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Psychology News Roundup: ICYMI January 18, 2019

Highlights this week include the roots of anger, what morality does to humor, and the science of statistics anxiety. Recently in the news, written a post, or have selections you'd like us to consider? Email us, use the hashtag #SPSPblog, or tweet us directly @spspnews.

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Online Mirrors: Video Bloggers and Viewers Share Emotions

An amusing commercial shows someone having a bad day, and how that person’s mood affects each person down the line, with more bad moods. This emotional “contagion” may be a real-world phenomenon, and it appears that what we experience online can have a similar effect. Examining over 2000 video blogs, or vlogs on YouTube, researchers from Tilburg University, Netherlands, found we mirror the emotions of those we see online and we seek out people who share our emotions.

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Aggressive Behavior Brings Emotional Pain to the Sadist

Washington, DC - People with sadistic personality traits tend to be aggressive, but only enjoy their aggressive acts if it harms their victims. According to a series of studies of over 2000 people, these actions ultimately leave sadists feeling worse than they felt before their aggressive act.

The research appears in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, published by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.

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Hate: Dropping the H-Bomb

Image of four type pieces spelling out HATE

“Hate” – the term is becoming an all too familiar. “Hate group” members and sympathizers use “hate speech” and commit “hate crimes.” Recent events on the worldwide sociopolitical landscape have revealed the often intensely visceral reactions people have when they see actions that they consider to be hate. The three little words – “I HATE you” – can damage interpersonal, intergroup, and international relationships in ways that “I am angry at you” or “I dislike you” cannot begin to match.

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Psychology News Roundup: ICYMI November 30, 2018

Catch up on what you might have missed in this two-week roundup on thankfulness, political leanings, stereotypes, replication, and words. In the twitter section we include links to a recent #SPSPchat, and more information for an upcoming Rstats webinar from SPSP.

Recently in the news, written a post, or have selections you'd like us to consider? Email us, use the hashtag #SPSPblog, or tweet us directly @spspnews.

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Psychology News Roundup: ICYMI November 9, 2018

A busy news week means relevant material ahead; read what you may have missed online.

Recently in the news, written a post, or have selections you'd like us to consider? Email us, use the hashtag #SPSPblog, or tweet us directly @spspnews.

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Does Empathy Have a Dark Side?

Image of front of man's face, half is brightly lit, half is dark

Empathy – defined broadly as the capacity to recognise, feel and/or react compassionately to others’ emotional states – has a tradition of being conceptualised positively. Manifold societal movements seek to encourage a culture of empathic concern, and a pervading “empathy deficit” was of a particular poignancy to the 44th President of the United States. In many ways, empathy is a positive social force. Psychologists have linked a greater propensity to empathise to a multitude of desirable outcomes including

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How Women and Men’s Different Emotional Experiences Shape Moral Decisions

Image of man and woman sitting on floor, back-to-back, thinking

Negative stereotypes about women’s emotionality have persisted throughout history, leading to many damaging myths about their decision-making capacities in the social, professional, and political sphere. Historically, women’s emotionality was also considered to undermine their ability to make moral decisions. Women were often viewed as morally inferior to men because they based moral judgments on emotion rather than logic. In stark contrast to this early view, we now know that self-conscious moral emotions, like guilt, are critical to moral judgment and moral behavior (

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Psychology News Round-Up: ICYMI July 20, 2018

This week round-up covers the gamut — from sex to cynicism to the World Cup. See what you may have missed online.

Recently in the news, written a post, or have selections you'd like us to consider? Email us, use the hashtag #SPSPblog, or tweet us directly @spspnews.

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The Psychology of Social Class

Image of suburban houses clustered very close together

By the turn of the millennium, before the banking crash of 2008 and the subsequent years of economic austerity imposed on citizens by many western governments, there was a view – even among politicians in left-leaning political parties – that class-based politics was no longer relevant. In the words of the UK’s Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, “We are all middle class now.” These words were uttered in 1997, probably encouraged by a rising tide of prosperity that appeared to be benefitting most, if not all, members of society. Twenty-one years later, the world looks very different.

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