Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 22m

-Researchers using AI published 36% more papers
-There is also rise in the journal impact factor of adopters’ publications
-GenAI also helps level the playing field in academia. The strongest productivity gains appear among: Early-career researchers + Authors from non-English-speaking countries

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Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 22m

Does AI improve or undercut academic scholarship?

A new study finds that academics who use AI increased both the quantity & quality of their academic scholarship and it appears to reduces inequality (helping junior and non-english speaking scholars the most).
arxiv.org/pdf/2510.02408

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Reposted by Jay Van Bavel, PhD

makena kelly @makenakelly.bsky.social · 1d

NEW: Trump Wants to Take Over Cities. Influencers Are Giving Him the Fuel to Do It

Wrote a bit about the content mill for consensus the Trump administration has created to justify its law-and-order immigration agenda.

More here:
www.wired.com/story/trump-...

Trump Wants to Take Over Cities. Influencers Are Giving Him the Fuel to Do It

The Trump administration has built its own content mill to justify its law-and-order immigration agenda.

www.wired.com

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Reposted by Jay Van Bavel, PhD

Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 2d

In a new podcast, I discuss the dangers of rising political polarization, how social media incentives contribute to polarization, and why we should consider polarization a social determinant of health with @ryanlinnbrown.bsky.social

You can listen here: www.powerofusnewsletter.com/p/political-...

Political Polarization and Health: Navigating the social media divide

Issue 182: Why political polarization affects both individual and societal health

www.powerofusnewsletter.com

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Reposted by Jay Van Bavel, PhD

Mirya R. Holman @mirya.bsky.social · 2d

Yes indeed. Code is from @nicduquette.bsky.social! (there are three books on there, FYI)

Average time from project start to publication: 3.69 years
Median time: 2.84
Minimum: 3 months
Max: 11 years

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Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 2d

In a new podcast, I discuss the dangers of rising political polarization, how social media incentives contribute to polarization, and why we should consider polarization a social determinant of health with @ryanlinnbrown.bsky.social

You can listen here: www.powerofusnewsletter.com/p/political-...

Political Polarization and Health: Navigating the social media divide

Issue 182: Why political polarization affects both individual and societal health

www.powerofusnewsletter.com

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Reposted by Jay Van Bavel, PhD

SCAN Unit @scanunit.bsky.social · 3d

Congratulations to @madalina.bsky.social, our former member @kimdoell.bsky.social and all of the 256(!) other collaborators for winning SPSP's Robert Cialdini prize for their manylabs project on how behavioral interventions can help address climate change 🎉

Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 3d

I'm excited to share the news that our climate change project won the @spspnews.bsky.social Robert Cialdini Prize for a "paper that uses field methods and demonstrates the relevance of social psychology to outside groups and communities"!

You can read it here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

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Reposted by Jay Van Bavel, PhD

Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 3d

Why do some ideas spread widely, while others fail to catch on?

Our new review paper on the PSYCHOLOGY OF VIRALITY is now out in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social (it was led by @steverathje.bsky.social)

Read the full paper here: www.cell.com/trends/cogni...

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Reposted by Jay Van Bavel, PhD

Eliana Hadjiandreou @elianahadtime.bsky.social · 2d

Why do we derogate effective altruists, activists, & other radically prosocial individuals? In new work, we discuss how doing good that deviates from social norms gets stigmatized. New preprint w/ @dcameron.bsky.social @tlau.bsky.social @desmond-ong.bsky.social: osf.io/preprints/ps...

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Reposted by Jay Van Bavel, PhD

Ryan L. Brown @ryanlinnbrown.bsky.social · 2d

Interested in what goes viral online and how social media intersects with rising political polarization?

Check out the latest episode of the Stress Puzzle where @jayvanbavel.bsky.social walks us through the implications of this research: www.stressmeasurement.org/podcast/epis...

Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 3d

Why do some ideas spread widely, while others fail to catch on?

Our new review paper on the PSYCHOLOGY OF VIRALITY is now out in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social (it was led by @steverathje.bsky.social)

Read the full paper here: www.cell.com/trends/cogni...

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Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 3d

Why do some ideas spread widely, while others fail to catch on?

