Brain, Behavior, and the Economy

Psychological science, once criticized for underestimating the impact of socioeconomic factors on psychological development and functioning, now plays a lead role in investigating how wealth and poverty affect thought, emotion, and action throughout our lives. Top researchers from the United States and Europe presented some of the most profound findings on cognition, brain, behavior, and development in socioeconomic contexts during the inaugural International Convention of Psychological Science (ICPS), held in March in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

In an integrative science symposium, researchers shared discoveries about the ways socioeconomic status affects brain development, decision making, subjective well-being, and more. A complete video of the session, divided by individual presentations in chapter format, is available on the APS YouTube page. Presenters include APS Fellows Martha J. Farah, University of Pennsylvania, and Eldar Shafir, Princeton University; psychological scientist Cynthia García Coll, Carlos Albizu University, San Juan, Puerto Rico; and sociologist Jürgen Schupp of the German Institute for Economic Research, DIW Berlin. Chairing the symposium was APS Fellow Daniel Cervone, University of Illinois at Chicago, who cochaired the ICPS program committee.

Segments:

1:16 – SES and Brain Development – Martha J. Farah

29:40 – Socioeconomic Contexts and Youth Development – Cynthia Garcia Coll

58:11 – Socioeconomic and Subject Aspects of Well-Being – Jurgen Schupp

1:28:45 – The Psychology of Scarcity and Its Consequences – Eldar Shafir

2:03:33 – Discussion


APS regularly opens certain online articles for discussion on our website. Effective February 2021, you must be a logged-in APS member to post comments. By posting a comment, you agree to our Community Guidelines and the display of your profile information, including your name and affiliation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations present in article comments are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of APS or the article’s author. For more information, please see our Community Guidelines.

Please login with your APS account to comment.