Describing Groups To Children Using Generic Language Can Accidentally Teach Them Social Stereotypes
By Matthew Warren
When we talk to children about the characteristics of boys and girls, our word choice and syntax can profoundly shape what they take away from the conversation. Even attempts to dispel stereotypes can backfire: as we recently reported, telling kids that girls are “as good as” boys at maths can actually leave them believing that boys are naturally better at the subject and that girls have to work harder.
Other work has shown that “generic” language can also perpetuate stereotypes: saying that boys “like to play football”, for instance, can make children believe that all boys like to ...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - April 20, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Developmental Gender Language Source Type: blogs
Opinions Based On Feelings Are Surprisingly Stable
By Emily Reynolds
Emotional states can be fleeting and somewhat inexplicable — you can feel great one minute and down in the dumps the next, sometimes for no apparent reason. It follows, then, that opinions based on emotion are likely to be equally fleeting: if you’re in a bad mood when you take part in a survey or review a product, then surely the attitudes measured and recorded will be just as transient too.
But according to a series of studies by Matthew D. Rocklage from the University of Massachusetts Boston and Andrew Luttrell from Ball State University, this isn’t actually the case. Instead, they report ...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - April 19, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Emotion Source Type: blogs
Hand Gestures And Sexist Language: The Week ’s Best Psychology Links
Our weekly round-up of the best psychology coverage from elsewhere on the web
It’s wrong to say that introverts have fared better during the pandemic, writes Lis Ku at The Conversation. Instead, studies have shown that in many ways introverts’ wellbeing has suffered more than that of extraverts. This could be because extraverts may have more social support, for instance, or because extraversion is related to superior coping strategies — although Ku emphasises that there are likely many other traits, beliefs and values that are also important in determining people’s response to lockdown.
A new trial s...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - April 16, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Weekly links Source Type: blogs
Good Time Management Seems To Have A Bigger Impact On Wellbeing Than Work Performance
By Emily Reynolds
As our lives have become busier, desire to do things quickly and efficiently has grown — something the rise of speed reading apps, lack of break-taking at work, and a general focus on “productivity” has shown. Good time management skills, therefore, are now highly prized both at work and at home.
But do such techniques actually work? In a meta-analysis published in PLOS One, Brad Aeon from Concordia University and colleagues find that they do — but perhaps not for the reasons you’d expect. While time management skills have become more important in evaluations of job performance si...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - April 15, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Mental health Occupational Time Source Type: blogs
People Who Identify With Humanity As A Whole Are More Likely To Say They ’d Follow Pandemic Guidelines And Help Others
By Emily Reynolds
The ever-changing public health measures rolled out during the coronavirus pandemic haven’t always been crystal clear. But several instructions have remained the same throughout: wear a mask, wash your hands, and stay two metres apart.
Despite the strength and frequency of this messaging, however, the public hasn’t always complied. Though the exact reason for this non-compliance is clearly complex, researchers from the University of Washington have proposed one factor that could influence people’s behaviour: the extent to which they identify with other human beings. Writing in PLOS One, they ...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - April 14, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Coronavirus Health Social Source Type: blogs
Episode 24: How Children Learn Through Play
This is Episode 24 of PsychCrunch, the podcast from the British Psychological Society’s Research Digest, sponsored by Routledge Psychology. Download here.
https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/psychcrunch/20210408_PsychCrunch_Ep24_Mx1.mp3
What role does play have in child development? In this episode, our presenter Ginny Smith talks to some top play researchers to find out how children learn new skills and concepts through play, and explores what teachers and parents can do to encourage this kind of learning. Ginny also discovers how the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way kids play and learn...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - April 13, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Developmental Educational Podcast Source Type: blogs
We ’re Worse At Remembering Exactly What We’ve Given To Friends Than What We’ve Given To Strangers
By Emma Young
Let’s say a friend asks you to help them to move house. When deciding how much time you can offer, you might consider how much you’ve helped that particular friend lately (and perhaps how much they’ve helped you). But a new paper in Social Psychology suggests that if that friend is particularly close, you’re likely to have a poorer memory of just how much time you’ve dedicated to helping them. You might offer more help than you would to an acquaintance not just because this friend is closer, but because your brain’s distinction between a close friend and yourself is blurrier.
The idea t...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - April 12, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Memory Social Source Type: blogs
Spotting Liars And Fixing Things: The Week ’s Best Psychology Links
Our weekly round-up of the best psychology coverage from elsewhere on the web
You might have heard of the “Mozart effect”, the idea that playing babies classical music can boost their intelligence. But is there any truth to that claim? In a word, no — but check out this nice video from Claudia Hammond at BBC Reel to learn more about where the myth came from.
