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Why Scapegoating Is A Typical Human Response To A Pandemic
First comes the disease. Then the scapegoating. Whether it's Ebola, cholera and now COVID-19, Jesse Verschuere has witnessed "a pattern of stigma against others in every disease outbreak" he has responded to as part of the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders. The objects of prejudice have included health-care workers, minorities, immigrants, indeed any outsider or other who looks or acts different from those in the local community, says the Belgium-based Verschuere, who works to improve the ability of communities to obtain health care. This bias occurs around the world. And it's not anything new.
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Healthier Eating Is Possible Even During a Pandemic, If You Simply Talk to Yourself
A technique known as “distanced self-talk” is an effective strategy for making healthier food choices.
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NIMH Funding Research on Practice-Based Suicide Prevention
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has issued a funding opportunity announcement supporting new research institutions to study suicide prevention.
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National Academy of Sciences (NAS)
Learn about the most recent news and reports from the National Academy of Sciences.
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Why We Can’t Stop Bingeing Old Shows During The Pandemic
NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks to media psychologist Pamela Rutledge about how our brains are responding to the pandemic and driving our TV viewing choices. Hint: We're craving predicability. LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST: * You may be finding yourself watching and re-watching and then re-watching the same TV shows during your quarantine. They're cozy. They're familiar. They're predictable and usually always happy. It turns out our brain science has something to do with why we're not venturing far from our favorite shows. Dr. Pamela Rutledge is a media psychologist and the director of the Media Psychology Center, and she joins us now from Orange County. Welcome. PAMELA RUTLEDGE: Thank you.
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Getting Tight — the Psychology of Cancel Culture
The current era of cancel culture is upon us. From former Senator Al Franken, to Ellen Degeneres and Amy Cooper, people everywhere are having their lives upended because they violated the current social taboos of their community. Of course, such communal forms of control through shaming and shunning are nothing new to our shores — they were a staple of the Puritanism of our early Pilgrims — and are today quite common in many religious communities. While these tactics can serve a purpose in shepherding more individualistic societies, they can also easily descend into mob-like forms of vigilante justice.
