Teaching Social Psychology

= new link as of January 1, 2010

 

Those liked face-to-face are also liked online - [added 7/11/09]

Small world research on instant messaging - Answer: 6.6 degrees of separation [added 10/11/08]

The paradox of polygamy - "Contrary to popular belief, most women benefit from polygynous society, and most men benefit from monogamous society. This is because polygynous society allows some women to share a resourceful man of high status." [added 4/13/08]

Subliminal smells and likeability - story of research finding that in humans consciously undetectable odors alter social preferences [added 3/21/08]

Laughter is the way we connect - an article about research on the role laughter plays in our social world [added 11/17/07]

"Subliminal nude pictures focus attention" - research interpreted to suggest an evolutionary benefit for attending to sexual stimuli [added 12/30/06]

"Beast buddies: Do animals have friends?" - an intriguing question and article from ScienceNews [added 6/9/04]

Small World Research Project - Remember Stanley Milgram's study to see how many "links" connect us? Well, these researchers are trying to test the notion of "six degrees of separation," or as they ask it "Can anyone in the world reach anyone else through a chain of only 6 friends?" You, your students, or anyone can become a participant, a "sender," at this site. [added 3/6/02]

Small World update - a replication coming out of the above project was recently published in Science; click the link here to read the article. [added 11/18/03]

Propinquity (Physical Proximity)

"18-year-old miraculously finds soulmate in hometown" - an amusing article from the satirical online newspaper The Onion -- ahh, propinquity! [added 12/30/06]

 

Interpersonal Relationships

Sexual infidelity - "Research has documented that most men become much more jealous about sexual infidelity than they do about emotional infidelity. Women are the opposite, and this is true all over the world." The prevailing theory is an evolutionary one: "Men learned over eons to be hyper-vigilant about sex because they can never be absolutely certain they are the father of a child, while women are much more concerned about having a partner who is committed to raising a family." This new research, however, suggests a different explanation. [added 2/7/10]

Mimicry during speed dating - "Women hoping to appeal to speed-dating partners should try subtly mimicking the words and body-language of their dates. That's according to Nicholas Gueguen whose new study shows that women who mimic are rated by men as more sexually attractive." [added 1/18/10]

"Does falling in love make us more creative?" - "A new study demonstrates that thinking about love--but not about sex--causes us to think more 'globally,' making it easier to come up with new ideas." [added 1/18/10]

"The states of marriage and divorce" - This Pew Research Center report is a state-by-state analysis of the current status of marriage and divorce. [added 1/18/10]

"Living apart together" - In other words, you are in a relationship, but you don't live with the person. "We use two surveys to describe the demographic and attitudinal correlates of being in "Living Apart Together" (LAT), cohabiting, and marital relationships for heterosexuals, lesbians, and gay men." [added 1/18/10]

Hug is the new handshake - Interesting New York Times article describes an apparent trend in which teenagers regular hug each other as greetings, including between males. [added 7/11/09]

Speed dating - good article describing how the phenomenon of speed dating has provided a wealth of opportunities for research [added 7/11/09]

"Admiring celebrities can help improve self-esteem" - What? Yes, this study found that engaging in these "fake" relationships with celebrities (called parasocial relationships) can benefit those with low self-esteem. [added 8/09/08]

Online dating - interesting blog entry about how online dating has been frustrating, leading to some new approaches [added 6/6/08]

The National Marriage Project - You can find a lot of good reports and data from this project with the mission "to provide research and analysis on the state of marriage in America and to educate the public on the social, economic and cultural conditions affecting marital success and child wellbeing." [added 12/1/07]

Precursor of healthy adult marriages? - A report from the Rand Corporation looks at adolescent romantic relationships as precursors of healthy adult marriages. [added 12/1/07]

Realistic female dolls for men - "Thousands of men are shelling out $6,500 for hyper-realistic dolls that answer all their needs -- and don't talk back." No mention in the article of women buying men dolls. What would a male doll that answered all of women's needs be like? [added 12/1/07]

"The hidden purpose of chat-up lines" - Why do men use pick-up lines? One study investigates that "chat-up lines may be a way for men to select for a particular type of woman." [10/13/07]

The social regulation of emotion - In the latest issue of the APS Observer, there were a number of excellent articles reporting on some interesting talks at the 2007 APS convention that should be good reads for your students. [10/13/07]

Prior relationships shape how we interpret new ones - interesting article summarizing some research on this topic [added 8/05/07]

The quest for romance - An interesting essay in the most recent (Feb. 2007) issue of the APS Observer summarizes some recent research. [added 7/7/07]

What does new love look like? - a New York Times article describing some research in which brain scans were conducted of newly-in-love individuals while they were looking at pictures of their beloved [added 7/06/07]

95% of Americans have had pre-marital sex - An extensive review of data from the Guttmacher Institute finds that "by age 20, 77% of respondents had had sex, 75% had had premarital sex, and 12% had married; by age44, 95% of respondents (94% of women, 96% of men, and 97% of those who had ever had sex) had had premarital sex. Even among those who abstained until at least age 20, 81% had had premarital sex by age 44. Among cohorts of women turning 15 between 1964 and 1993, at least 91% had had premarital sex by age 30. Among those turning 15 between 1954 and 1963, 82% had had premarital sex by age 30, and 88% had done so by age 44." [added 12/30/06]

