Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

What motivates runners? Focusing on the “how” rather than the “why”

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JESP @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social · 7d

Looking to run more? A new paper by Emily Balcetis, Jordan Daley, Bradley Tao, &
Bryce Lexow highlights how to best finish that race! The takeaway? Runners get to the finish line by focusing on subgoals rather than the larger goal of completing the race

www.eurekalert.org/news-release...

Many might think that when fatigue sets in during a running race, the key to perseverance is reminding oneself why the effort is worth it or focusing on reasons why they set the goal—intuition t...

www.eurekalert.org

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JESP @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social · 7d

Read the actual science here! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

From ostracized to pleased: How fair and unfair social exclusion activates schadenfreude

People sometimes derive pleasure from the misfortune of others. Here, we investigate social ostracism as a multifaceted trigger of this complex emotio…

Karma Feels Good After Being Excluded | Ole Miss

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JESP @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social · 7d

Some new coverage of Sarah Mohammadi & Andrew Hale's recent work testing social exclusion and experiencing schadenfreude (finding pleasure in someone's misfortune) or glückschmerz (those who are snubbed enjoy others’ good fortune less) @olemiss.bsky.social

olemiss.edu/news/2025/09...

olemiss.edu

Norm-enhanced prebunking for actively open-minded thinking indirectly improves misinformation discernment and reduces conspiracy beliefs

JESP @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social · 20d

And here is a link to the paper itself again too! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Recent research has demonstrated that actively open-minded thinking (AOT)—a cognitive thinking style characterized by the active avoidance of myside b…

Recognizing Fake News: An Open Mind Can Help

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JESP @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social · 20d

Check out some more coverage of a recent paper we published by @mikeybiddlestone.bsky.social @unikent.bsky.social
& colleagues about how to beat misinformation!

holistic.news/en/recognizi...

Recognizing fake news is a challenge. An experiment based on open-minded thinking showed that you don't need much to help yourself.

holistic.news

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JESP @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social · Sep 1

Nice 🧵 about a brand new paper in our journal! ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Benjamin Buttlar @benjaminbuttlar.bsky.social · Sep 1

Do you sometimes feel torn when making decisions, like whether to eat unhealthy food or recycle? This is called felt ambivalence: a psychological discomfort from having mixed feelings about something. Check out our new work to know how people resolve such conflicts: doi.org/10.1016/j.je... 🧠💥 1/10

Redirecting

doi.org

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JESP @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social · Aug 29

Yes that’s also part of these findings!

Norm-enhanced prebunking for actively open-minded thinking indirectly improves misinformation discernment and reduces conspiracy beliefs

JESP @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social · Aug 29

Read the actual science by @mikeybiddlestone.bsky.social, Carolin-Theresa Ziemer, Rakoen Maertens, Jon Roozenbeek, and Sander van der Linden here:

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Recent research has demonstrated that actively open-minded thinking (AOT)—a cognitive thinking style characterized by the active avoidance of myside b…

“Cognitive vaccine”: How to protect yourself from fake news online | NEWS.am TECH - Innovations and science

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JESP @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social · Aug 29

Want help protecting yourself from misinformation? Check out coverage of a new paper by @mikeybiddlestone.bsky.social @unikent.bsky.social & colleagues showing reading a message that prompts open-minded thinking can work as a “cognitive vaccine” against disinformation!
tech.news.am/eng/news/601...

An international team of scientists has developed a method that helps people better recognize fake news and resist conspiracy theories... .

tech.news.am

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Reposted by JESP

Society for Personality and Social Psychology @spspnews.bsky.social · Aug 22

Back-to-school season is here! 📚 Check out SPSP's teaching resource collection: member-recommended textbooks with detailed educator reviews, plus classroom activities from the classic "36 Questions" to innovative PSA projects.

Learn more: ow.ly/RwUP50WKirz

Group of diverse young adults engaged in a discussion inside a modern industrial-style workspace with equipment and tools in the background.

Sexual Desire Can Change Our Long-Term Mate Preferences

JESP @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social · Aug 21

Still looking for some new readings for you syllabi for the fall? 🔖Check out our July/August issue!! 📖 Packed with all kinds of new science! @spspnews.bsky.social @spssi.bsky.social @apajournals.bsky.social @psychscience.bsky.social @improvingpsych.org

JESP @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social · Aug 6

Some @psychologytoday.com coverage by @Madeleine Fugère featuring a recently published article in JESP! We also recently covered this paper here, so clearly it is great science! #psychology

www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/dati...

