For questions about the empirical and theoretical study of how perception, feelings, behavior, and cognition are effected by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Questions are addressed both from the individual perspective (American school) and group perspective (European school).
4
votes
1answer
92 views
+50
What are the effects of social rejection on the brain?
What are the effects of social rejection on the brain?
If the external circumstance can not change, how can the impact on the brain be reduced?
What is the average sensitivity to social rejection ...
0
votes
1answer
48 views
How to interpret HLM analyses looking at work group and individual worker effects?
Liden et al (2004, PDF) is an example of a study examining employees in work groups in an organisation. Thus, measures are obtained of both individual workers and of the work groups that they belong ...
5
votes
0answers
36 views
Self-fulfilling stereotypes: Have researchers tried inventing new group stereotypes?
Studies on the stereotype threat have typically used stereotypes that that are common in contemporary culture, i.e. the canonical example being the study that showed African American SAT scores ...
6
votes
1answer
82 views
Picture of eye promotes good behaviour
I remember a study about how a picture of an eye made people more well behaved. The experiment was in an unsupervised coffee room where there was a box where participants were expected to deposit ...
7
votes
2answers
71 views
Differences in willingness to correct errors made between human and computer interactions
I have a design where I present participants with a series of decisions, and then ask them about some of these decisions later. Similar work has found that even when the particular decision was made ...
4
votes
1answer
52 views
Is there a variance in acceptance of conspiracy theories by occupation?
For some time I have been very interested in the intelligent design (ID)/creationism vs. evolution debate. My parents are both medical professionals and consider themselves creationists. I have many ...
9
votes
2answers
169 views
Intelligence and marriage satisfaction
A recent letter by a Princeton alumni stated:
Men regularly marry women who are younger, less intelligent, less
educated. It’s amazing how forgiving men can be about a woman’s lack
of ...
5
votes
3answers
45 views
What is the field that studies community responses to incentives?
Having recently read Freakonomics I was particularly interested by the idea of the responses of a community to incentives - as an example, the tale of a school which tried to introduce a financial ...
2
votes
2answers
105 views
At what point do multiple personas for social context cross into multiple personalities disorder?
Recently I took part in a conversation about the difference between the "many hats" of a successful corporate executive, and "multiple personality disorder." Although humorously bantered, the ideas ...
10
votes
1answer
113 views
Why do humans like being touched?
I wonder why people like to be touched so much, why would it make sense from a evolutionary perspective.
I know people enjoy hugs and company of opposite sex but even people from the same sex hug and ...
4
votes
1answer
87 views
What effects does spending a lot of time in online communities have on interpersonal skills?
There are quite a few users who are pretty much addicted to the Stack Exchange network and spend over 3-4 hours per day here. Time spent here will result in lower amount of social interactions, and ...
1
vote
1answer
195 views
Is StackExchange.com Addiction Dangerous?
I recently looked at the meta.math.stackexchange.com and found the second anniversary was celebrated. As in the last year's Happy-Birthday post (linked therein) , some people declared the addiction to ...
3
votes
0answers
51 views
In what order do people notice another person's attributes (race, age, gender, etc.)
I seem to recall reading some research years ago about what people notice in the first second or so of seeing someone else, and in what order they notice those things. It's something like gender, ...
1
vote
3answers
103 views
Is fear rational? [closed]
Let's suppose a big ugly monster thingy wants to eat you. While you're running away from it, you're feeling fear. Can this situation be considered one where fear would be rational?
4
votes
1answer
71 views
Why do people feel the need to make changes to a solution presented by another person?
There is an interesting phenomenon I have come across several times when working with groups, and that is the need some people have to make changes to a solution that someone else created.
The ...
8
votes
0answers
72 views
What is the bias/thought process that results in distrust of “formal” knowledge in favor of “folk” knowledge?
An interesting effect I've noticed is that certain groups of people seem to accept "folk knowledge" and value it over significantly better founded "formal" or scientific knowledge. In particular this ...
0
votes
1answer
85 views
What causes someone to feel anxious and lacking in confidence when outside the home? [closed]
Background Context:
When at home, I feel like being myself - calm, free, productive, clearly thinking and wise person making logical decisions. But should any contact be made with outside world, ...
