A key debate in the psychology of ideology is whether leftists and rightists are psychologically similar or different. A long-standing view holds that left-wing and right-wing people are meaningfully different from one another across a whole host of basic personality and cognitive features. Scholars have recently pushed back, suggesting that left-wing and right-wing people are more psychologically

Gender identity, or people's deeply felt, internal sense of their gender, plays an important role in aggression perpetration and victimization. In this article, I review and organize the psychological research literatures on gender identity–based aggression. I first discuss the need to move beyond binary, cisgender understandings of gender by embracing expansive definitions that more fully capture

Our review, situated within the context of the United States, explores how societal forces shape youths’ racial socialization processes. Specifically, we explore how youths learn beliefs about race through interactions with their environment, how these processes affect youths’ engagement with race in multiple contexts, and how they contribute to the perpetuation and dismantling of racial inequality

The imagination is central to human social life but undervalued worldwide and underexplored in psychology. Here, we offer Possible Worlds Theory as a synthetic theory of the imagination. We first define the imagination, mapping the mental states it touches, from dreams and hallucinations to satire and fiction. The conditions that prompt people to imagine range from trauma to physical and social deprivation

Circadian rhythms are inherent to living organisms from single cells to humans and operate on a genetically determined cycle of approximately 24 hours. These endogenous rhythms are aligned with the external light/dark cycle of the Earth's rotation and offer the advantage of anticipating environmental changes. Circadian rhythms act directly on human cognition and indirectly through their fundamental

Antisocial behavior (ASB) refers to a set of behaviors that violate social norms and disregard the well-being and rights of others. In this review, we synthesize evidence from studies using genetically informed designs to investigate the genetic and environmental contributions to individual differences in ASB. We review evidence from studies using family data (twin and adoption studies) and measured

Second-person neuroscience focuses on studying the behavioral and neuronal mechanisms of real-time social interactions within single and across interacting brains. In this review article, we describe the developments that have been undertaken to study socially interactive phenomena and have helped to focus on behavioral and neurobiological processes that extend across interaction partners. More specifically

Interoception, the sensing of internal bodily signals, is intricately linked with the experience of emotions. Various theoretical models of emotion incorporate aspects of interoception as a fundamental component alongside higher-order processes such as the appraisal of internal signals guided by external context. Interoception can be delineated into different dimensions, which include the nature of

Subjective value is a core concept in neuroeconomics, serving as the basis for decision making. Despite the extensive literature on the neural encoding of subjective reward value in humans, the neural representation of punishment value remains relatively understudied. This review synthesizes current knowledge on the neural representation of reward value, including methodologies, involved brain regions

Moral judgments differ across cultures and politics, but they share a common theme in our minds: perceptions of harm. Both cultural ethnographies on moral values and psychological research on moral cognition highlight this shared focus on harm. Perceptions of harm are constructed from universal cognitive elements—including intention, causation, and suffering—but depend on the cultural context, allowing

Behavioral public policy came to the fore with the introduction of nudging, which aims to steer behavior while maintaining freedom of choice. Responding to critiques of nudging (e.g., that it does not promote agency and relies on benevolent choice architects), other behavioral policy approaches focus on empowering citizens. Here we review boosting, a behavioral policy approach that aims to foster people's

Generalization, defined as applying limited experiences to novel situations, represents a cornerstone of human intelligence. Our review traces the evolution and continuity of psychological theories of generalization, from its origins in concept learning (categorizing stimuli) and function learning (learning continuous input-output relationships) to domains such as reinforcement learning and latent

This review provides a critical overview of current evidence on psychological health behavior determinants and its value in informing intervention and future determinants research. The review begins with work labeling and classifying the myriads of determinants available in the extant research to arrive at core groups of determinants. Next, the conceptual bases of these determinant groups are identified

The current review presents an integrated tripartite framework for understanding attentional control, emphasizing the interaction and competition among top-down, bottom-up, and selection-history influences. It focuses on attentional capture, which refers to conditions in which salient objects or events receive attentional priority even when they are inconsistent with the goals, tasks, and intentions

Humans and other primates have a remarkable ability to perform a wide range of tasks and behaviors, even novel ones, in order to achieve their goals. Further, they are able to shift flexibly among these behaviors as the contexts demands. Cognitive control is the function at the base of this remarkable behavioral generativity and flexibility. The present review provides a survey of current research

