Science Of Small Talk

Nalini Ambady is an award-winning psychologist. And she desperately needs your assistance. You can help save her life by simply watching and re-posting this video. Read More

I’m not a bad person, I swear. I’m just busy, like most people. And like most people, give me an easy way out of adding to my to-do list, and I’ll take it... Read More

It seemed like this would be a great week to write about the psychology of the end of the world, but that was before the horrific elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut last Friday. And then it dawned on me. Perhaps the two stories have more in common than first meets the eye, at least when it comes to the insights they offer regarding human nature. Read More

It was more than 15 years ago that an episode of Seinfeld popularized the phrase "regifting," used to describe the taboo of turning an unwanted present into a gift for someone else. Now, almost two decades later, there's also published psychological research on the perceptions and emotions underlying the controversial act of the regift... Read More

The American electorate is more divided today than ever, cable news pundit wisdom informs us. So who, then, are these Independents who loom ever more important as a target demographic? How have they managed to remain above the fray and maintain objectivity? And just how independent are they, anyway? Read More

As sports fans, as in so many other walks of life, we gravitate toward the simple narrative in thinking about other people. I can't help but think of this as I watch LeBron James put the finishing touches on his first NBA title this evening... Read More

In yet another chapter of a continuing debate, the State of Oregon announced last week that its public schools must discontinue the use of Native American nicknames and mascots. For many people the debate comes down to one question: tribute or stereotype? Well, psychological research has something to say on the matter... Read More

The story of the tragic death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin continues to unfold. A great deal of attention is being devoted to debating whether George Zimmerman–the neighborhood watch captain who shot and killed the African-American 17-year-old–is a racist. But does the answer to this question really matter? Read More

Little things make a big difference in social interaction. Data indicate, for example, that smiling is contagious. That employees who smile more have customers who are more satisfied. And even that holding a pen in your teeth so that the ends of your lips curl upward—forcing your mouth into a smile you aren't even aware of—leads you to enjoy what you're doing more. Read More

In research just conducted in the United Kingdom, surreptitious surveillance of parking garages was used to compare the performance of men and women on a wide range of car-parking dimensions. What did the study find? And what do the findings tell us more generally regarding how we tend to think about sex differences? Read More

There's an old tongue-in-cheek line about going to see a fight and a hockey game broke out. Well, last night TV viewers tuned in to see a Republican presidential debate and an episode of Maury broke out. What impact does this have on those of us watching from home? Read More

Political pundits, campaign consultants, and exit pollsters can ask all the questions they want regarding how voters are making up their minds this election cycle. But when you get right down to it, our impressions of the candidates are also driven by forces we're not aware of. Like what the candidates look like. Read More

By now millions have watched and shared the Youtube video of Riley, the spirited 4-year-old who's sick of pink and wants toy companies everywhere to know that girls can like superheroes too. Why do we like Riley? Because she's right. Read More

You've been lied to. Or, at the very least, misled. Because it's simply not true that everything you need to know about life you learned in Kindergarten. And you don't know people as well as you think you do... Read More