3
votes
1answer
242 views
What part of the brain locks up when a man is in the presence of an extremely attractive female?
This question is specifically about the male brain and its lack of cognition in the presence of a highly attractive female.
This is in contrast to regaining cognitive ability in the presence of an ...
4
votes
1answer
82 views
Does empathy extend to animals?
I've read that humans are able to empathize with other humans, to feel as another person does, through mirror neurons. I'm guessing that they're able to empathize with primates too, as they share ...
4
votes
0answers
179 views
Overcoming the effect of Limerence? [closed]
I recently came to know about Limerence.
I could not find definite answers for the following questions:
It has been said that limerence generally lasts between 18 months to
3 years, could be more ...
6
votes
0answers
70 views
Is there a “foreplay” equivalent, priming activity for thinking or conversation?
I've noticed the following phenomenon and am trying to find out if it is indeed true and if there is a scientific term for it:
When I think about ideas, I notice that I can rarely jump straight into ...
6
votes
0answers
64 views
Is there evidence for a unique isolated internal representation of loved ones?
Some time ago, I've read that the most significant people in a person's life have their own internal representation/model of within the person's mind. For example:
An internal representation of a ...
3
votes
1answer
52 views
Stiffing the tip as groups get larger … like the prisoner's dilemma but …?
Is there a game theory analysis or other research or modeling describing the commonly perceived phenomenon whereby the amount by which people underpay a gratuity seems to be proportional to the number ...
4
votes
2answers
136 views
Ignoring minority while generalizing about a group, any theoretical reference?
In conversation, we might define a particular group by the characteristics that the majority of that group holds even if a minority in that group doesn’t possess those characteristics.
Some ...
5
votes
1answer
58 views
Accuracy of social judgements of observers watching business meetings
I'm very interested in how people size one another up in social situations and in particular what we key in on when we are making these judgements.
Let's make an imaginary experiment.
I make ...
4
votes
1answer
65 views
Phenomenon causing people to change their opinion when they are asked to hypothetically defend an opposing viewpoint?
I remember reading a case study on this years ago and I am trying to track it down.
The study involved asking people who held strong opinions on varied subjects to defend the opposite opinion in a ...
2
votes
2answers
176 views
What is the difference between confidence and overconfidence?
People say there is a very small difference between confidence and overconfidence.
How can knowledge of psychology help someone know whether they are are confident or overconfident?
What is the ...
6
votes
3answers
406 views
Is there an open-source / free official Myers-Briggs assessment I can adopt?
Background
I've got an idea for a web site that uses one's Myers-Briggs type as part of the value.
I've seen various web sites offer "quick quizzes" to assess one's MBTI, but I'm not sure how ...
18
votes
1answer
938 views
What makes people easily subscribe to pseudoscientific theories?
There are many theories/disciplines that have been categorized as Pseudoscience in the Scientific community.
The list includes many things that are regularly even quoted in media like Graphology, ...
0
votes
1answer
75 views
Holding grudges for missing the boat
I am wondering if there's a term in psychology for a situation where you want something really bad, but you are not able to get it for the moment (or a goal that you are not able to achieve) and when ...
6
votes
2answers
81 views
What is the name of the phenomenon whereby someone steps-up and others follow?
Example: In class, when a teacher proposes some unreasonable assignment, students hesitate to express their objection until someone steps-up and then others find courage to talk.
I've tried searching ...
4
votes
1answer
184 views
Why do people regret actions they didn't take when looking back on their lives?
Is it true that individuals often regret recent actions (i.e., last few months) but when they look back on their lives, they tend to regret things that they have not done (or lack of actions) ?
If ...
-2
votes
1answer
73 views
Is there a cognitive psychology theory for social curiosity? [closed]
Lets say there are two persons denoted $p_1$ and $p_2$ who share some common friends denoted $N$.
$p_1$ is told that $N$ of his friends are interacting with $p_2$. This generates an inherent ...
7
votes
2answers
118 views
What is the name of the effect whereby socialising in a group reinforces group beliefs?
