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Warnings May Not Work

Trigger warnings have little or no benefit in diminishing the impact of potentially disturbing material, according to research in Clinical Psychological Science. Researchers asked U.S. trauma survivors, including those with diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder, to read a series of potentially...

Defined By Race Or Gender?

Black women as a group are more often lumped in with Black men than with women as a whole, suggests research in Translational Issues in Psychological Science. In an online study, researchers asked 1,063 people whether 41 positive or negative stereotypical characteristics described...

Playing Parent

A five-minute role-play session with a doll shortly before the birth of a couple’s first child predicted the quality of fathers’ later parenting skills, reports a study in the Journal of Family Psychology. Researchers videotaped 182 expectant U.S. fathers during the third...

Expertise Versus Enthusiasm

Advisers with experience and expertise may sound good on paper, but in high-pressure moments people are more likely to choose advisers who are enthusiastic about them and their goals, suggests research in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Researchers conducted five online...

Nudging Better Behaviors

The more people understand how and why “nudges” are put in place, the more they accept their use, according to research in Behavioral Public Policy. Researchers presented 1,715 participants with examples of behavioral interventions used by the government and the private...

Anxiety and Trust

Anxiety may be associated with a reduced ability to adapt to negative and uncertain social conditions, according to research in Psychological Science. Researchers recruited 350 U.S. participants–about a quarter of whom had symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder–to play a trust...

Pain Suppression

A small portion of the amygdala blunts pain by dampening the activity of multiple pain-processing regions of the brain, suggests research with mice in Nature Neuroscience. Researchers used fluorescent markers to hunt for brain regions activated by surgical anesthetics. This...