The Power of Us

The Power of Us

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Why are we suckers for Astrology, the Myers-Briggs, and other pseudoscientific personality tests?
Astrology signs and MBTI do not predict people's lives (but the Big 5 does). We explain why people love them nevertheless.
 • Dominic Packer & Jay Van Bavel
How Groups Succeed Where Willpower Fails
Why shared goals, social norms, and smart environments are the real engines of lasting behavior change
 • Dominic Packer & Jay Van Bavel
Debunking Popular Psychology Myths: Revising The Bystander Effect
Our first column in a series debunking the biggest myths in the history of social psychology
 • Dominic Packer & Jay Van Bavel
How to talk about climate change and the problem with doomerism
Issue 107: We conducted one of the largest experiments ever on climate change behavior — with advice from MythBusters' Jamie Hyneman
 • Dominic Packer & Jay Van Bavel
How scientific fraud roiled the world of social science
An interview with Max Bazerman clearing the air about his fradulent paper
 • Dominic Packer & Jay Van Bavel

Recent posts

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The Roots of Goodness
Ervin Staub survived the Holocaust—and spent a lifetime studying how kindness can take hold.
 • Dominic Packer & Jay Van Bavel
Debunking the Five Biggest Myths in Social Psychology
Adding context to the most popular myths in social psychology
 • Dominic Packer & Jay Van Bavel
Tyranny of the online minority
How social media influencers, algorithms, and crowds shape public opinion
 • Dominic Packer & Jay Van Bavel and Raunak Pillai
Why Creativity is a Team Sport: How Great Ideas Happen
An interview with George Newman on the overlooked social science of creativity and collaboration.
 • Dominic Packer & Jay Van Bavel
We Crossed 10,000 Subscribers—Now We’re Upgrading the Newsletter
New amenities, new community perks, and what we’re building next.
 • Dominic Packer & Jay Van Bavel
The psychology of corporate bullshit—and why it backfires inside organizations.
Why jargon-filled leadership language confuses teams, slows decisions, and corrodes credibility + take the Corporate BS Receptivity Test
 • Yvonne Phan and Dominic Packer & Jay Van Bavel
Climate Doom Doesn't Mobilize—It Paralyzes
Lessons from one of the largest experiments on climate change behavior + a new initiative from MythBusters' Jamie Hyneman
 • Dominic Packer & Jay Van Bavel
How to feel more loved
70% of people don’t feel loved as much or as often as they’d like, this new book explains how to build stronger relationships
 • Dominic Packer & Jay Van Bavel
How social media is harming society
We describe the recent lawsuits against social media companies and how the harm extends beyond kids to the rest of society
 • Dominic Packer & Jay Van Bavel
The Power of Us
The Power of Us
Why does it feel like everyone is more divided than ever? The science of identity offers a blueprint to how we can rebuild a shared sense of “us” in our workplaces, communities, and everyday lives.
Recommendations
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The Positive Habit Weekly Newsletter
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Rat Park with Carl Erik Fisher
Rat Park with Carl Erik Fisher
Carl Erik Fisher
Rozado’s Visual Analytics
Rozado’s Visual Analytics
David Rozado
Designing Tomorrow
Designing Tomorrow
Psychology of Technology Inst.
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