Psychology

Mask-wearing and moral values

Tiffany Tieu led a study on the psychology of mask-wearing and its relationship with a person’s moral values, using Penn undergraduates as the subjects.

Lauren Rebecca Thacker

The philosophy of visual studies

Founded 20 years ago, the interdisciplinary major of visual studies creates a bridge for students to combine interests, including philosophy, art history, architecture, fine arts, and psychology.

Louisa Shepard

Hospitalizations for eating disorder increased during pandemic

Researchers can’t yet pinpoint definitive reasons, though they surmise it was a combination of factors, including stress, an outsized focus on weight gain and personal appearance, and maybe even symptoms of COVID-19 itself.

Michele W. Berger

A self-help guide to treating IBD

In her new book, clinical psychologist Melissa Hunt offers a cognitive behavioral therapy approach to helping people with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis improve their quality of life.

Michele W. Berger

Mapping words to color

Researchers led by postdoc Colin Twomey and professor Joshua Plotkin developed an algorithm that can infer the communicative needs different linguistic communities place on colors.

Katherine Unger Baillie



In the News


Kiplinger

Can money buy you happiness? Yes, it can. However…

Research by Matthew Killingsworth of the Wharton School reveals there is no monetary threshold at which money's capacity to improve well-being diminishes.

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WHYY (Philadelphia)

Philadelphia hospital program adds psychologists to bridge mental health services for trauma survivors

A new psychology team at the Penn Trauma Violence Recovery Program has provided about 46 survivors with short- and long- term therapy, featuring remarks from Elinore Kaufman and Lily Brown of the Perelman School of Medicine.

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Jerusalem Post

Early humans had ADHD, scientists say after making people play game online

A collaborative study by researchers from Penn suggests that the impulsive component of ADHD may provide a competitive advantage to learn from rivals and “catch” new methods of achievement.

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Psychology Today

Why hasn’t the new me shown up yet?

In his book “What You Can Change and What You Can’t,” Martin Seligman of the School of Arts & Sciences says that some personal qualities and habits can’t be changed without extreme difficulty.

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Yahoo! Life

The real reason you’re obsessed with spicy food

Paul Rozin of the School of Arts & Sciences agrees that it’s actually the pain that keeps us coming back for more spice. 

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MSNBC

Why succeeding sometimes involves a step backward

Adam Grant of the Wharton School joins “Morning Joe” to discuss his new book, “Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things.”

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