Our shrinking social network - This recent (2006) research was frequently mentioned in the U.S. press. Apparently the number of our closest confidants has shrunk from 3 to 2 over the last 20 years. [added 7/6/06]

MySpace - Confused about how MySpace and other social networking sites work? Here's one explanation of MySpace from the How Stuff Works web site. [added 7/6/06]

"Romance in America" - The first report is a summary of recent survey data of young singles collected by the Pew Research Center. Not to be outdone, AOL conducted its own 2006 Dating Trends Survey. [added 7/6/06]

"To know you is to love you" - an article on the role of compassion in marriage, from The Center for the Development of Peace and Well-being [added 1/15/06]

Alcohol in relationships - "Alcohol problems in intimate relationships: Identification and intervention" is a guide from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. [added 1/8/06]

The science of love: BBC / PBS - two different sites addressing this question [added 4/05/04]

Adult attachment lab - links, articles and measures of adult attachment

Sexual orientation - research site by authors

"Isolation Increases with Internet Use" - article from APA Monitor

"Social Behavior Transformed With One New Gene" - report from ScienceDaily (1999)

 

Physical Attraction

What determines female facial beauty? - A "new golden ratio" is purportedly found in this study: "Female faces were judged more attractive when the vertical distance between their eyes and the mouth was approximately 36 percent of the face's length, and the horizontal distance between their eyes was approximately 46 percent of the face's width. Interestingly, these proportions correspond with those of an average face." [added 1/18/10]

Men on top, women on the bottom - "If you're hoping to increase your online appeal to the opposite sex, you might want to consider where on the screen you place your photo. A study that's in press at Social Cognition has shown that women rate men's photos as more attractive when they're placed near the top of the screen. By contrast, men rate women's photos as more attractive when they're located near the bottom of the screen." [added 1/18/10]

"Importance of attractiveness depends on where you live" - Urban? It matters. Rural? Not so much. [added 1/18/10]

"An unwanted kiss from a moral man" - This study asks would you rather receive an unwanted kiss from a moral man or a consensual kiss from an immoral one. [added 1/18/10]

Face databases - If you are doing research on faces, or want to use the stimuli for other purposes [added 1/18/10]

With or without makeup - Marianne Miserandino passed along this interesting reminder of how carefully the famous and beautiful guard the perception of their beauty. The French version of Elle magazine has released covers of famous stars with and without makeup. [added 1/18/10]

Symmetry versus averageness - A summary of some good research continuing to look at these two factors in our perception of attractiveness -- the question addressed here is, how do you tease out these two factors independently? [added 7/11/09]

"Is it really impossible to ignore an attractive face?" - [added 7/11/09]

"Chicks dig men in flashy cars" - "Previous studies have shown that male attractiveness can be enhanced by manipulation of status through, for example, the medium of costume. The present study experimentally manipulated status by seating the same target model (male and female matched for attractiveness) expressing identical facial expressions and posture in either a 'high status' (Silver Bentley Continental GT) or a 'neutral status' (Red Ford Fiesta ST) motor-car." [added 7/11/09]

Susan Boyle - Lots of good social psych in the Susan Boyle story. If you are not familiar with it read the above. More here. More here. [added 7/11/09]

A history of makeup (beauty) innovations - Did you know: Although women had for a long time sought to enhance their appeal, "painting of the face" did not become acceptable in the U.S. until the late 1800s. [added 7/11/09]

High-pitched voices most attractive - [added 10/11/08]

Attractive girl mimed Olympics ceremony song - You may have heard about this -- the young girl who sang a song as part of the Olympics was not deemed attractive enough to be on display, so a more attractive girl replaced her on stage and mimed the song. [added 10/11/08]

Can the next president have asymmetrical eyebrows? - amusing article from The Onion [added 4/20/08]

Personality and physical attractiveness - description of research in which the manipulation of personality influenced the perception of physical attractiveness [added 3/21/08]

Is there a "beauty premium" on TV game shows? - interesting study [added 7/7/07]

"Ugly girl killed: Nation unshaken by not-so-tragic death" - An amusing article from the satirical online newspaper The Onion [added 12/30/06]

Beauty in the election process - a study "The looks of a winner: Beauty, gender, and electoral success" looks at the role of attractiveness in Finland's politics. [added 12/30/06]

Jamaican Symmetry Project - This is a very interesting project in which researchers "focus on the possibility that dancing ability may correlate with the dancer's degree of bodily symmetry, commonly used in evolutionary studies to measure developmental stability and hence genetic quality." Read what they found, and watch some of the dance video as well. Also read a related research article published in Nature. [added 2/22/06]

What is sexy? - A columnist notes that U.S. Patrick Fitzgerald showed up on a sexiest man list despite lacking "conventional" physically attractive traits. The columnist asks, "Is there a female equivalent to a 'sexy' Patrick Fitzgerald?" In other words, it raises the question of differences between what men and women find attractive. [added 1/14/06]

The Face of Tomorrow - Very interesting site in which a photographer creates a composite photo from many faces he has taken in a certain community. He claims that the composite photo may represent what people in that community will look like in the future -- the face of tomorrow. [added 12/1/04]

"Fertile women rate other women as uglier" - interesting article describing research about possible hormonal influences on attractiveness ratings [added 4/05/04]