Michele W. Berger

Penn Sociologist Links Unstable, Unpredictable Schedules to Health Problems

For people who work in the service sector, unpredictable, unstable schedules have a range of negative consequences, including psychological stress and poor health, according to a new working paper from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Berkeley.

Michele W. Berger

Students, University Collaborate to Bring Range of Mental-health Support to Penn

At 10 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 27, just three days before the University of Pennsylvania kicked off another school year’s classes, 40 or so students gathered in the green next to Harrison College House for wings, ice cream and sodas. They weren’t simply hanging out but rather there to talk to and learn about more than half a dozen mental-health groups on campus.

Michele W. Berger

Twitter usage reveals how negative personality traits show online

 Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy.In psychology, they’re known as the “Dark Triad.” By looking at tweets, Jordan Carpenter and Daniel Preotiuc-Pietro, postdoctoral fellows in Penn’s Positive Psychology Center, have figured out how people who exhibit these behaviors act online.

Michele W. Berger

Income and Wealth Inequality Make Recessions Worse, Penn Research Reveals

“The Great Recession is the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. If you can’t make an argument that inequality matters for the severity of this downturn, then it’s unlikely to matter much for smaller recessions, or for normal times.”

Michele W. Berger