Studies have found that both male and female observers — including healthcare professionals — underestimate the amount of pain that women are experiencing. We may overestimate men’s pain as well, and there’s some evidence that these gender b...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - April 9, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Weekly links Source Type: blogs
We Have A Strong Urge To Find Out What Might Have Been — Even When This Leads To Feelings Of Regret
By guest blogger Anna Greenburgh
Regret seems to be a fundamental part of the human experience. As James Baldwin wrote, “Though we would like to live without regrets, and sometimes proudly insist that we have none, this is not really possible, if only because we are mortal.” Expressions of regret are easy to find throughout the history of thought, and, as indicated in the Old Testament, intrinsic to regret is a sense of emotional pain: “God regretted making humans on earth; God’s heart was saddened”.
Given the aversive experience of regret, traditional models of decision-making predict that people should t...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - April 8, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Cognition Emotion Source Type: blogs
When People Hold Morally-Based Attitudes, Two-Sided Messages Can Encourage Them To Consider Opposing Viewpoints
By Emma Young
Where do you stand on pheasant shooting? Or single-religion schools? Or abortion? However you feel, your attitudes probably have a strong moral basis. This makes them especially resistant to change. And since anyone who holds an opposing view, based on their own moral stance, is unlikely to be easily swayed by your arguments, these kinds of disputes tend to lead to blow-outs within families and workplaces, as well, of course, as online.
So, anything that can encourage people to be more open to at least thinking about an alternative point of view could be helpful, reasoned Mengran Xu and Richard E. Pett...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - April 7, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Morality Source Type: blogs
Bullying Between “Frenemies” Is Surprisingly Common
By Emily Reynolds
We already know that bullying can be one way of climbing the social ladder for teenagers. Research published in 2019, for instance, found that teenagers who combine aggressive behaviour with prosociality see the most social success.
But who, exactly, are teenagers bullying? According to Robert Faris from the University of California, Davis and colleagues, writing in the American Journal of Sociology, it might not be who you’d expect. Rather than bullying those more distant from them, the team finds, teens often pick on their own friends.
Data came from a longitudinal study of middle and hi...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - April 6, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: bullying Developmental Social Source Type: blogs
We Have Many More Than Five Senses — Here’s How To Make The Most Of Them
By Emma Young
We’re all familiar with the phrase “healthy body, healthy mind”. But this doesn’t just refer to physical fitness and muscle strength: for a healthy mind, we need healthy senses, too. Fortunately, there’s now a wealth of evidence that we can train our many senses, to improve not only how we use our bodies, but how we think and behave, as well as how we feel. Trapped as we are in our own “perceptual bubbles”, it can be hard to appreciate not only that other people sense things differently — but that so can we, if we only put in a little effort.
But if we’re going to make...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - April 1, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Feature Perception Smell Source Type: blogs
Companies ’ Succession Announcements Can Inadvertently Make Work Life Harder For Incoming Female CEOs
By Emma Young
When an organisation appoints a new male CEO, the announcement will typically highlight his past achievements and the competencies that make him ideal for the job. What if the new CEO is a woman? The widely expected, gender-neutral thing to do is, of course, to make precisely the same type of announcement. However, according to the team behind a new paper in the Journal of Applied Psychology, this can make work life more difficult for her, and shorten the time that she spends in that role. Priyanka Dwiwedi at Texas A&M University and her colleagues base this striking conclusion on an extensive analysi...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - March 31, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Gender Occupational Source Type: blogs
People With Depression Show Hints Of Distorted Thinking In The Language They Use On Social Media
By Emily Reynolds
A key facet of cognitive behavioural therapy is challenging “cognitive distortions”, inaccurate thought patterns that often affect those with depression. Such distortions could include jumping to conclusions, catastrophising, black and white thinking, or self-blame — and can cause sincere distress to those experiencing them.
But how do we track cognitive distortion in those with depression outside of self-reporting? A new study, published in Nature Human Behaviour, explores cognitive distortions online, finding that those with depression have higher levels of distortion in the language th...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - March 30, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Cognition Mental health Twitter Source Type: blogs
Frequent Workplace Interruptions Are Annoying — But May Also Help You Feel That You Belong
By Emma Young
Workplace disturbances during the Covid-19 pandemic aren’t quite what they used to be. Now you’re more likely to be interrupted by a cat jumping on your keyboard or a partner trying to make a cup of tea while you’re in a meeting — but if you can cast your mind back to what it was like to work in an office, perhaps you can recall how annoying it was to be disturbed by colleagues dropping by with questions or comments. These “workplace intrusions” used to be common in offices, and no doubt will be again. There’s certainly plenty of evidence that they interfere with our ability to compl...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - March 29, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Occupational Social Source Type: blogs