Moral learning and decision-making are crucial throughout our lives, from infancy to old age. Emerging evidence suggests that there are important differences in learning and deciding in moral situations, and these are underpinned by co-occurring changes in the use of model-based values and theory of mind. Here, we review the decision neuroscience literature on moral choices and moral learning considering

Where do positive feelings about a romantic or sexual partner come from? This article offers an overview of—and imposes some structure on—the enormous literature on mate evaluation, from initial attraction to long-term relationship settings. First, we differentiate between research that identifies the factors that predict positive evaluation on average (i.e., normative desirability) and research that

Justice scholars have elaborated a variety of social psychological mechanisms that contribute to our desire to see some action following an injustice, to see justice done. Research over the past 20 years has significantly advanced our understanding of how to repair a sense of justice by articulating the psychological needs that follow from its experience from victim, offender, and observer perspectives

The capacity to change with experience infuses our perceptions, thoughts, and actions in and about the past, present, and future. The cognitive system supporting this capacity for change can be exquisitely responsive to external events and yet can influence how those external events affect us. This interplay between the external and internal has been a major theme of my lab group's research. We proposed

This article reviews two related approaches—conversation analysis (CA) and membership categorization analysis (MCA)—to sketch a systematic framework for exposing how categories and categorial phenomena are (re)produced in naturally occurring social interaction. In so doing, we argue that CA and MCA address recent concerns about psychological methods and approaches. After summarizing how categories

Alexithymia is a multi-dimensional personality trait involving difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing feelings, and an externally oriented thinking style. Poor fantasy life is debated as another facet. For over 50 years, the alexithymia literature has examined how alexithymia-related disturbances in perceiving and expressing feelings contribute to mental and physical disorders. We review

Haptic perception uses signals from touch receptors to detect, locate, and mentally represent objects and surfaces. Research from behavioral science, neuroscience, and computational modeling advances understanding of these essential functions. Haptic perception is grounded in neural circuitry that transmits external contact to the brain via increasingly abstracted representations. Computational models

Social norms have long been considered across the social and behavioral sciences for their effects on human behavior. This review focuses on norms that explicitly or implicitly convey socially shared views about what people should or should not do. Such injunctive norms can be powerful influences on behavior through internalization or through formal or informal enforcement. They can underpin interventions

Claims about unawareness are abundant in attitude research. This article provides an analysis of evidence regarding three aspects of an attitude of which people may lack awareness: (a) the attitude itself, (b) its environmental causes, and (c) its behavioral effects. Our analysis reveals that, despite widespread claims of unawareness of the three aspects, strong empirical evidence for these claims

This article reviews empirical data demonstrating robust ingroup favoritism in political judgment. Partisans display systematic tendencies to seek out, believe, and remember information that supports their political beliefs and affinities. However, the psychological drivers of partisan favoritism have been vigorously debated, as has its consistency with rational inference. We characterize decades-long

Interpersonal communication is an integral part of everyday life. People are constantly sharing thoughts, opinions, and information with others, both online and offline. Further, such social sharing has important implications for what people think, buy, and do. However, while it is clear that interpersonal communication is both frequent and important, research is only starting to understand what people

The incentive-sensitization theory (IST) of addiction was first published in 1993, proposing that (a) brain mesolimbic dopamine systems mediate incentive motivation (“wanting”) for addictive drugs and other rewards, but not their hedonic impact (liking) when consumed; and (b) some individuals are vulnerable to drug-induced long-lasting sensitization of mesolimbic systems, which selectively amplifies

Therapeutic claims about many psychedelic drugs have not been evaluated in any studies of even modest rigor. The science of psychedelic drugs is strengthening however, making it easier to differentiate some promising findings amid the hype that suffuses this research area. Ketamine has risks of adverse side effects (e.g., addiction and cystitis), but multiple studies suggest it can benefit individuals

Many individuals struggle to regulate their own consumption of food. Beginning with general theories of self-control, we review psychological factors that have been shown to influence the regulation of eating, including those related to particular personality variables, such as external eating, restrained eating, and reward sensitivity, as well as situational constraints, including normative influences

In many instances, emotions do not simply happen to people by chance; Often, people actively seek out an emotion by engaging in practices that have culturally evolved to evoke that emotion. Such practices tend to be perpetuated and spread if people want to experience the emotion, like to recall it and tell others about it, want to give the emotion to others and experience it together, and/or regard

