Science in Society

By Allison L. Skinner and Kristina R. Olson

The nonverbal messages we send, sometimes unconciously, can play a surprisingly large role

By Benjamin A. Converse and Marie Hennecke

Here we go again. Year after year, with great confidence each time, we choose all the goals we are going to start pursuing next year. Next year, we’ll start eating healthier. Next year, we’ll start going to the gym more. Next year, we won’t check email right before bed. Why do we expect so much from ourselves next year?

By Peter Blake

“I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor. Rich is better.” (Attributed to Sophie Tucker)

A colleague receives a larger bonus than you although you feel that you both worked equally hard.  This feels unfair, and makes you upset.  But what if you had received the larger bonus? This situation is also unfair, because equal work is leading to unequal outcomes.  But our experience and our intuitions suggest that we would respond differently to these cases: getting too little credit feels worse—and more unfair—than getting too much credit.

By David Dunning

By Amit Goldenberg