Psychology Archives

5 min

Joseph Henrich’s “The WEIRDEST People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous”

Writing from Islamic Spain in 1068, scholar Said ibn Ahmad describes the different nations of the world. Some, like the Greeks, Romans, Persians, Egyptians, Indians and Jews, he writes, have…

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7 min

Combating Psychology’s Replication Crisis

Replicability is the ability to obtain consistent results across studies that use different data sets to address the same hypothesis. This allows us to determine whether a certain effect, e.g.…

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5 min

Why Progressives Downplay Progress

“Intellectuals hate progress,” writes Steven Pinker in Enlightenment Now. “Intellectuals who call themselves ‘progressive’ really hate progress.” There are plenty of reasons to think Pinker is right. Many progressives seem…

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9 min

Political Extremism in the US: A New Study

This study utilised a nationally representative sample to investigate the cultural divide on the political left and right. We found evidence of an ideological divide on both sides, with generational…

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14 min

Evolutionary Psychology: Predictively Powerful or Riddled with Just-So Stories?

This essay is part of a series on the value of evolutionary approaches to psychology. Part 1 clears away seven key misconceptions. Part 2 shows why evolution is necessary for…

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12 min

Does Darwinism Conflict with Religion?

When my dog chases the ball, does she do so with purpose? Or is she more like a windup toy, going through the motions, along with all the other atoms…

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6 min

Self-Defeating Polls and the Uncertainty of Predictions

A Californian plans to vote after work in what she believes to be a close presidential election … The day is rainy and as she approaches the polling place she…

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16 min

Mental Health and Homicide: Progressive Ideology Meets Political Expediency

Mentally disturbed people commit over a hundred homicides every year in Britain. In simplified reasoning, the motives for such killings are beyond comprehension—to a court of justice and perhaps to…

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8 min

Why Facts Are Overrated

Although the information age is said to have begun in the latter part of the twentieth century, one could argue that we are now experiencing its peak, since almost everyone…

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9 min

Feelings Don’t Care About Your Facts: The Psychological Roots of Ideology

Recent political commentary has observed a dissociation from traditional left–right political views and a move towards the extreme ends of the political spectrum. The increasing chasm between the major parties…

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10 min

Thinking With Hypotheses: Better Reasoning for a Storytelling Species

Humans are a storytelling species. We explain concepts using analogous stories; we automatically assign meaning and purpose to patterns; and we find anecdotes particularly moving. Our heuristics—the rules of thumb…

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6 min

Cancel Culture and the Alt-Right: Dark Psychological Profiles in Politics

The dark triad is the term used to describe the constellation of three maladaptive and socially undesirable traits: Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy. Machiavellian individuals are cold and cynical, often using…

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Psychology

Joseph Henrich’s “The WEIRDEST People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous”

Combating Psychology’s Replication Crisis

Why Progressives Downplay Progress

Political Extremism in the US: A New Study

Evolutionary Psychology: Predictively Powerful or Riddled with Just-So Stories?

Does Darwinism Conflict with Religion?

Self-Defeating Polls and the Uncertainty of Predictions

Mental Health and Homicide: Progressive Ideology Meets Political Expediency

Why Facts Are Overrated

Feelings Don’t Care About Your Facts: The Psychological Roots of Ideology

Thinking With Hypotheses: Better Reasoning for a Storytelling Species

Cancel Culture and the Alt-Right: Dark Psychological Profiles in Politics

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