Jenna Watling Neal
@jennawneal.bsky.social
230 followers 170 following 25 posts
I'm a Psychology Professor at Michigan State University & co-editor of Social Development. I research networks, peer relations, K-12 education, and childfree adults I love cats, travel, wine, indiepop music, and good vegetarian food!
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Reposted by Jenna Watling Neal
zpneal.bsky.social
Want to promote transparency and clarity in network research by helping develop 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 (𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐃)?

Sign up to get involved here: tinyurl.com/help-with-GR...

▪️ All career stages welcome
▪️ All fields welcome
▪️ Be compensated for your time
GRAND Recruitment
Complete this short questionnaire to help develop Guidelines for Reporting About Network Data (GRAND).
tinyurl.com
Reposted by Jenna Watling Neal
zpneal.bsky.social
Republicans are more likely than democrats to think the government should play a role in encouraging people to have kids.

But, there's also less support among Republicans for any actual government policies like subsidized childcare, family medical leave, or IVF coverage.
pewresearch.org
Over half of Americans (53%) now say fewer people choosing to have children in the future would negatively impact the United States. Still, a majority (56%) say the federal government should have no role in encouraging more people to have kids.
Growing share of Americans say fewer people having kids would negatively impact the U.S.
Over half of Americans (53%) now say fewer people choosing to have children in the future would negatively impact the United States.
www.pewresearch.org
Reposted by Jenna Watling Neal
tedmond.bsky.social
I'm looking for a PhD student to do some trailblazing at the frontier of personality genomics and lifespan gene-environment transactions (start Fall 2026)! If you want to work with me: psychology.msu.edu/graduatestud...
(PS @drmeltemyucel.bsky.social is taking a student too, in moral psych/dev!)
Reposted by Jenna Watling Neal
Reposted by Jenna Watling Neal
zpneal.bsky.social
Not that there would be anything wrong with demonizing meat...
ranchogordo.bsky.social
“I’m certainly not demonizing meat,” she added. “But I think beans are the best food in the entire world. They have a lot of fiber — which we don’t get enough of as a society — and they’re cheap, filling and full of protein.” 2/3
Reposted by Jenna Watling Neal
zpneal.bsky.social
I'm disappointed in NPR's sensationalist coverage of this new UN report. They paint the issue as a problem (it's complicated), hold women responsible (they're not), and mainly describe the perspective of pro-natal think-tanks.

For a different take on the issue, check out thechildfree.org
jennawneal.bsky.social
Congrats! We’ll miss you!
Reposted by Jenna Watling Neal
mirandalubbers.bsky.social
I just found out that the Sunbelt in Paris has a bluesky account! @sunbelt2025paris.bsky.social
Reposted by Jenna Watling Neal
rebeccasear.bsky.social
Another excellent piece from a demographer, this time Stuart Gietel-Basten, on how "pronatalism is a dead end"

"Without addressing the root causes of low fertility—inequality, instability, and the incompatibility of work and family life—top-down efforts to “encourage” childbearing will fail"
The politics of pronatalism and the two-child benefit cap - British Politics and Policy at LSE
Nigel Farage supports the scraping the two-child benefit cap as a way of encouraging people to have more children. But pronatalist policies that offer a one-off "baby bonus" are not effective.
blogs.lse.ac.uk
Reposted by Jenna Watling Neal
drboothroyd.bsky.social
A common claim in #EvoPsych is that the persistence of psychological sex differences in gender-egalitarian* countries shows that the differences are innate. I've argued that ignores the highly-gender-unequal media environment. Now @larawood.bsky.social has proved me right!

#EHBEA
#HBES
Reposted by Jenna Watling Neal
zpneal.bsky.social
Ironic that transit from #NetSci2025 @netsciconf.bsky.social is disrupted due to failure of a high-betweenness node.
Reposted by Jenna Watling Neal
jennawneal.bsky.social
I'm excited to be participating in this #NetSci2025 satellite on sharing network data and software next week!
zpneal.bsky.social
Going to #NetSci2025 next week? Check out the satellite on "Software and Data for Supporting Network Science"

Hear some great short talks & get involved:
▪️ Discussion on sharing data
▪️ Discussion on standards for describing data
▪️ Interactive software fair

Complete details at netsci.nascol.net
jennawneal.bsky.social
Oh! I really like that idea. I’d love to see the form you used.
jennawneal.bsky.social
Hi #AcademicBluesky

I'm prepping a new writing intensive undergrad course & am looking for resources and fun activities to build writing skills.

Any recommendations of what has worked for you? Bonus points for content related to AI, crafting clear arguments, and outlining papers.

Thanks!
Reposted by Jenna Watling Neal
zpneal.bsky.social
𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐒

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞 𝐨𝐧
"𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬"

Do you use a classroom activity to help students understand networks? Share it with others in Connections!

Submit your abstract (up to 300 words) to [email protected] by 15 September 2025
We invite abstracts for short papers describing an interactive classroom activity designed to illustrate, demonstrate, or reinforce network features or processes. Submissions are welcome for activities designed:
•	for teaching about any network feature or process
•	for any level of student (e.g., high school, undergraduate, graduate)
•	for any discipline (e.g., social science, natural science)
•	for any course (e.g., specialty course on networks, general course with a module about networks)

We especially encourage abstracts co-authored by instructors who have designed/used the activity and students who have participated in the activity.

Authors of selected abstracts will be invited to submit a full paper in Spring 2026. Invited submissions will be peer-reviewed, and accepted papers will be published open-access in Connections at no cost to the author.

Submit your abstract (up to 300 words) to zpneal@msu.edu by 15 September 2025
Reposted by Jenna Watling Neal
Reposted by Jenna Watling Neal
jimiadams.bsky.social
When what a tie is/represents remains undefined, interpreting any network analysis of those "data" becomes an impossible exercise in reading tea leaves.
Reposted by Jenna Watling Neal
zpneal.bsky.social
Interested in the intersection of #OpenScience and #NetworkScience? Check out the new @insna.bsky.social Recommendations for Sharing Network Data and Materials.

Read the recommendations 👉 www.zacharyneal.com/datasharing

Endorse the recommendations 👉 forms.gle/sgpjyUnkufJF...
Researchers should share the network data and materials necessary to reproduce reported results via a publicly accessible repository when an associated manuscript is published...but access to or use of shared data and materials may be restricted if necessary to avoid harm or comply with regulations