We like to think that our political views are well reasoned and backed by evidence. But research shows how easily we all succumb to cognitive biases to justify our own deeply held views.
If the site is increasingly where people are getting their news, what could the company do without taking up the mantle of being a final arbiter of truth?
Did the Chicago Cubs break the curse of the Billy Goat to win the 2016 World Series in baseball?
Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
Every one of us is vulnerable to thinking that the ideas we hold dear are reasoned or principled positions. But how many of our ideas are adopted and defended as part of our tribal identity?
People find it difficult to understand the true value of loss of life when the numbers are large. For instance, a study found that people are more willing to donate money to an organisation when just one…
Have you heard the one about..?
verb1derproductions
Urban legends get around, but we don’t really understand why. We conducted a study to explain how misinformation spreads surprisingly fast and why people feel compelled to share it. There are many urban…
More than half of Australians say they recycle for mostly environmental reasons.
Shutterstock/spwidoff
Most Australians overestimate how much they are doing for the environment compared to others, and are more concerned about water shortages, pollution and household waste than climate change, a new CSIRO…
Addressing contrary patterns of thinking, or cognitive biases, could help ameliorate negative feelings.
Mira Manns
Cognitive bias modification is a new approach to treating emotional problems. It holds considerable promise for the remote delivery of mental health interventions. The story of how this new approach came…
Provost Professor of Psychology and Marketing and co-director of the Dornsife Mind & Society Center, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences