Freakonomics » psychology

Racked interviews entrepreneur and professional line-sitter ROBERT SAMUEL.  Samuels started his line-sitting venture, Same Old Line Dudes (SOLD Inc.), as the iPhone 5 was launched: > I wa...

https://freakonomics.com/2014/04/confessions-of-a-paid-line-sitter/

A friend writes: > In my job, I have to deal with a few people I really can't stand. > Most of my co-workers are fine, and they are good at their jobs. The > peopl...

https://freakonomics.com/2013/02/any-tips-for-dealing-with-people-you-cant-stand/

Our latest Freakonomics Radio on Marketplace  podcast is called "Sure, I Remember That." (You can download/subscribe at iTunes , get the RSS feed , listen via the media player in the post, or...

https://freakonomics.com/2013/02/sure-i-remember-that-a-new-marketplace-podcast/

Nobel laureate and frequent Freakonomics visitor DANIEL KAHNEMAN  (author of Thinking, Fast and Slow )  has written an open letter to psychologists who work on social priming, calling for th...

https://freakonomics.com/2012/10/daniel-kahneman-calls-for-change/

Last year, we put out a podcast called "The Power of Poop ," which looked at the use of fecal transplants (a.k.a. "transpoosions") to treat everything from multiple sclerosis to Parkinson's disea...

https://freakonomics.com/2012/10/do-the-bacteria-in-your-gut-also-influence-your-mind/

If you ever travel to Israel (which, BTW, is a phenomenal place to visit regardless of your attitudes toward religion or Middle Eastern politics), you’ll certainly see the Church of the Holy Se...

https://freakonomics.com/2012/09/the-status-quo/

A new paper  by psychologists E.J. MASICAMPO and DAVID LALANDE finds that an uncanny number of psychology findings just barely qualify as statistically significant.  From the abstract: > We...

https://freakonomics.com/2012/08/is-statistically-significant-really-significant/

A Bloomberg article by MICHAEL J. MOORE shows that finance and investment employees frequently commit the cardinal sin of failing to diversify their personal holdings by holding too much of thei...

https://freakonomics.com/2012/07/on-not-following-your-own-advice/

1. Is the Chicago law and economics program too successful ? 2. The Judgment of Princeton : more wine economics if you liked our wine podcast . 3. An elaborate bad customer service prank (vi...

https://freakonomics.com/2012/06/freak-est-links-55/

According to a new study , people do. Even when they know that the advice is useless. Researchers NATTAVUDH POWDTHAVEE and YOHANES E. RIYANTO investigated why people pay for advice about the ...

https://freakonomics.com/2012/06/paying-for-transparently-useless-advice/

MATTHEW YGLESIAS recently noted that the very rich are unhappy with PRESIDENT OBAMA because he would like to increase the taxes on the very rich.  Although this might be true, the number of peo...

https://freakonomics.com/2012/05/are-voters-just-rooting-for-clothes/

Is there a role for hope in poverty alleviation programs?  According to a recent speech by economist ESTHER DUFLO , there is. Duflo looked at a BRAC program in West Bengal; program participan...

https://freakonomics.com/2012/05/hope-and-poverty/

We've blogged before about the many advantages of being beautiful.  New research indicates that looking "trustworthy" carries some benefits as well: > In a paper recently published in...

https://freakonomics.com/2012/05/the-advantages-of-looking-trustworthy/

When it comes to educational attainment, good intentions aren't enough.  New research , led by LIZ TODD of Newcastle University, looks at schemes to increase the educational attainment of low-i...

https://freakonomics.com/2012/05/education-and-ambition/

New research  (summarized by the BPS Research Digest) from PAUL RODWAY, ASTRID SCHEPMAN, and JORDANA LAMBERT demonstrates that people seem to prefer items located in the middle: > "In rep...

https://freakonomics.com/2012/05/the-appeal-of-the-middle/

New research finds that it's alarmingly easy to create false memories for people, even when they know an event didn't happen.  Psychologists ANDREW CLARK, ROBERT A. NASH, GABRIELLE FINCHAM, and...

https://freakonomics.com/2012/04/messing-with-memory/

New research suggests that people "cyberloaf" (i.e. websurf instead of working) more when they are tired. Some people may find this surprising. (We do not.) If nothing else, this is another argu...

https://freakonomics.com/2012/03/daylight-savings-time-and-cyberloafing/

A new paper in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology finds that elementary school teachers worldwide might want to start encouraging students to put on their "thinking coats" instead of ...

https://freakonomics.com/2012/03/the-thinking-jacket-a-new-trend/

A fascinating Boston Globe article by BRITT PETERSON reviews the research on the far-reaching psychological effects of wealth. "Rich people have a harder time connecting with others, showing les...

https://freakonomics.com/2012/03/the-wealth-effect-it-aint-pretty/

A new paper  from psychology researchers MARK VAN VUGT and WENDY IREDALE finds that acts of male kindness may not always be quite what they seem. From Science Daily : > Two experiments we...

https://freakonomics.com/2012/02/is-male-kindness-actually-a-peacock-tail/