Researchers have examined whether it is possible to increase empathy through formal training.
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Some people are good at understanding the emotions of others but not at feeling them or commenting on them. So can we teach people the parts they lack?
Many animals might show signs of mimicry or emotional contagion to another animal in pain.
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While we need empathic skills to relate to others sometimes, too much empathy can be a bad thing.
Most whites would say they’re okay with diversity. But is there a threshold?
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Simple reminders of the growing diversity of the country and the political power of minorities can influence biases.
Trump supporters celebrating.
Michael Reynolds/EPA
The more we have to defend our choice to others, the more certain we become that we are right. So what can we do about it?
Hands off – but do we trust the car?
AP Photo/Eric Risberg
The ethics and psychology of trust suggest ways we might learn to understand self-driving cars, but also show why doing so might be more challenging than we expect.
If you want your New Year’s resolutions to last longer than the party, you need to create new habits. But how?
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If you want to stick to your New Year’s resolutions, a behaviourist’s approach might help you create and keep new, healthy habits.
Our friends may not like when we don’t drink because it reflects their own drinking practices.
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If your friends undermine your decision not to drink, don’t be offended. They’re probably just dealing with their own insecurity about their drinking.
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Kids as young as seven have a good enough sense of logic to work out the truth and why it can be better to lie.
If you can’t taste the difference, why the backlash against recycled water?
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In light of climate change and a growing population, water authorities around the world are looking to recycled water.
You are far more likely to die driving to buy your ticket than you are to actually win first division in the lottery.
EPA/Erik S. Lesser
If winning first division in the lotto is very unlikely, why is playing so popular?
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Bucket lists can have unintended (sometimes fatal) consequences.
The modern world is a complex place, even if we don’t think it is.
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Humans have limited ability to understand complexity, but there are serious dangers if we oversimplify things too much.
What we buy can be an extension of what we want to convey about our identity and status.
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The expensive things we buy say a lot about our identity, the way we think, and how we feel.
Human rights activists demonstrate waterboarding on Capitol Hill in 2007.
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Psychologists have developed evidence-based interrogation methods that could be used as alternatives to torture.
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We all get angry, but only some of us are violent – now, researchers are trying to figure out what triggers this harmful behaviour. And they need your help.
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Technology exacerbates the news echo chamber, but it can also be the solution to overcoming our deep-seated psychological biases.
What are they thinking?
John Lewis
The science of making us watch … and then spend.
A mass wedding of ‘moonies’ – followers of the South Korean leader Sun Myung Moon.
Jeon Heon-Kyun / EPA
Don’t mock – try to be the best friend they can have.
Did the Chicago Cubs break the curse of the Billy Goat to win the 2016 World Series in baseball?
Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
Many sports enthusiasts are notoriously superstitious. Why is that so?
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With age comes wisdom … and happiness.