In this review we examine two classes of interventions designed to achieve workplace gender equality: ( a) those designed to boost motivations and ambition, such as those that aim to attract more women into roles where they are underrepresented; and ( b) those that try to provide women with needed abilities to achieve these positions. While such initiatives are generally well meaning, they tend to

Magic is an art form that has fascinated humans for centuries. Recently, the techniques used by magicians to make their audience experience the impossible have attracted the attention of psychologists, who, in just a couple of decades, have produced a large amount of research regarding how these effects operate, focusing on the blind spots in perception and roadblocks in cognition that magic techniques

Nearly five billion people around the world now use social media, and this number continues to grow. One of the primary goals of social media platforms is to capture and monetize human attention. One means by which individuals and groups can capture attention and drive engagement on these platforms is by sharing morally and emotionally evocative content. We review a growing body of research on the

Social norms are the glue that holds society together, yet our knowledge of them remains heavily intellectually siloed. This article provides an interdisciplinary review of the emerging field of norm dynamics by integrating research across the social sciences through a cultural-evolutionary lens. After reviewing key distinctions in theory and method, we discuss research on norm psychology—the neural

Two decades of social neuroscience and neuroeconomics research illustrate the brain mechanisms that are engaged when people consider human beings, often in comparison to considering artificial intelligence (AI) as a nonhuman control. AI as an experimental control preserves agency and facilitates social interactions but lacks a human presence, providing insight into brain mechanisms that are engaged

There is always room for moral improvement. However, very few prior reviews have focused on the phenomenon of moral improvement of self, social relations, or society. We first consider prevailing notions of the self-concept by highlighting the niche of theory and research that identifies an improving self as a possible identity and basis of motivation to act better and to be better. Second, we discuss

Knowledge transfer—the extent to which one unit learns from or is affected by the experience of another—has the potential to improve the performance of organizations. Through knowledge transfer, developments made in one unit of an organization can benefit others. Studies have found, however, considerable variation in the extent to which knowledge transfers across organizational units. In some cases

Motivational processes are complex and multifaceted, with both directional and activational aspects. Behavioral activation and exertion of effort are functions that enable organisms to overcome obstacles separating them from significant outcomes. In a complex environment, organisms make cost/benefit decisions, assessing work-related response costs and reinforcer preference. Animal studies have challenged

Historically, the human sense of smell has been regarded as the odd stepchild of the senses, especially compared to the sensory bravado of seeing, touching, and hearing. The idea that the human olfaction has little to contribute to our experience of the world is commonplace, though with the emergence of COVID-19 there has rather been a sea change in this understanding. An ever increasing body of work

Much evidence has shown that perception is biased towards previously presented similar stimuli, an effect recently termed serial dependence. Serial dependence affects nearly every aspect of perception, often causing gross perceptual distortions, especially for weak and ambiguous stimuli. Despite unwanted side-effects, empirical evidence and Bayesian modeling show that serial dependence acts to improve

Achievement goals have been defined as the purpose of competence-relevant behavior. In this respect they connect one of the basic human needs, i.e., competence, to one of society's core values, i.e., achievement. We propose to look at achievement goals through the lens of social influence. We review both the influence that cultural, structural, and contextual factors have on achievement goal endorsement

The generalized social concern with sexual harassment and nonconsensual sex makes it imperative to incorporate notions of consent in any analysis of human sexual interactions. Such interactions follow an ordered sequence of events, starting with the perception of a sexual incentive, followed by an approach to it, genital interaction, and eventually orgasm. Consent from the partner is needed at every

Music training is generally assumed to improve perceptual and cognitive abilities. Although correlational data highlight positive associations, experimental results are inconclusive, raising questions about causality. Does music training have far-transfer effects, or do preexisting factors determine who takes music lessons? All behavior reflects genetic and environmental influences, but differences

Men who have sex with men (MSM) are disproportionately affected by HIV, accounting for two-thirds of HIV cases in the United States despite representing ∼5% of the adult population. Delivery and use of existing and highly effective HIV prevention and treatment strategies remain suboptimal among MSM. To summarize the state of the science, we systematically review implementation determinants and strategies

Determining the psychological, computational, and neural bases of confidence and uncertainty holds promise for understanding foundational aspects of human metacognition. While a neuroscience of confidence has focused on the mechanisms underpinning subpersonal phenomena such as representations of uncertainty in the visual or motor system, metacognition research has been concerned with personal-level

