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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