Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Paul Vanags

@paulvanags.bsky.social

53 followers 65 following 19 posts

PhD researcher. Interested in prosociality, moral and environmental psychology, paulvanags.com and part of sdn-lab.org

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Paul Vanags @paulvanags.bsky.social · Feb 4

New paper! Greater (objective and subjective) wealth is consistently associated with higher prosocial preferences and behaviours across 76 countries. Resource scarcity (precarity) also has an effect. bit.ly/410jni3
@thepsychologist.bsky.social
@fabiankosse.bsky.social
@drjocutler.bsky.social

Greater income and financial well-being are associated with higher prosocial preferences and behaviors across 76 countries

Abstract. Prosocial preferences and behaviors—defined as those that benefit others—are essential for health, well-being, and a society that can effectively

bit.ly

5 4

Paul Vanags @paulvanags.bsky.social · May 22

At this point in my #Pint25 talk I was regaling the audience, who understandably thought they had come to a science talk, with a brief diversion into the cultural influence of world religions on our perception of prosociality and wealth. Scientists do not operate in a vacuum! (Well arguably some do)

1 1

Paul Vanags @paulvanags.bsky.social · May 6

I'll be talking about our findings on prosociality and wealth in a pub in a couple of weeks.. pintofscience.co.uk/event/genero...

Generous Minds: Giving and the Social Brain

What makes us help, give, and connect with others? Join us for an evening exploring the science behind human connection. Discover what a global study revea…

pintofscience.co.uk

Reposted by Paul Vanags

Andrew Gelman et al. @statmodeling.bsky.social · Apr 17

A new journal just for publishing reanalyses of published empirical research findings
statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2025/04/16/a...

A new journal just for publishing reanalyses of published empirical research findings | Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science

statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu

10 16

Paul Vanags @paulvanags.bsky.social · Apr 6

New WhatsApp integrated Meta AI..

Reposted by Paul Vanags

Katie McAuliffe @katiemcauliffe.bsky.social · Mar 19

Excited to share a new paper on children's third-party punishment across societies. This was a big collaborative effort and I'm so grateful to my wonderful co-authors for their contributions to this project.
Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Blog: communities.springernature.com/posts/childr...

Across six societies children engage in costly third-party punishment of unfair sharing - Communications Psychology

Third-party punishment of unfair sharing is a hallmark of a normative concern for fairness in adults. Here, children in Canada, India, Peru, Uganda, USA, and Vanuatu show this same normative concern b...

www.nature.com

20 57

Paul Vanags @paulvanags.bsky.social · Feb 26

Sad thing is it's not that incredible really. Buttler has to go, great batter, terrible leader, part of me is glad we lost cos it means he'll have to go, he's been awful as captain

Reposted by Paul Vanags

Nancy Levine Stearns 🌎 @nancylevinestearns.bsky.social · Feb 22

💥The Netherlands' largest pension fund, has sold its shares in Tesla, Meta, and Alphabet (Google). The fund with US $569 billion equivolent in assets is "directing more money to companies and projects that help to improve society and the environment." #Divest

www.reuters.com/markets/euro...

Dutch pension fund ABP sells all Alphabet and Meta shares, CEO tells newspaper FD

ABP, the Netherlands' largest pension fund, has sold its shares in tech companies Meta and Alphabet , its CEO told Dutch newspaper FD in an interview published on Monday.

www.reuters.com

300 5K 20K

Paul Vanags @paulvanags.bsky.social · Feb 16

Thanks.. I think chatGPT is trying to flatter me

Paul Vanags @paulvanags.bsky.social · Feb 15

This is cool and an interesting way of revealing some of the terrible AI biases. Out of interest what prompt did you use? I just gave it my name and asked it to generate an image, but it replied to say I needed to describe myself physically?

Reposted by Paul Vanags

PNAS Nexus @pnasnexus.org · Feb 10

People with higher incomes and people who describe themselves as “living comfortably” are more likely to report donating, volunteering, and helping strangers than people with lower incomes and people who are merely “getting by.” In PNAS Nexus: academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...