Certain characteristics of a potential mate become more or less important when we experience strong feelings of sexual desire, new research shows.

www.psychologytoday.com

JESP @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social · Jul 31

Read the actual science here!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The evolved psychology of mate preferences: Sexual desire underlies the prioritization of attractiveness in long-term partners

Although existing evolutionary psychological research provides insight into the ultimate reproductive functions underlying long-term romantic partner …

a close up of a cartoon cat with the word trendizssy on the bottom right

JESP @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social · Jul 31

Brand new work by Sierra Peters, Jon Maner, & Andrea Meltzer showing that sexual desire underlies why we may prioritize attractiveness in long-term partners! They even shift this motivation around experimentally! #psychology

ALT: a close up of a cartoon cat with the word trendizssy on the bottom right

Antecedents of bullshitting

JESP @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social · Jul 15

Looking for some summer reading?? 🌞📖 Or new science as you start to prep those syllabi!?! 👀 Here is our May 2025 issue which includes to the intro to our special issue all about gossip! @spspnews.bsky.social @spssi.bsky.social @apajournals.bsky.social @psychscience.bsky.social @improvingpsych.org

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JESP @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social · Jun 18

Read the actual science here!! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Although it appears to be a common social behavior, very little is known about the nature of bullshitting (i.e., communicating with little to no regar…

What’s that Smell? The Fine Art of Detecting Bullsh*t

JESP @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social · Jun 18

"In a 2018 study John Petrocelli defined bu|lsh!t in eloquentacademic terms: “Communications that result from little to no concern for truth, evidence and/or established semantic, logical, systemic, or empirical knowledge.” Cited in this write up! #psychology
news.clearancejobs.com/2025/06/17/w...

Simply asking the right questions positions you to not only deflect bullshit, but to prevent it from occurring again in the future.

news.clearancejobs.com

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JESP @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social · Jun 13

Read the actual science here!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Moral fixedness: Morality seems less changeable than competence and warmth

In four studies, we investigate lay beliefs about trait changeability across three fundamental dimensions of social perception: competence, warmth, an…

a man in a suit is sitting in a chair reading a book and says i 'd prefer to see a change

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JESP @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social · Jun 13

Ever wonder if people can change? New work by Jinseok Chun & Michael North show moral fixedness (beliefs that moral traits change less than competence or warmth) really is fixed! We assume morality reflects a person's core more than other traits!

ALT: a man in a suit is sitting in a chair reading a book and says i 'd prefer to see a change

The kernel of truth in gender stereotypes: Consider the avocado, not the apple

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JESP @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social · May 30

Read the science here! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Social perception accuracy includes stereotype accuracy, defined as holding correct beliefs about social groups. The present article examines this typ…

ALT: Superstore Amy Sosa GIF

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JESP @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social · May 30

Another paper for your summer 🌞 reading 📑

A new review by Alice Eagly & Judith Hall tests for gender stereotype accuracy across published work and finds strong evidence for gender stereotype accuracy due to the extensive exposure men and women have to other men and women in daily life. #psychology

Superstore Amy Sosa GIF

What goes around comes around: Foreign language use increases immanent justice thinking

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JESP @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social · May 27

Some new science in our journal!!! ⬇️⬇️

Dr. Sarah Gaither @sarahegaither.bsky.social · May 27

Brand new paper in @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social from the @dukeidlab.bsky.social 🤩 We are among the first to test cross-culturally how Asian American and Chinese Nationals categorize racially ambiguous biracial faces!! #psychology

Mohammad S. Wiswall @mohammadwiswall.bsky.social · May 27

Proud to announce my first first authored paper has been published online at JESP with Drs. @sarahegaither.bsky.social and @jackiemchen.bsky.social! We used a cross cultural sample to test two theories about racial ambiguity categorization. The preprint will be on OSF soon!

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JESP @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social · May 22

Read the actual science here! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Immanent justice thinking refers to the tendency to perceive causal connections between an agent's bad (good) deeds and subsequent bad (good) outcomes…

a cartoon hand is pointing up at a book titled psychology

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JESP @jexpsocpsych.bsky.social · May 22

Immanent justice thinking is the tendency to see causal connections between actions and deserved outcomes, even when a clear link isn't evident. New work by Janet Geipel, Constantinos Hadjichristidis & Luca Surian shows that foreign language use for bilinguals increases immanent justice endorsements

ALT: a cartoon hand is pointing up at a book titled psychology