identifies why people prefer spontaneity in entertainment

Audiences love improvised, off-the-cuff entertainment, and new research suggests it’s because spontaneity seems to offer a glimpse of the performer’s authentic self.

Katherine Du, Assistant Professor of Marketing, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee • conversation
June 2, 2023 • ~5 min

To have better disagreements, change your words – here are 4 ways to make your counterpart feel heard and keep the conversation going

Researchers have identified ways to have more productive conversations – even when you’re talking to someone who holds an opposite view.

Julia Minson, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School • conversation
May 31, 2023 • ~9 min

Politicians love to appeal to common sense – but does it trump expertise?

We often view common sense as an authority of collective knowledge that is universal and constant.

Magda Osman, Principal Research Associate in Basic and Applied Decision Making, Cambridge Judge Business School • conversation
May 31, 2023 • ~8 min

How the Manchester Arena attack showed that altruism is human instinct

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by horror at terrorist attacks. But the first impulse of people during emergencies is often to help others.

Steve Taylor, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Leeds Beckett University • conversation
May 19, 2023 • ~7 min

Evolution is making us treat AI like a human, and we need to kick the habit

When you stop treating AI as another human, you’ll get on with it better.

Neil Saunders, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics, University of Greenwich • conversation
May 16, 2023 • ~7 min

AI: evolution is making us treat it like a human, and we need to kick the habit

When you stop treating AI as another human, you’ll get on with it better.

Neil Saunders, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics, University of Greenwich • conversation
May 16, 2023 • ~7 min

Debunking the Dunning-Kruger effect – the least skilled people know how much they don't know, but everyone thinks they are better than average

The idea that the least skilled are the most unaware of their incompetency is pervasive in science and pop culture. But a new analysis of the data shows that the Dunning-Kruger effect may not be true.

Eric C. Gaze, Senior Lecturer of Mathematics, Bowdoin College • conversation
May 8, 2023 • ~8 min

Tiredness of life: the growing phenomenon in western society

Tiredness of life is a distinct form of suffering in which life seems stripped of meaning.

Sam Carr, Reader in Education with Psychology and Centre for Death and Society, University of Bath • conversation
May 3, 2023 • ~6 min

Attachment theory: how an obsession with its classifications can harm children

Attachment theory is often invoked in child protection investigations – in a simplified and overconfident manner.

Tommie Forslund, Postdoctoral Fellow of Psychology, Stockholm University • conversation
May 2, 2023 • ~8 min

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