Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Jessica D Ayers

athenaaktipis.bsky.social @athenaaktipis.bsky.social · 6h

💞 Friendship isn’t about keeping score. It’s about helping when it counts.

In our new The Conversation article, @jessicadayers.bsky.social & I explore why true friendship works like risk-pooling, not exchange.

Read here 👉 doi.org/10.64628/AAI...

#Friendship #Psychology

Friendships aren’t just about keeping score – new psychology research looks at why we help our friends when they need it

Friendship isn’t a tit-for-tat balance sheet, but that’s how researchers have traditionally defined it. New studies are refining the model to be less about transactions and truer to real life.

doi.org

1 3

Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 1d

Do we really keep score in our friendship? See what @athenaaktipis.bsky.social and I have to say about why this isn’t always the case theconversation.com/friendships-...

Friendships aren’t just about keeping score – new psychology research looks at why we help our friends when they need it

Friendship isn’t a tit-for-tat balance sheet, but that’s how researchers have traditionally defined it. New studies are refining the model to be less about transactions and truer to real life.

theconversation.com

2 3

Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 24d

Glad to have had the chance to pitch why we need to research friendship to @boisestate.bsky.social stake holders as an ASSERT (www.boisestate.edu/ifits/facult...) fellow at today’s pitch event.

ASSERT

Aligning Stakeholders and Structures to Enable Research Transformation (ASSERT) is a cohort faculty development program where faculty, from all ranks and various academic units, become an ASSERTive co...

www.boisestate.edu

Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 24d

Submit those abstracts! @ahrako.bsky.social and I cant wait to review them!

Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · Sep 5

Friends!!!! It’s that time again… Submit abstracts for @spspnews.bsky.social EP preconference: my.spsp.org/Events/Submi...

We are accepting data blitz & poster submissions!

We (@ahrako.bsky.social &me) are so excited to see y’all in Chicago!
Https://ep2026.mystrikingly.com
#EPatSPSP2026 #SPSP2026

Society for Personality and Social Psychology > Events > Submission Portal

my.spsp.org

Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · Sep 5

Friends!!!! It’s that time again… Submit abstracts for @spspnews.bsky.social EP preconference: my.spsp.org/Events/Submi...

We are accepting data blitz & poster submissions!

We (@ahrako.bsky.social &me) are so excited to see y’all in Chicago!
Https://ep2026.mystrikingly.com
#EPatSPSP2026 #SPSP2026

Society for Personality and Social Psychology > Events > Submission Portal

my.spsp.org

1 1

Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · Sep 4

Best part of being a professor? Having my lab listen to Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) with David Pinsof and Dave Pietraszewski so I have an excuse to listen too! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...

Controversies in Evolutionary Psychology

Podcast Episode · Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) · 06/03/2025 · 2h 1m

podcasts.apple.com

2

Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · Aug 25

We know a lot about ovulatory hormones in early reproductive life - but what about near menopause? Read more about my RA’s research project here www.ayerslab.org/blog/why-we-...

Why we need more research on women's hormones acorss the life span

I’m Grace, and I’ve been part of the APE Lab since Spring 2024. I graduated with a degree in Psychology in May 2024, and will be starting a Couples and Family Therapy graduate pro

www.ayerslab.org

1

Reposted by Jessica D Ayers

Diego Guevara Beltran @psycheddiego.bsky.social · Jul 15

How do people know whom, and how much, to help? we (@jessicadayers.bsky.social @leecronk.bsky.social Daniel Balliet @jeremykoster.bsky.social & @athenaaktipis.bsky.social) tackle this question among the Mayangna of northern Nicaragua, who rely primarily on horticulture for subsistence 🧵(1/10).

1 1 2

Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · Jul 3

You can find the slides here: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/f11g4...

Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · Jul 3

Excited to announce that I won the Feminist Evolutionary Psychology Society best faculty talk at NEEPS this year!

1 8

Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · Jun 10

APE lab represented at NEEPs 2025!

1

Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · Jun 6

After a great @humbehevosoc.bsky.social panel on friendship, I thought it was a perfect time to share Benjamin Zubaly’s thoughts on why evolutionary theory is needed to understand friendships www.ayerslab.org/blog/why-und...

