In-Mind search

Are voters rational?

... There is, unfortunately, no easy answer to the question. Social psychological science, like all science, is a quest for knowledge in a ... that beliefs play in leading people to “irrationally” support a system that disadvantages them. For instance, John Jost and his ... / more

Fifty Shades of arousal misattribution and cognitive associations: How Christian Grey is making us believe that women find BDSM “hot”

... 2013).  It is likely that the film will further spread the social belief that women find it arousing to feel pain as a “submissive” ... learn sexist beliefs from Fifty Shades , which may support victim-blaming and perpetrator-excusing beliefs. Therefore, Fifty ... / more

Political convictions emerge from the gut

... past several decades, though, scientists have found limited support for this theory. Rather, people have more immediate, gut-level ... they engage in higher-order thinking about the stimuli. Social psychologist Bob Zajonc found support for this hypothesis by ... / more

CEO’s, morality, and minds: How good and bad guide our perceptions of others

... One problem is that none of the studies that purportedly support the hypothesis measure whether people make blame judgments before they ... it was accidental may result in a damaged relationship or social censure for unjust blame.  Similarly, believing that help was ... / more

Being rational and emotional are not (necessarily) contradictions

... pursue their goals. And so it is rational for people to support any policy that furthers their goals – whatever those goals may be. ... of many other things that concern people, such as their social standing, their moral obligations, and their descendants. Social ... / more

Is banning bossy enough to enact real social change? Celebrity activism and the “Ban Bossy” campaign

... in the classroom and in life. In this blog I highlight the social value of celebrity activism and I highlight important caveats of ... are perceived as more effective and thus gain more trust and support from other group members (Hogg 2001; Hogg, van Knippenberg, & Rast, ... / more

Judging a book by its cover: Prior knowledge determines the effect of embodied cues.

... literature on weight and importance actually seemed to support the idea that knowledge was necessary for physical heft to influence ... Bargh, J. A. (2010). Incidental haptic sensations influence social judgments and decisions. Science, 328(5986), 1712-1715. ... / more

Seeing mountains in molehills: Embodied visual perception of the environment

... is not just anecdotal. Studies have found empirical support for the embodied nature of visual perception . Furthermore, ... the environment. Researchers have found empirical support for the notion that perception may depend on the physical ... resources influence distance perception . Social Cognition , 31, 721-732. Cole, S., Balcetis, E., & Zhang, S. ... / more

More than meets the eye: Physical sensations influence first impressions

... perception shows that people can automatically perceive social categories, and also make surprisingly accurate judgments about other ... For instance, American Republicans tend to show greater support for capital punishment and aggressive military action: political ... / more

Grasping the grounded nature of mental simulation

... 2001, 2004) have been instrumental in providing behavioral support for motor simulation . Because mental simulation within ... The Effect of Imagining. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4(2), 293-30. Barsalou, L. W. (2008). Grounded ... / more