The hottest Social Psychology Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Science Topics

Academia is Women’s Work

Postcards From Barsoom • 15604 implied HN points • 16 Oct 24
🚌 Education Higher education Gender Studies Social Psychology Workforce Trends
  1. More women are enrolling in college than men, and this trend is changing how we view various professions. When too many women join a field, men tend to leave, as they see it as less competitive and valuable.
  2. Academia is becoming feminized, which could lead to a decline in its status and quality. As more women join, some believe that the competitive drive that often leads to higher performance in academia may be fading.
  3. Lower male participation in colleges can hurt the university's reputation and funding. If schools are seen as feminine spaces, they might struggle to attract male students and the resources that come with them.

People Are Delusional About How Hot They Are

Knowingless • 4321 implied HN points • 21 Jan 25
🎭️ Culture Self-image Gender Studies Social Psychology Surveys
  1. Most people don't see themselves as they really are when it comes to looks. They tend to think they are hotter than others see them.
  2. Women and men rate themselves similarly, but men are generally more off about how attractive they really are.
  3. When comparing looks to others, people are a bit more accurate when looking at their same gender rather than the opposite gender.

Don't Be a Sucker

Fake Noûs • 1805 implied HN points • 14 Dec 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Cultural critique Social Psychology
  1. Be aware of your desires and biases. Scammers often exploit what you want to believe in order to trick you.
  2. Stories that sound too good to be true usually are. If someone promises you big rewards with little effort, it's likely a scam.
  3. Stay critical and question motivations. If someone is benefiting from a situation, consider if their story is really altruistic.

Wokeness Dismantled, Part 3

Life Since the Baby Boom • 1613 implied HN points • 09 Dec 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Political theory Environmental Policy Social Psychology Behavioral Economics Public Goods
  1. The Tragedy of the Commons shows how individual self-interest can harm the common good. If everyone takes too much from a shared resource, like a pasture, it can lead to disaster for everyone.
  2. Not all experts agree on how to manage shared resources. While Garrett Hardin warned about the dangers of overuse, Elinor Ostrom showed that communities can effectively cooperate to manage their resources without strict government control.
  3. Trusting science can sometimes mean questioning popular beliefs. It’s important to look at different viewpoints and actual case studies to understand how people manage shared resources.

Why You Should Trust Trust and Distrust Distrust

Rob Henderson's Newsletter • 3617 implied HN points • 08 Dec 24
📖 Philosophy Trust Cooperation Game Theory Social Psychology Moral Philosophy
  1. Trust is important for cooperation, but it can be tricky. People often trust others even when there's a chance of being betrayed.
  2. Cooperation can happen even when trust is low. Sometimes, you may need to work with someone before figuring out if they are trustworthy.
  3. Distrust can close you off from learning about others. Starting with trust can help you understand the social world better and find out who is reliable.
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Coalitions are everywhere

Optimally Irrational • 62 implied HN points • 30 Jan 25
📖 Philosophy Game Theory Social Psychology Coalitions Human behavior Evolutionary Theory
  1. Coalitions are important in human life. We often need to work together for defense, support, and to achieve bigger goals than we could alone.
  2. People really care about their social groups and belonging. Feeling excluded from a group can make us anxious or upset.
  3. Our reputation matters a lot in coalitions. How others see us can affect our ability to make friends or succeed in groups.

"You Couldn't Replicate Our Study Because You're Ugly"

Cremieux Recueil • 416 implied HN points • 03 Dec 24
🔬 Science Research Methods Social Psychology Statistical Analysis Methodology
  1. Attractiveness studies may not be very reliable because their methods can be flawed. It's important to be careful about how these studies are designed and what they claim.
  2. Different studies use different ways to measure attractiveness, which can lead to confusion and mismatched results. It's not always clear which findings are valid.
  3. Racial preference in dating apps can be hard to measure correctly. Good research design is key, and many studies may not handle these issues well, leading to uncertain conclusions.

The origin of woke: a George Mason view

Gray Mirror • 108 implied HN points • 28 Dec 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Wokeness Political theory Cultural Studies Social Psychology
  1. Wokeness is seen as a form of signaling virtue. People often support wokeness to show they are nice and moral, which helps them gain status in social groups.
  2. The origin of wokeness is linked to the desire to treat everyone equally, promoting good behavior, especially in diverse societies. It's about showing you care about people from different backgrounds.
  3. Discussing group differences and how they impact social status is important. Wokeness evolves to maintain its status, often distancing itself from less socially aware groups.