A person donates food in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2022. Stock photo.

5 6

Reposted by Paul Vanags

Twisteddoodles @twisteddoodles.bsky.social · Feb 13

#science #valentines

13 120 1.3K

Paul Vanags @paulvanags.bsky.social · Feb 12

One star!

Paul Vanags @paulvanags.bsky.social · Feb 7

So you're looking for arguments which refute the idea that those with the capacity to do so have a moral obligation to help others in need? (I don't know Nagel btw only Singer)

Paul Vanags @paulvanags.bsky.social · Feb 7

What do you think is bad about the argument?

Paul Vanags @paulvanags.bsky.social · Feb 7

I will post occassionally about the progress of my thesis write up. It will help motivate me, plus if anyone asks me "how's it going" they can be referred here, saving us both the awkwardness of a withering look. I have a contents page! Nearly done, right? +100 words written for every like/share.

Paul Vanags @paulvanags.bsky.social · Feb 7

Paul Farbrace on R4 on the key issues in England's current cricket woes. 1. Not scoring enough runs. 2. Not taking enough wickets. "These are really the key areas" #cricket #punditry

Paul Vanags @paulvanags.bsky.social · Feb 6

Interesting and thoughtful consideration of the pros and cons of pre-registration and its use/abuse since inception as mitigation against some of the problems that led to the replication crisis. "Replication is the only arbiter of replicability". journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

1 2 3

Reposted by Paul Vanags

Hayley Dorfman @hayleydorfman.bsky.social · Feb 5

🌵Out now! Using an RL task that manipulates people's beliefs about agency, we show that exposure to & severity of early-life adversity is associated with lower learning rates & agency beliefs. w/ the brillant @thephelpslab.bsky.social, Kate McLaughlin, & Bryan Dong learnmem.cshlp.org/content/32/1...

The influence of exposure to early-life adversity on agency-modulated reinforcement learning

Peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing basic neuroscience research in the areas of neuronal plasticity, learning and memory

learnmem.cshlp.org

2 30 62

Paul Vanags @paulvanags.bsky.social · Feb 4

Greater income and financial well-being are associated with higher prosocial preferences and behaviors across 76 countries

Abstract. Prosocial preferences and behaviors—defined as those that benefit others—are essential for health, well-being, and a society that can effectively

bit.ly

5 4

Paul Vanags @paulvanags.bsky.social · Feb 1

Freedom of speech is it? abcnews.go.com/US/usda-orde...

USDA orders removal of climate change mentions from public websites

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has directed officials to remove content related to climate change from its public websites, according to emails obtained by ABC News.

abcnews.go.com

Paul Vanags @paulvanags.bsky.social · Jan 22

The thesis write up has begun. Any ideas for content, please DM.

Paul Vanags @paulvanags.bsky.social · Jan 21

This is smashing, very brave to stand up and be counted, inspiring www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...

Bishop asks Trump to show mercy to LGBT people and migrants

Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde made a plea to the president in a sermon that Trump later criticised.

www.bbc.co.uk

Reposted by Paul Vanags

PHD Comics @phdcomics.com · Jan 19

Abstract Art
**Hey, get a signed print of one of my comics: bit.ly/mind-print

2 28 170

Paul Vanags @paulvanags.bsky.social · Jan 15

The link says job unavailable? For me at least!

Reposted by Paul Vanags

Nina Turner @ninaturner.bsky.social · Dec 19

Musk’s wealth in 2012: $2 Billion
Musk’s wealth in 2024: $447 Billion

Bezos’s wealth in 2012: $18 Billion
Bezos’s wealth in 2024: $249 Billion

Zuckerberg’s wealth in 2012: $44 Billion
Zuckerberg’s wealth in 2024: $224 Billion

Minimum wage in 2012: $7.25
Minimum wage in 2024: $7.25

150 4K 9.4K