Youth who are caught stealing, using illegal drugs, or committing other moderate crimes are far less likely to reoffend when they receive therapy, life-skills training, and other rehabilitative help rather than legal punishment, a growing body of research shows.   These findings underscore efforts in many states to implement programs that protect young people who engage […]

… A movement to try to fix things began more than a decade ago. Now, one of its leading lights has ascended to one of the most powerful positions in the field. On January 1st Simine Vazire took over as editor-in-chief of Psychological Science, the discipline’s most prestigious journal. Dr Vazire is a psychologist at

Like the ancient Greek of Homer’s time, the Tsimane’ language has no set word for the parts of the color spectrum English speakers call “blue.” Although Tsimane’ does name a number of more subjective hues (think “aquamarine” or “mauve” in English), its speakers—the Tsimane’ people of Bolivia—reliably agree on just three main color categories: blackish,

The start of the new year often brings lofty ambitions. It’s 2024 — time to exercise and eat better, says a nagging voice, somewhere deep in your brain. What about learning to knit? It’s enough to make anyone feel anxious. For those who already struggle with anxiety, these heightened expectations can be even more distressing. Especially

How do parents adjust their behavior in the context of neurodiversity?  Under the Cortex features Alexandra Sullivan (University of California, San Francisco), a psychological scientist who studies the link between parenting and developmental delays. In this episode, Sullivan and APS’s Özge G. Fischer-Baum discuss parenting strategies with an inclusive approach.  Sullivan also recently published an

We often assume that our feelings are responses to the world around us. A friend gives you a fun gift, you feel joy. A driver cuts you off in traffic, you feel frustration. But what if our emotions are actually predictions? This week on the show, psychologist Lisa Feldman Barrett explains how we manufacture our

Humans carve the world cleanly in two when they feel threatened. There’s a right and a wrong, a good and an evil, an us and a them. In normal times, this behavior is most obvious in people with serious depression or borderline personality disorder. Psychologists call it “splitting.” …

Q: What are the health effects of Dry January? Can cutting back on alcohol for a month have long-term benefits? Champagne, eggnog, mulled wine — for many, the holiday season is a time for celebration, which typically involves copious amounts of alcohol. So it’s no surprise that an estimated 15 to 19 percent of U.S. adults in

About the Journal Launched by the Association for Psychological Science in 2006, Perspectives on Psychological Science is a bimonthly journal publishing an eclectic mix of provocative reports and articles, including broad integrative reviews, overviews of research programs, meta-analyses, theoretical statements, and articles on topics such as the philosophy of science, opinion pieces about major issues in the

The choice to share private information about ourselves with someone else is often framed as a strategic decision: We weigh the risks to our reputation against the potential benefits of social connection.   But this framework doesn’t explain why people are so often willing to share information that threatens their own interests, and that they later