School phone bans have had an unexpected positive side effect—reading in schools has skyrocketed. Kids are taking massive numbers of books out from the library. 📚 My bet is that there are lots of u expected side effects of phones and social media www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/o...

Review by @rmpillai.bsky.social et al suggests social identity-based group identification and motives influence health behaviours in multiple, mutually reinforcing ways, which explains public health polarization: buff.ly/4tsTuum via coauthor @jayvanbavel.bsky.social

Our new paper explains the #polarization of public health Identifying with a social group can shape people’s beliefs and values, leading them to act in ways that have consequences for their health From vaccine hesitancy to smoking cessation, identity plays a critical role: osf.io/preprints/ps...

Here is my best guidance, rendered beautifully by the great John Lithgow. I first published these lessons nearly nine years ago, in late 2016. They open the twenty chapters of "On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century." snyder.substack.com/p/twenty-les...

“We all see where this is going,” David Letterman said of ABC’s move to suspend Jimmy Kimmel’s talk show after pressure from the Trump administration. He also joked that he had been “smart enough to cancel myself.”

School phone bans have had an unexpected positive side effect—reading in schools has skyrocketed. Kids are taking massive numbers of books out from the library. 📚 My bet is that there are lots of u expected side effects of phones and social media www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/o...

Building smart teams and organizations depends on two things: how we think and how we treat each other. How we think and how we treat each other are shaped by social norms. As such, they are collective properties. Get a sneak peak at the our new book: www.powerofusnewsletter.com/p/smarter-to...

Our new paper explains the #polarization of public health Identifying with a social group can shape people’s beliefs and values, leading them to act in ways that have consequences for their health From vaccine hesitancy to smoking cessation, identity plays a critical role: osf.io/preprints/ps...

People across the political spectrum suddenly agree that social media can lead to political violence and online calls for civil war have skyrocketed I explain how social media rewards negativity, division and hostility--and what we can all do about it: www.powerofusnewsletter.com/p/social-med...

People across the political spectrum suddenly agree that social media can lead to political violence and online calls for civil war have skyrocketed I explain how social media rewards negativity, division and hostility--and what we can all do about it: www.powerofusnewsletter.com/p/social-med...

"When one group decides that tyrannizing or obliterating a different group is a sacred value, that can quickly spiral into violence...violations of our sacred values cause outrage and anger, and an unwillingness to compromise." www.powerofusnewsletter.com/p/the-costs-...

Did you know that people who move to more walkable cities in the US end up walking more? This seems obvious, but is quite solid evidence for the influence of the built environment on human activity and well-being. Read more in the @nature.com paper here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

(4/7) In the U.S., they studied 52 conspiracy beliefs: Republicans tended to believe those targeting the left, while Democrats believed those targeting the right—showing no clear partisan monopoly on belief in conspiracies.

Our need to belong increases our dependence on social media feedback.

Across 44 countries, individuals with stronger free will belief were more punitive toward everyday moral transgressions. www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-6...

Cognitive warfare has been shown to be effective. When it aligns a community to believe another community presents an existential threat, it can catalyze systemic risks including dehumanization, crimes against humanity, and related violence. greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item...

Use of the word "evil" in official congressional e-newsletters, over time, by party

Harvard sued Francesca Gino for defamation in August, alleging the former Harvard Business School professor modified a spreadsheet on her laptop, then backdating it to 2010, so it would appear that she had been sent false data by another researcher rather than altered it herself.

No Evidence of Experimenter Demand Effects in Three Online Psychology Experiments: https://osf.io/g6xhf

The trend has alarmed job-market watchers. “Such an increase is unprecedented outside of recessions,” said an economist of the steady worsening of the long-term unemployment rate. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/b...

despite much research pointing to a "moral primacy" view where pursuing moral goodness will bring people closest to feelings of nearness to the true self, and win you friends and a good reputation--people want to see a plurality of values in an ideal society and an ideal life

Self-care is overrated—helping others has the biggest benefits for everyone involved A new 2-week intervention finds that helping others improves well-being more than "self-kindness", with benefits for depressed mood, anxiety, and loneliness due to social connection psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-...

Comparing fiction and non-fiction as broad categories might be misleading. Non-fiction isn't a single genre: some books are probably much more powerful than others and might excel at different things. Could some be especially effective at uniting humankind and reducing conflict?

“In Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. Those affected receive a small apartment & counselling with no preconditions. 4 out of 5 people affected make their way back into a stable life. And all this is CHEAPER than accepting homelessness.” It costs a lot less to house people.

Oxford Dean Resigns Amid Accusations Of Sexual Harassment By A Female Colleague

Can reading a book make you a better person? Reading books is declining. But people who read weekly book excerpts & podcasts instead of meditating had the greatest reductions in aggression and growth in compassionate love, positive attitudes & altruism www.powerofusnewsletter.com/p/can-readin...