Background:
There's this effect when you have some idea, i.e. that eating other people is (probably) cool, you join the group of like minded people, you talk about how tasty people are, everyone ...
2
votes
0answers
77 views
What explains habitual or even occasional incidences of self-talk?
What are the scientific reasons behind someone talking with him/herself? Is it a disorder of some kind? By "talking" I also mean writing to self.
By self-talk I mean a person (P) is talking with ...
3
votes
1answer
177 views
Why do people donate money to others engaging in activities for charity?
In the UK and elsewhere individuals often engage in activities (e.g., running, shaving your head, etc.) for the purpose of eliciting sponsorship. The money raised is then donated to charity.
...
6
votes
0answers
98 views
At what point does a complex become pathological?
I've a first question so I apologize if the format is completely awry.
I'm reading Meeting the Shadow: The Hidden Power of the Dark Side of Human Nature and I came across this passage by Edward C. ...
15
votes
3answers
667 views
Is the Myer Briggs Type indicator (MBTI) a reasonable scientific theory?
Background:
MBTI stands for Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. It's a theory that suggests that people can be divided into 16 types, based on the way they percieve and analyse information (whether they make ...
7
votes
1answer
77 views
What research gives insight into the terms “low status” and “high status”?
Folk explanations of human behaviour often refer to "high status" or "low status", and the phrase sometimes pops up in more formal contexts (e.g. this question).
However, one of the most cited ...
7
votes
0answers
89 views
What research has been done on attachment types in other primates?
The most canonical experimental paradigm for studying human attachment styles is the Strange Situation leading to classifications such as Secure, Insecure-avoidant, and so on.
What are the equivalent ...
6
votes
0answers
67 views
Do measures of Big 5 personality have a positive bias towards extraverted, conscientious, emotionally stable, ageeable and open individuals?
Background:
One free measures of the Big 5 is the IPIP.
I have noticed that IPIP items seem to have a positive bias towards items loading on the extraversion (EX), emotional stability (ES), ...
38
votes
4answers
3k views
Why do humans have sex in private?
Human couples usually have sex in private, hidden not only from predators, but also - other humans. It is unlike behavior of most species, including our relatives: bonobos, chimpanzees and gorillas.
...
6
votes
0answers
83 views
How do cooperative vs. competitive activities impact the learning patterns of an individual?
To what extent does cooperative versus competitive learning influence personality development or even pathological behaviors?
If these activities need to be narrowed down to a specific category, I'm ...
5
votes
1answer
119 views
Can the Go/No-Go Association Task be faked?
Go/No-Go Association task:
The GNAT (pronounced like the bug) is a flexible technique designed to
measure implicit social cognition. Conceptually similar to other
implicit measures like the ...
1
vote
1answer
140 views
Physiological differences between brains of Conservatives and Liberals
I work for a non-profit research organization and I have been assigned to do research on this topic. I have been doing my best to find studies on this topic but every website and article seems to ...
7
votes
1answer
213 views
Are there sex differences in inter-rater consistency of attractiveness ratings of opposite-sex faces?
Is there any research that assesses whether males or females judge faces of the opposite sex with a greater internal consistency? That is, is the standard deviation of attraction ratings for a ...
1
vote
1answer
100 views
What is the correlation between feeling superior and well-being?
I have noticed in myself and others, when people perceive themselves as "better off" than the majority of others (e.g., smarter, better looking, higher social status, better brain function, more ...
-2
votes
2answers
281 views
Do people like those who are similar to them and why?
Questions
Is it true that people 'like' those who are similar to them?
Why is it so? Is there an evolutionary explanation?
4
votes
1answer
151 views
Can one “understand” emotions, yet not “feel” them?
Prometheus Viral Clip #3 - David is a good clip of a fictional character in a science-fiction movie that helps frame my question; but I am interested in the general question, not the specifics of this ...
9
votes
0answers
142 views
Evolutionary game theory in the cognitive sciences
Game theory models something very relevant to psychologists (in particular social psychologists): conflict and cooperation between decision-makers. Unfortunately, classical game theory demands that ...
