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Are We Heading for a Post-Pandemic ‘Roaring 2020s,’ With Parties and Excess?
This has been a year of extreme social deprivation. But the pandemic — like all pandemics before it — eventually will end. Then what? Will we easily transition from isolation back into the real world?
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When Should You End a Conversation? Probably Sooner Than You Think
While studying for his master’s degree at the University of Oxford, Adam Mastroianni confronted a fear common to many party goers: Would he get stuck in a conversation with no polite way out? Then, Mastroianni
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The Pandemic Has Erased Entire Categories of Friendship
… American culture does not have many words to describe different levels or types of friendship, but for our purposes, sociology does provide a useful concept: weak ties. The term was coined in 1973 by the Stanford
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Five Things Worth Knowing About Empathy
A tortoise lies on its back, legs waving in distress, until a second tortoise crawls up to turn it over. Millions have watched this scene on YouTube, with many leaving heartfelt comments. “Great sense of solidarity,”
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Don’t Let The Pandemic Winter Get You Down: 9 Creative Ways To Socialize Safely
With COVID-19 cases still soaring across the U.S., it can be tempting to just ride the winter out on the couch, binging on Netflix. But psychologists say it’s important in 2021 for us all to
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You’re Choosing a Gift. Here’s What Not to Do.
APS Member/Author: Daniel T. Willingham … Despite the stock saying, “It’s the thought that counts,” gift givers think that spending a lot — on diamonds, for example — shows that they care. When researchers asked people to