Our new review paper on the PSYCHOLOGY OF VIRALITY is now out in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social (it was led by @steverathje.bsky.social)

Read the full paper here: www.cell.com/trends/cogni...

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Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 3d

The paper was led by @madalina.bsky.social & @kimdoell.bsky.social and included 256 authors who all deserve to share in this prize.

Thanks to everyone who contributed!

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Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 3d

I'm excited to share the news that our climate change project won the @spspnews.bsky.social Robert Cialdini Prize for a "paper that uses field methods and demonstrates the relevance of social psychology to outside groups and communities"!

You can read it here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

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Reposted by Jay Van Bavel, PhD

Steve Rathje @steverathje.bsky.social · 3d

Our recent review article "The Psychology of Virality" with @jayvanbavel.bsky.social
is on the front cover of this month's issue of
@cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social.

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Reposted by Jay Van Bavel, PhD

Mark Ho @markkho.bsky.social · 5d

I'm recruiting grad students!! 🎓

The CoDec Lab @ NYU (codec-lab.github.io) is looking for PhD students (Fall 2026) interested in computational approaches to social cognition & problem solving 🧠

Applications through Psych (tinyurl.com/nyucp) are due Dec 1. Reach out with Qs & please repost! 🙏

codec lab

codec-lab.github.io

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Reposted by Jay Van Bavel, PhD

Rob Sica @robsica.bsky.social · 7d

"In countries with multiparty systems or less polarized media ecosystems than the U.S., ideological and partisan gaps in self‐reported trust in science are typically substantially weaker than in the U.S., if they exist at all... not a stable characteristic of conservativism"

Are There Ideological Differences in Science Denial?

Debates about issues such anthropomorphic climate change have raised alarm that there may be systematic differences in liberals’ and conservatives’ tr…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 8d

They are less likely to judge outgroup members more harshly than ingroup member. Instead, they treat all transgressors equally because they see people as individuals:

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Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 8d

People who have more complex social identities view political identity as a less reliable source of information about others. Therefore they rely less on group-based stereotypes when judging outgroup members.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103125000915

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Reposted by Jay Van Bavel, PhD

Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 9d

In a new paper, we find that sycophantic #AI chatbots make people more extreme--operating like an echo chamber

Yet, people prefer sycophantic chatbots and see them as less biased

Only open-minded people prefer disagreeable chatbots: osf.io/preprints/ps...

Led by @steverathje.bsky.social

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Reposted by Jay Van Bavel, PhD

Society for Personality and Social Psychology @spspnews.bsky.social · 8d

Do people expect to be judged by their own moral standards or someone else's? New #SPPS research reports that we actually expect out-group members to judge us by their values, not ours.

📖 Read more: ow.ly/1tnF50X5yNP

Close-up of three people using hand gestures while engaged in a serious conversation indoors.

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Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 9d

Other coauthors are @MerylYe @rmpillai.bsky.social @LauraGlobig and @VictoriaOldemburgodeMello

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Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 9d

In a new paper, we find that sycophantic #AI chatbots make people more extreme--operating like an echo chamber

Yet, people prefer sycophantic chatbots and see them as less biased

Only open-minded people prefer disagreeable chatbots: osf.io/preprints/ps...

Led by @steverathje.bsky.social

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Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 9d

I’m so excited about this—it’s great for APS to host their main conference in another country Barcelona is such an incredible city!

Pam Davis-Kean, PhD @umpamdk.bsky.social · 9d

@psychscience.bsky.social Submission site for Barcelona 2026 opens Oct. 30th!!! Join us in Spain for the first APS to be held outside the U.S. Many new ways to interact and to share psychological research being done around the world. www.psychologicalscience.org/conventions/...

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Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 9d

I’m so excited about this—it’s great for APS to host their main conference in another country Barcelona is such an incredible city!

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Reposted by Jay Van Bavel, PhD

Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 10d

Larger scientific teams produce more impactful breakthroughs + patents

I wrote a paper with 4 principles to optimize large scientific collaborations based on the science of cooperation & collective intelligence: osf.io/preprints/ps...

And a substack summary: powerofus.substack.com/p/four-princ...

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