The Illusion Of Collective Agreement

¡Do Not Panic! • 1081 implied HN points • 06 Jan 24
🎭️ Culture Social Psychology Society
  1. The Abilene paradox describes what happens when a group collectively follows a course of action despite individual disagreements.
  2. Majority of people may not explicitly agree with societal policies but societal structures and social-psychological dynamics play a significant role.
  3. Group conformity and fear of exclusion often drive individual behavior more than political affiliations or common sense.

What is the victim-oppressor mindset and how did it conquer the academy?

After Babel • 2081 implied HN points • 21 Dec 23
🚌 Education Social Psychology Intersectionality Activism Inequality
  1. The oppressor/victim mindset divides people into two categories and justifies resistance from victim groups against oppressor groups.
  2. Teaching intersectionality may unintentionally activate ancient tribal tendencies, leading to an us-versus-them mentality on college campuses.
  3. Some current theoretical approaches in universities may hyper-activate tribal instincts, even if not intended by professors, fostering division instead of inclusion.

Western masculinity as Chinese foot binding

Sex and the State • 41 implied HN points • 30 Dec 24
🎭️ Culture Gender Issues Masculinity Feminism Social Psychology Identity
  1. Masculinity can feel like a form of emotional restriction, making it hard for men to share their feelings. This creates loneliness and can lead to harmful behaviors.
  2. Young boys often face societal pressure to act 'masculine,' which forces them to choose between being lonely or risking vulnerability. This leaves them in a tough spot.
  3. Just like foot binding, masculinity can hurt men in ways that aren't immediately obvious. It can prevent them from understanding and expressing their own pain.

Erasing and Replacing Race

Living Fossils • 7 implied HN points • 20 Nov 24
🎭️ Culture Social Psychology Cognition Evolutionary Theory Diversity
  1. Humans may not automatically categorize people by race. Instead, we tend to identify which groups people belong to based on social coalitions.
  2. Research shows that racial categorization can be reduced or suppressed with certain manipulations, which suggests it's not a fixed aspect of how we think.
  3. The ongoing studies highlight that focusing on race is a choice, and we have the ability to change this perspective over time.

On Austen, Mansfield Park, and Social Comparison—Or How We Judge Ourselves through Others

Vremya • 279 implied HN points • 04 Sep 22
📚 Literature Classic Novels Social Psychology Comparative Analysis Human behavior Ethics
  1. We compare ourselves to others to judge our own happiness and success. It’s hard to know how we're doing without thinking about those around us.
  2. Upward comparison can make us feel bad about ourselves when we see others doing better. This can motivate us but sometimes it can just make us feel worse.
  3. Downward comparison helps us feel better about our own lives when we see others who are worse off. It’s a way to boost our self-esteem in tough times.

The Censorious Society for Personality and Social Psychology

Unsafe Science • 76 implied HN points • 14 Feb 24
🔬 Science Social Psychology Academic standards Censorship
  1. At the Society for Personality and Social Psychology conference, a poster was removed for discussing Muslim support for terrorism, sparking censorship accusations.
  2. The removal of the poster led to debates on the justification for retraction, with criticisms on lack of scientific grounds and biases.
  3. While there were complaints about the removed poster, another poster lacking scientific content faced no consequences, raising questions about inconsistent standards.

Some Sex Differences are More Problematic than Others

Unsafe Science • 125 implied HN points • 08 Jul 23
🔬 Science Gender Studies Social Psychology Gender disparities
  1. Efforts to address sex disparities in occupational representation focus more on male-dominated jobs, while issues in female-dominated jobs receive less attention.
  2. Participants, especially women, view male-dominated jobs as more problematic due to perceived sexism/discrimination, regardless of job status or pay.
  3. Perceptions of the causes of gender gaps influence how problematic they are perceived to be, with attributions to sexism/discrimination making the gaps more concerning.

The French Revolution!

The False Consensus Effect • 0 implied HN points • 13 Nov 20
💾 History French cuisine Social Psychology Human behavior
  1. The French Revolution significantly impacted the restructuring of the French nation-state, outlawing centuries-old feudal ties and leading to the emergence of a new monarch
  2. Fear of mortal retribution and group paranoia fueled the extreme violence and mass murder during the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution
  3. The Revolution highlights a loss of wisdom in modern society, emphasizing the importance of love, art, and beauty in leading fulfilling lives