No doubt you’ve worked hard for your success. But chances are you’ve also had some help and lucky breaks along the way.  So are you more likely to vote for conservative or liberal politicians and causes?

Tagged: psychology, On Campus, Humanities & Sciences

Across the United States people have hailed the election of the first black president as proof of progress in the country's reckoning with race.  Now some Stanford psychologists are focusing on an irony they've found at the expense of those widespread feelings of racial harmony. In three experiments conducted before the November election, they found that expressing support for Obama makes some people feel justified in favoring whites over blacks.

Tagged: psychology, racism, On Campus, Humanities & Sciences

Let's say a white student and a black student both score 1020 on their SATs. Based on their scores it stands to reason they're both typical students with the same level of potential, right? Wrong, say psychologists at Stanford University and the University of Waterloo.

Tagged: psychology, race, K-12 Education, Humanities & Sciences

People hate asking for help. Stanford researchers have found that because potential helpers do not take this into account, they consistently overestimate the likelihood that others will solicit them for assistance. Conversely, research also shows that people grossly underestimate how likely others are to agree to requests for assistance.

Tagged: altruism, psychology, Business

Researchers are using traditional behavioral studies and new techniques such as brain imaging to better understand what happens when we shop. This has big impllications for both the marketing of products and the treatment of compulsive shoppers

Tagged: brain imaging, psychology, shopping, Human Health, Business, Humanities & Sciences, Medicine

The old adage that you get what you pay for really is true when it comes to that most ephemeral of products: bottled wine.

Tagged: brain imaging, economics, marketing, psychology, Business

For plastic surgeons hoping to avoid the potential wrath of a disgruntled patient, the best defense is a good offense, says Richard Goode, MD.

Tagged: healthcare, psychology, surgery, Human Health, Medicine

In the first-ever brain imaging study of techniques for emotion regulation, researchers found that suppression actually led to increased stress levels.

Tagged: imaging, mental health, psychology, stress, Human Health, Humanities & Sciences

When heterosexual men are exposed to positive emotional stimuli—in this case, erotic photos of a man and woman—an area of the brain associated with anticipation of reward is stimulated, and men are more likely to take bigger financial risks than they otherwise would, according to a recent study at Stanford.

Tagged: brain imaging, emotions, psychology, risk, Business, Humanities & Sciences

According to Stanford professor, Carol Dweck, people's self-theories about intelligence have a profound influence on their motivation to learn. Students who hold a "fixed" theory are mainly concerned with how smart they are, so prefer tasks they can already do well. In contrast, people who believe in an "expandable" or "growth" theory of intelligence want to challenge themselves to increase their abilities, even if they fail at first.

Tagged: learning, mindset, psychology, schools, youth, K-12 Education, Humanities & Sciences