Why Understanding Friendship Requires Evolutionary Psychology

My name is Benjamin Zubaly. I am an incoming PhD student in the Evolutionary Social Psychology lab at the University of Michigan and a research assistant in the Ayers Psychology an

www.ayerslab.org

1 1

Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · Apr 8

APE lab RAs presenting at our undergraduate talk psych poster session!

1

Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · Apr 4

Got to present some of my favs in the Research and Creative Activity SPARC mixer

Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · Mar 11

Learn about our spring 2025 Everyday Upstanders! bsusocialpsych.mystrikingly.com/spring-2025-...

Spring 2025 Everyday Upstanders - Social Psychology site

bsusocialpsych.mystrikingly.com

2

Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · Mar 11

Dr. Weaver talking to us about motherhood at Talk Psych

Reposted by Jessica D Ayers

Marjorie Prokosch @mlprokosch.bsky.social · Feb 24

Two preconferences, one poster, one symposium, many events, and more reunions than I can count. #SPSP2025 is a wrap and I am so grateful for the reconnection. Until next year!

1 2

Reposted by Jessica D Ayers

Marjorie Prokosch @mlprokosch.bsky.social · Feb 23

5) @psycheddiego.bsky.social extended interdependence research by surveying Mayangna participants to examine how shared fate impacts their cooperation. The more positive stake & shared fate in relationships, the more people tended to cooperate. #EPatSPSP2025 #SPSP2025

2 5

Reposted by Jessica D Ayers

Marjorie Prokosch @mlprokosch.bsky.social · Feb 23

4) Ryan Dobson conducted a longitudinal progesterone study to re-examine the social support vigilance hypothesis. Between women fluctuations in P were predictive of vigilance but within woman fluctuations were not. #EPatSPSP2025 #SPSP2025

1 1 1

Reposted by Jessica D Ayers

Marjorie Prokosch @mlprokosch.bsky.social · Feb 23

3) Sierra Peters tested competing predictions about sexual desire. Within subject fluctuations in desire for partners predicted greater desire for alternatives (& vice versa). Priming desire for alternatives increased desire for partners, but not vice versa. #EPatSPSP2025 #SPSP2025

1 1 1

Reposted by Jessica D Ayers

Marjorie Prokosch @mlprokosch.bsky.social · Feb 23

2) Susan Chen examined how different life history correlates are related to youth gang involvement. Such an interesting study of an under-considered population! #EPatSPSP2025 #SPSP2025

1 1 1

Reposted by Jessica D Ayers

Marjorie Prokosch @mlprokosch.bsky.social · Feb 23

Last, some highlights from the #EPatSPSP2025 datablitzes:

1) A seriously cool talk by @wnmerrell.bsky.social about how we infer clustered (patchy) resource distribution based on an area’s hierarchicalness (& vice versa). Who knew lobstering could be so socially complex?! #SPSP2025

1 4 5

Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · Feb 23

Most interesting take away? That there was a sex difference in how much we people liked the gossiper (women liked less) but not in whether or not people would want to be friends with them or their morality

Marjorie Prokosch @mlprokosch.bsky.social · Feb 23

Yes. Women tend to infer gossipiness at higher rates than men, may have their information sharing perceived more as gossip, and may sometimes suffer likability penalities for gossiping. However, context matters. (3/3) @drmeltemyucel.bsky.social #EPatSPSP2025 #SPSP2025

1

Reposted by Jessica D Ayers

Marjorie Prokosch @mlprokosch.bsky.social · Feb 23

Gossip has many useful functions from info spreading to norm enforcement. Men & women tend to info share at similar rates. But are there gendered differences in what we perceive as gossip, & our social perceptions of gossipers? Does context matter? (2/3) @drmeltemyucel.bsky.social #EPatSPSP2025

1 3 4

Reposted by Jessica D Ayers

Marjorie Prokosch @mlprokosch.bsky.social · Feb 23

Last but certainly not least in our fantastic invited lineup, @drmeltemyucel.bsky.social dazzled us with work on gendered perceptions of gossip. (1/3) #EPatSPSP2025 #SPSP2025

1 4 17