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The Curious Personality Changes of Older Age
You’ve probably heard the saying “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” An awful phrase, I know, but it speaks to a common belief about older adulthood: that it’s a time of stagnation. A time when we’ve become so set in our ways that, whether we’re proud of them or not, we’re not likely to budge. Psychologists used to follow the same line of thinking: After young adulthood, people tend to settle into themselves, and personality, though not immutable, usually becomes stabler as people age. And that’s true—until a certain point. More recent studies suggest that something unexpected happens to many people as they reach and pass their 60s: Their personality starts changing again. ...
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Understanding Childhood Adversity Across Time and Cultures
Podcast: Children have faced threats and deprivation at varied levels across time, favoring the ability to tailor development to different conditions. Researchers Willem Frankenhuis and Dorsa Amir discuss their findings.
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New Research in Psychological Science
A sample of research on brain-to-brain synchrony, learning from novel metaphors, how thinking about god encourages prosociality, subjective age, generational differences in shyness, and much more.
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Water-Scarce Cultures Value Long-Term Thinking More Than Their Water-Rich Neighbors Do
Even in modern environments with easy access to water, cultural responses shaped by historical water scarcity still influence individuals’ decision-making processes.
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New Content From Current Directions in Psychological Science
A sample of articles on parental burnout, motivated egalitarianism, the philosophy of perception in the psychologist’s laboratory, facing the unknowns in data analysis, and much more.
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Study Examines What Aspects of Mental Health Are Tied to Doing Well in Math, English
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: One ongoing question in child psychology is what can help kids do better in school? For a long time, researchers have focused on happiness. The thinking goes, when kids feel happier, they tend to get better grades. But now a new study suggests that parents and schools should focus on another aspect of mental health. NPR's Michaeleen Doucleff has this report. MICHAELEEN DOUCLEFF, BYLINE: Two years ago, Tania Clarke and her colleagues sent out a survey to teenagers asking about their well-being. She's a psychologist at the University of Cambridge. TANIA CLARKE: Our study was conducted with just over 600 adolescents aged 14 to 15 across seven schools in England.
