Social media is far more than a tool for communication, it is a digital social environment at scale. Unlike any other space before it, social media platforms expose us to the judgements of others. From expressions of admiration to condemnation, we are immersed in the opinions of others with
On The Good Place, people are judged on the morality of virtually everything they do. This might seem unfair, but what really counts as moral and non-moral? Evidence from psychology suggests that there may be no clear distinction between moral and non-moral cases.
Imagine that your spouse has promised that they will wash the dishes cluttering your sink this evening; but, when they arrive home exhausted after a stressful day of back-to-back meetings and skipped meals, they try to pawn the responsibility back off on you. Would you soften your judgment of your...
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How do we make moral judgments? Are people cold, calculating Vulcans? Or are they affectively hot hedonists? Researchers often present morality as a war between vying ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ processes, but in this two-part blog post I argue that the distinction is a false choice. Morality is both hot and...
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All of us are stressed every now and then. There are phenomena we usually associate with stress, like health risks and feelings like fear, panic, or insecurity. But stress might also have effects we normally don’t think of; recent studies suggest it can dramatically influence our decision-making in
Humans blame, and perhaps only humans do, but what is blame for? Is blame about meting out retribution and revenge? Or is blame a tool for managing others’ behavior? I argue that while the former answer is dominant in social psychology, it predicts a dysfunctional system of blame that explains only...
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Despite the resurgence of interest in free will, there remains confusion and disagreement regarding free will’s role in social life, in particular, how people understand free will and whether free will guides blame and praise for others. In this blog post I argue that we need to pay closer attention...
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In the first part of this three part series, my colleague Ellie Shockley described how rational thinking may drive political attitudes and voting behavior. In the second part of the series, Matt Moytl described how emotion may drive political attitudes and voting behavior. In the final part of this...
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My first extended stay in Southeast Asia in Singapore nearly five years ago served as a true eye opener. Yes, I was fully aware that I was about to enter a country that was different from what I had known so far. I was eager and curious to learn and broaden my horizons to whatever might come
When people think about fairness, they often think about social norms and values, or about general moral principles such as equality between humans and impartiality when solving conflicts. Fairness is thus often associated with a genuine concern for other people's well-being. In a variety of
