It’s been more than 50 years since Yale psychology professor Stanley Milgram began his groundbreaking experiments on obedience to authority when ordered to harm others. His infamous “shock box” embodies one of the most famous, controversial and, important series of experiments of the 20th century. Attendees at the 25th APS More
Nature World News: The acts of heroism seen even within seconds of the detonation of the bombs at Boston Marathon included people who seemed to utterly forget fear for their own wellbeing in order to protect that of others. However, Tuesday’s events were not first time the world’s seen such More
The onsite response to the Boston Marathon bombings — bystanders bravely running toward the gruesome scene to help the wounded — exemplifies a growing body of psychological research on compassionate behavior. The classic research on the bystander effect and diffusion of responsibility suggests that in the tragedy on Boylston Street More
Smithsonian Magazine: Traditional Buddhists meditate in the pursuit of enlightenment. Non-religious practitioners may try it out in order to find a bit of calm or perhaps to treat anxiety or depression. But whatever their motivation, people who meditate, new research shows, act nicer than those who don’t. Researchers from Harvard University and Northeastern University recruited More
APS Fellow Barbara L. Fredrickson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, knows how to communicate psychological science to the public. On March 24, her op-ed on electronic devices, social connectedness, and health quickly became the most emailed article on The New York Times website, and it remained among the More
Boston Magazine: People who practice meditation often do so for individual health benefits like reduced stress and improved mental health. But new research from Northeastern University’s Social Emotions Group says meditation also has an effect on the way we treat the people around us. David DeSteno, a psychology professor at Northeastern More