Can reading a book make you a better person? Reading books is declining. But people who read weekly book excerpts & podcasts instead of meditating had the greatest reductions in aggression and growth in compassionate love, positive attitudes & altruism www.powerofusnewsletter.com/p/can-readin...

🚨What has happened at Texas A&M this week should concern every Texan. Not only has the integrity of academic freedom come under fire, but the due process rights of a faculty member have been trampled at the urging of state politicians + the governor himself. www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...

Social media undercuts public health and institutional trust A new study finds causal evidence that morally charged attacks generate anger and social media engagement which exacerbates the political polarization of public health www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10....

Extreme views are heavily over-represented on social media Social platforms’ tendency to reward hostile content creates incentives that systematically reward simplistic messages and extreme positions and this fuels populism www.ft.com/content/9251... via @jburnmurdoch.ft.com

Recent research in #PSPR highlights why people's perceptions of inequality matter more than official statistics for predicting political behavior. The study outlines five key psychological processes that shape how we see inequality around us. Learn more: ow.ly/C7Y550WTS5p

📉 Religion’s decline in stages A global study finds secularisation often follows three steps: less public ritual, then weaker personal belief, and finally loss of religious identity. 🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41... #SciComm 🧪 #Religion

Extreme views are heavily over-represented on social media Social platforms’ tendency to reward hostile content creates incentives that systematically reward simplistic messages and extreme positions and this fuels populism www.ft.com/content/9251... via @jburnmurdoch.ft.com

Learn about how rethinking hypocrisy can improve our politics, business, and personal relationships in a new book by behavioral scientist Michael Hallsworth. "The Hypocrisy Trap" releases Oct. 14th: mitpress.mit.edu/978026205094... @mhallsworth.bsky.social

In this new Commentary in @natclimate.nature.com, I reflect on the recent focus on truth discernment in #misinfo research and argue that this outcome alone may not be beneficial to society if interventions do not improve behaviour and other outcomes because... 1/ www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I heard that students need to have a 1st author paper to get into a PhD program This is not true in psychology--most students we admit at NYU & most of the students from my own lab who got into PhD programs do not have publications, let alone 1st author publications www.science.org/content/arti...

New preprint: From vaccinations to masking, politics predicts health behaviors. In this review we discuss these differences in light of classic psychological theories of group identity and behavioral decision-making. We welcome any feedback on this working paper! osf.io/preprints/ps...

Looking pretty grim out there :-(.

Self-care is overrated—helping others has the biggest benefits for everyone involved A new 2-week intervention finds that helping others improves well-being more than "self-kindness", with benefits for depressed mood, anxiety, and loneliness due to social connection psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-...

Indeed! What are some of the books that had the greatest impact on you? Feel free to share as comments or private messages! We are interested in hearing your book suggestions

Has a book ever changed your life? While the benefits of reading fiction are well-studied, the impact of nonfiction is largely unexplored @remi-theriault.com will see if nonfiction can foster inclusive social identities, reduce polarization & promote cooperation www.mindandlife.org/media/readin...

The TiCS issue featuring our paper on "A timeline of cognitive costs in decision-making" is now available online 😄 Honored to have been a part of this awesome interdisciplinary mega-collab led by Christin Schulze (UNSW Sydney) www.cell.com/trends/cogni...

Absolutely stoked to share Season 2 of the Stress Puzzle! We have a phenomenal lineup of guests this season to help us all think more deeply about stress ~in context~ including @jayvanbavel.bsky.social, @ajuaduker.bsky.social @mwkraus.bsky.social, Danielle King, Mary-Frances O'Connor, and more! 🧩

Our new research finds that people are willing to cheat if it benefits their group — even when they gain nothing themselves. "the risk of dishonesty in organizations is not limited to selfish acts...employees might bend rules to benefit their team or in-group members." www.nhh.no/en/nhh-bulle...

Our new research finds that people are willing to cheat if it benefits their group — even when they gain nothing themselves. "the risk of dishonesty in organizations is not limited to selfish acts...employees might bend rules to benefit their team or in-group members." www.nhh.no/en/nhh-bulle...

Recommended reading: The Psychology of Virality Steve Rathje @jayvanbavel.bsky.social Trends in Cognitive Science, 2025 Link to paper: doi.org/10.1016/j.ti...

Comprehensive research (N=24k, 42 nations) by @evanavaldes.bsky.social et al suggests we’re not so much inclined to support (and justify) the social systems to which we belong, as to support those systems that serve our individual or group interests: buff.ly/R1IHhQs HT @jayvanbavel.bsky.social

(1) Identifying with a global identity was associated with greater vaccine adherence (2) Having a stronger national identity was associated with greater vaccine hesitancy Open Access: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #SocialPsyc #AcademicSky🧪