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Social Psychology

Young changing their view of relationships
The way young adults view relationships has altered considerably in the last 50 years, new findings have suggested.
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We sit near people who look like us
The next time you're in an audience, turn to the person sat next to you and take a good look. That's what you look like, that is. Scary eh?
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How images affect our behaviour
Prompts in the environment make their way beneath your conscious radar and into your mind, affecting your mood and behaviour.
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Fighting crime with social science
A new report shows how academic research has made dramatic and effective changes the way crime and offenders are tackled.
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How commerce is tainting the festival experience
Music festivals, like Glastonbury, have become important social experiences for young people where they can experience a sense of collectiveness and belonging.
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People unhappy at disparities in earnings
The wide gap between the richest and poorest people in society is serving to make individuals unhappy, new research has shown.
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Social anxiety and social rank
People with a diagnosis of social anxiety disorder find social situations nerve wracking, from mixing with friends to speaking in public.
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Guided by gossip radar
The kind of negative tittle-tattle that appears daily in the tabloids seems to bear little merit.
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Genetic variation & racial prejudice
Richard Dawkins called it "the curse of the discontinuous mind" - our tendency to lump things into discrete categories. Nowhere is this more apparent than in our perception of ethnic races, which we tend to see as reflecting absolute dividing lines in the human population. Do mistaken folk beliefs about genetics play a role in this? A new study by Jason Plaks and his team suggests so. What's more, their findings have interesting implications for an anti-prejudice intervention based around genetics lessons.
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Why rule-breakers appear powerful
People who break the basic rules of social behaviour appear to others to be more powerful than those who do not, a new study has shown.
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'There is a dark side' to happiness
Happiness can have a dark side, new research has suggested.
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Psychologists share research award
Two psychologists are to share the 2010 Outstanding Doctoral Research award, presented by the British Psychological Society's Research Board.
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Handshakes
What does your handshake say about you? We all have our prejudices when reading personality into other people's handshake style - especially at the knuckle-crunching and limp extremes.
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Virtual possessions 'mean a lot' to teenagers
Virtual possessions are of great significance to teenagers, new research has found.
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Care home design influences resident's activity
Altering the layout of furniture in living areas in a care home can positively influence activity and social interactions in residents with dementia.
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Jokes - it's the way they tell 'em
Jokes seem funnier when we think they come from a well known comedian.
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Connection found between low self-esteem and credit card spending
A new report by researchers Niro Sivanathan of the London Business School and Nathan Pettit of Cornell University has found a link between low self-esteem and spending on credit cards.
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Quarterlife Crises Can Be Good For You
Quarterlife crises can be good for you.
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Manhood 'is a precarious status'
Manhood is a status that is difficult to obtain but very easy to lose, new research has found.
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Thoughts of death increase the appeal of Intelligent Design
Why do so many people, including many science teachers, continue to find value and appeal in Intelligent Design (ID) - the pseudoscientific account of life's origins that mainstream science has rejected?
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Feedback can make people less green
The benefit of ecological footprint questionnaires for the environmental movement seems obvious enough, especially since the vast majority of people say they care about the planet.
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Partner choice 'down to preference, not genes'
A person's choice of partner is down to preference, rather than his or her genes, a new study - carried out by researchers from the University of Queensland - has suggested.
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TV breakups 'can result in viewer distress'
Many people experience distress with regards to breakups, even temporary ones, on their favourite television shows, a new study has found.
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How feeling socially connected can make strangers' hearts beat together
We find it easier to empathise with people who are socially and emotionally close to us, of course we do.
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Out of the lab and into the waiting room - research on where we look gets real
You know how when you're in an elevator or an underground train, everybody seems to try their darnedest not to look anyone else in the eye.
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