Negativity bias refers to the phenomenon that negative information carries more psychological weight than positive information. For instance, the sting of losing $10 is felt more intensely than the joy of gaining $10, and we are quicker to spot a threatening face in a crowd than a friendly one...
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Anger is defined as an unpleasant feeling that results from an unpleasant event and it is, therefore, not particularly surprising that so many people dismiss it as a pointless emotion. However, anger has proven to confer a great number of evolutionary benefits on those who utilize it, including (1)
Are fraud and other questionable practices in science caused by a few bad apples, or a culture that rewards based on results, not rigor? In this post, I will argue that our scientific environment is selecting for the wrong kind of scientist.
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One of the most simplest things ever made was the scaffold. Thinking about its consequences however has recently opened up a world of possibilities for scientists that might lead to new ways of thinking about culture, the human mind, and their development.
Some years ago, when I first began writing about the evolution of human sociality, a colleague put to me the question: Why are humans still social? That “still” was weighty with meaning—the idea of a primal solitary state, to which humans might return, perhaps finally freed from group living by
Gossip is ubiquitous – chances are that you have shared, heard, or been the topic of gossip today. Why do we love to talk about other people? Is gossiping part of our human nature? Are there benefits of gossip, to either the individual or to society? In this article I will review what researchers
