latest articles
How body language helps us understand other people’s emotions
Social interaction is a complex phenomenon. When we want to know what our fellow human beings are feeling, we have various sources of information at our disposal. One major source is the human body and body language. By observing another person’s body language, we can infer not only what they are doing but also why they are doing it and even what they are feeling at... / more
- written by Britta Krüger, Julia Bachmann & Jörn Munzert
The psychology of digital disconnection: Why we want to use digital media less and if we should even try to
Digital detox, digital minimalism, and smartphone free schools reveal a desire to reduce or change how we use technologies. However, disconnecting from digital communication like smartphones and... / more
- written by Julius Klingelhoefer & Alicia Gilbert
- edited by Jana Dreston
Bug or feature? Boredom feels aversive, and this is why it matters
In class, during exercise, at work: boredom is an everyday experience that is generally regarded as an annoying and rather useless nuisance. In keeping with this attested uselessness, boredom had not gathered much research interest for a long time. Fortunately, this has changed and new and exciting research paints a different picture of boredom, highlighting its... / more
- written by Wanja Wolff, Katja Rewitz & Dr. Maik Bieleke
In the shades of the rings – experiences of interpersonal violence in elite sports
The pursuit of the Olympic dream is overshadowed by the pervasive issue of interpersonal violence in sport. Despite the challenges, a growing body of research and initiatives is dedicated to reshaping the culture of high-performance sports to prioritise athletes’ safety,... / more
- written by Julia T. Schwender, Teresa Greither, Helena Schmitz & Laurie Schwab
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The good, the bad, and the ugly of the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty
The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty has been called a lot of things, from a “game changer” and “a breath of fresh air”, to “hypocritical”, “sexist”, and “sneaky”. So why has the campaign, whose major innovation was to use ads that featured real women rather than airbrushed models or celebrity spokespersons, sparked so much controversy? Taking... / more
- written by Angela Celebre & Ashley Waggoner Denton
- edited by Rosanna Guadagno & Reine van der Wal
That human touch that means so much: Exploring the tactile dimension of social life
Interpersonal touch is a fundamental but undervalued aspect of human nature. In the present article, the authors review psychological research showing that even fleeting forms of touch may have a powerful impact on our emotional and social functioning. Given its... / more
- written by Mandy Tjew A Sin & Sander Koole
- edited by Hans IJzerman
Intergroup Contact Theory: Past, Present, and Future
In the midst of racial segregation in the U.S.A and the ‘Jim Crow Laws’, Gordon Allport (1954) proposed one of the most important social psychological events of... / more
- written by Jim A. C. Everett
- edited by Diana Onu
No strings attached: Are “friends with benefits” as complicated in real life as they are in the movies?
Many people become “friends with benefits” to avoid drama and to have sex without getting tied up in emotions; however, the reality is that having a friend with benefits often becomes complicated. Why is that, and is there anything you can do to avoid these complexities? In... / more
- written by Justin J. Lehmiller
- edited by Dylan Selterman
InMind blog
It’s just a joke, right? Empirical findings on the serious effects of sexist humor
You can still make a joke, right? Yes, but... misogynistic jokes about women can have negative consequences. What can such humor do to women and men? / more