Moral psychology was shaped around three categories of agents and patients: humans, other animals, and supernatural beings. Rapid progress in artificial intelligence has introduced a fourth category for our moral psychology to deal with: intelligent machines. Machines can perform as moral agents, making decisions that affect the outcomes of human patients or solving moral dilemmas without human supervision

The relation between attention and memory has long been deemed important for understanding cognition, and it was heavily researched even in the first experimental psychology laboratory by Wilhelm Wundt and his colleagues. Since then, the importance of the relation between attention and memory has been explored in myriad subdisciplines of psychology, and we incorporate a wide range of these diverse

Psychological flexibility is a model of human performance and well-being. It essentially entails an approach to life circumstances that includes openness, awareness, and engagement. It has roots in behavior analysis, and it is linked to a philosophy of science called functional contextualism and to a specific therapy approach called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. One of the earliest and most developed

Research in cultural psychology over the last three decades has revealed the profound influence of culture on cognitive, emotional, and motivational processes shaping individuals into active agents. This article aims to show cultural psychology's promise in three key steps. First, we review four notable cultural dimensions believed to underlie cultural variations: independent versus interdependent

People are fundamentally motivated to be included in social connections that feel safe, connections where they are consistently cared for and protected, not hurt or exploited. Romantic relationships have long played a crucial role in satisfying this fundamental need. This article reconceptualizes the risk-regulation model to argue that people draw on experiences from inside and outside their romantic

Can happiness be reliably increased? Thousands of studies speak to this question. However, many of them were conducted during a period in which researchers commonly “ p-hacked,” creating uncertainty about how many discoveries might be false positives. To prevent p-hacking, happiness researchers increasingly preregister their studies, committing to analysis plans before analyzing data. We conducted

Disasters cause sweeping damage, hardship, and loss of life. In this article, we first consider the dominant psychological approach to disasters and its narrow focus on psychopathology (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder). We then review research on a broader approach that has identified heterogeneous, highly replicable trajectories of outcome, the most common being stable mental health or resilience

Similarity and categorization are fundamental processes in human cognition that help complex organisms make sense of the cacophony of information in their environment. These processes are critical for tasks such as recognizing objects, making decisions, and forming memories. In this review, we provide an overview of the current state of knowledge on similarity and psychological spaces, discussing the

Social psychologists attempt to explain how we interact by appealing to basic principles of how we think. To make good on this ambition, they are increasingly relying on an interconnected set of formal tools that model inference, attribution, value-guided decision making, and multi-agent interactions. By reviewing progress in each of these areas and highlighting the connections between them, we can

Action is an important arbitrator as to whether an individual or a species will survive. Yet, action has not been well integrated into the study of psychology. Action or motor behavior is a field apart. This is traditional science with its need for specialization. The sequence in a typical laboratory experiment of see → decide → act provides the rationale for broad disciplinary categorizations. With

This autobiographical essay traces my personal journey from grandson of a slave to a cultural psychologist examining racism. My journey includes growing up in a small Ohio town, training in social psychology, and an academic career that was launched with the publication of Prejudice and Racism in 1972. I weave my personal experiences with my analytical approach to racism that incorporates individual

Pride is a self-conscious emotion, comprised of two distinct facets known as authentic and hubristic pride, and associated with a cross-culturally recognized nonverbal expression. Authentic pride involves feelings of accomplishment and confidence and promotes prosocial behaviors, whereas hubristic pride involves feelings of arrogance and conceit and promotes antisociality. Each facet of pride, we argue

Objects are the core meaningful elements in our visual environment. Classic theories of object vision focus upon object recognition and are elegant and simple. Some of their proposals still stand, yet the simplicity is gone. Recent evolutions in behavioral paradigms, neuroscientific methods, and computational modeling have allowed vision scientists to uncover the complexity of the multidimensional

Conspiracy theories are abundant in social and political discourse, with serious consequences for individuals, groups, and societies. However, psychological scientists have started paying close attention to them only in the past 20 years. We review the spectacular progress that has since been made and some of the limitations of research so far, and we consider the prospects for further progress. To

In this review, we identify emerging trends in negotiation scholarship that embrace complexity, finding moderators of effects that were initially described as monolithic, examining the nuances of social interaction, and studying negotiation as it occurs in the real world. We also identify areas in which research is lacking and call for scholarship that offers practical advice. All told, the existing