Psychology | Penn Today

New scholars named to promote research into the influence of gender on health

Melanie Kornides of the School of Nursing, Jennifer Lewey of the Perelman School of Medicine, and C. Alix Timko of Medicine and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia are pursuing research that examines the role of sex and gender on health, supported by the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health program.

The new study reveals that indicators of the condition included mentions of hostility and loneliness, words like “tears” and “feelings,” and use of more first-person pronouns like “I” and “me.”

Linguistic red flags from Facebook posts can predict future depression diagnoses

The language people use in these social media posts can make these predictions as accurately as the tools clinicians use in medical settings to screen for the disease.

Rebecca Waller, an assistant professor in Penn’s Psychology department, studies antisocial behaviors and parent-child interactions.

How parenting affects antisocial behaviors in children

In a recent study of the parental caregiving environment, psychologist Rebecca Waller found that within identical twin pairs, the child who experienced harsher behavior and less parental warmth was at a greater risk for developing antisocial behaviors.

How do stereotypes affect what people think is fair?

Stereotypes systematically affect what people think is fair, according to new research from psychologist Anna Jenkins. The findings make it possible to predict how people will treat members of different social groups.

Exploring the human propensity to cooperate

Working with a nomadic group in Tanzania, one of the last remaining nomadic hunter-gatherer populations, Penn psychologists show that cooperation is flexible, not fixed.

Why do people stay put during hurricanes? Here’s what psychology says.

The Wharton School’s Robert Meyer explained the psychology behind people who refuse to evacuate in the face of catastrophic weather. He attributes those choices to a number of psychological biases, including over-optimism, a herd mentality, short-sightedness, historical amnesia, inertia, and over-simplification.

University of Pennsylvania psychologist Kristin Brethel-Haurwitz studies extraordinary altruism through people who have donated a kidney to a stranger.

A neural link between altruism and empathy toward strangers

Studying the brain activity of people who have donated a kidney to a stranger, psychologist Kristin Brethel-Haurwitz found a clear link between real-world altruism and empathy, particularly in regard to the pain and fear of strangers.

This tiny fish can recognize itself in a mirror. Is it self-aware?

PIK Professor Michael Platt commented on an animal sentience study. While he found the research “fascinating and well-executed,” he pointed out that the study doesn’t necessarily confirm that animals have a human-like sense of self.

As animal-assisted therapy thrives, enter the cats

The School of Veterinary Medicine’s James A. Serpell weighed in on the lack of formal research about the efficacy of animal-assisted therapies. Serpell did note that it’s been well proven that social interaction does generally benefit human health.

Q&A

A squirmy, slimy, crunchy new potential staple of the American diet

Psychologist Paul Rozin discusses how it’s possible to get past the ick factor of eating bugs (the key is exposure), and how the insects actually taste. It’s all part of his research focusing on the emotion of disgust as it relates to food.

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