Ulterior Motives

How goals, both seen and unseen, drive behavior

Art Markman Ph.D.

You May Be Less Honest With Others Than You Should Be

There are all sorts of situations in which you probably avoid being honest in conversations. Perhaps you shouldn't avoid it.

People Learn to Punish Moral Violations

When you see someone do something you consider morally wrong, chances are that you will experience some outrage or frustration at their action.

Happiness and Social Interaction

If you knew what would make you happy, can you actually pursue a strategy that will increase your satisfaction with life?

The Short-Term Impact of Warning Labels on Sugary Drinks

Public health campaigns spend a lot of time trying to influence people’s behavior. The campaign to reduce smoking rates is a great example. Now, the focus is on sugar.

How Do You Explain Other People’s Behavior?

When you see other people in the world, there are several predictions you often make about them. How do you determine what kind of explanation to give?

When Teaching Basic Information, Be Blunt

One of the complexities of teaching information to people is that they have to be ready to hear the information you present. Sometimes, simpler is better.

Money, Happiness, and Socioeconomic Status

Several studies over the past decade have found that buying experiences makes people happier than buying objects. New research shows that isn't always the case.

A Surprising Reason Why Learning Is Harder with Noise

There are lots of noisy environments in life in which we are expected to learn. Why does noise make learning harder?

Intelligence Makes Your Intuitions More Logical

Some people are really good at logical reasoning. Other people seem more strongly swayed by whether the information fits with what they already know.

Word Meanings Aren’t Completely Arbitrary

A centerpiece of the study of linguistics has been that the words we use are arbitrarily related to the concepts they refer to. But they aren't completely arbitrary.

Imagining Alternatives Can Help You Negotiate

It is often easier to negotiate with someone when you already have an alternative. If you don't have an alternative, you could still imagine that you do.

Kids’ Self-Control Is Influenced by Their Peer Group

Much of your behavior is affected by what other people are doing. Why is that so?

Can Your Name Match Your Face?

There is a well-known set of studies in cognitive psychology on what is called the Kiki-Bouba effect. How does it affect face perception?

People’s Intentions Affect Your Judgments of Wrongness

A common defense people give when they do something wrong is “I didn’t mean to do it.” Does intention really matter in judging wrongdoing?

Rituals Have Self-Control Value

A ritual is a behavior that people engage in routinely where the behavior itself is not crucial for some goal, but is performed anyhow. What benefit do these behaviors have?

Narcissism Is Not Just High Self-Esteem

At one level, narcissism shares a lot with self-esteem. Both narcissists and people with high self-esteem feel good about themselves and their accomplishments.

Giving Advice Creates a Sense of Power

There are many ways that someone can feel powerful in the world. Some of them are actions you can take to feel a greater sense of power.

Does Confidence Reflect Accuracy, or Just Consensus?

Some facts that seem perfectly obvious are also incorrect. Confidence may be more a marker of how likely other people are to agree with a statement than its truth.

Confidence and Certainty From Advisors

Confidence sells. What kind of confidence are people most attuned to when they seek confident experts?

People Prefer to Be Evaluated Relative to Themselves

Evaluation plays a central role in school and work. Grades, promotions, raises, and awards are all determined by giving people some sense of their level of performance.

Maybe You Shouldn’t Take the Perspective of Other People

When you want to know what someone else is thinking or feeling, the old adage to “put yourself in someone else’s shoes” typically springs to mind.

How You Explain Other People's Behavior

When you see other people in the world, you make several predictions about them. How do you analyze a situation to explain what they are doing?

No Stereotype Threat for Women Chess Players

Stereotype threat reflects that people who have a negative self-relevant stereotype about performance may underperform on tests of that ability. What about chess?

Too Much Charisma Is Bad for Leadership

The word charisma is a blanket term for a set of behaviors or traits a person has that make them engaging and cause others to want to listen to them and follow them.

What Aspects of Humans Do People Think Can Be Explained?

Psychology aims to explain many dimensions of the human experience. But what do people believe can be explained scientifically?

How Verbal Descriptions Affect Identification of Criminals

Lineups are an important part of police investigations. In what ways do people's descriptions of perpetrators affect accuracy of identification from lineups?

Why Are You Often Disappointed With Choices?

Disappointment with a choice is a common experience. Interesting new research suggests you can get errors without systematic biases in the way choices are made.

Objects Within Reach Grab Attention

Chances are, you spend a lot of time staring at screens. You look at a lot of pictures and watch a lot of videos. Is that just as good as the real thing?

Money, Charity, and Emotions

The amazing thing about money is that every dollar is supposed to be the same as every other dollar. But psychologically, every dollar is not the same.

Dogs and Object Permanence

The work of Jean Piaget shaped our understanding of cognitive development in children, and it also gave us several tasks that we can use to study other animals.

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