Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences

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.

Michele W. Berger

Is ‘Democracy in Trouble?’

“Democracy in Trouble?” is the focus of a year’s worth of programming at the Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy. Its 2018-19 Speaker Series examines and counters trends regarding the ongoing threats to democracy in the United States and around the world.

Jill DiSanto

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.

Michele W. Berger

Philadelphia and Meiji Japan symposium marks 150 years of deep ties

Scholars from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia, and the Meiji Jingu Intercultural Research Institute celebrate the 150th anniversary of Japan’s Meiji Restoration, and the surprising links between Philadelphia and Japan during a political period that set the island nation on a fast track to modernization.

Brandon K. Baker



In the News


Marketplace (NPR)

What did you do at work last week? Monitoring performance doesn’t improve it, expert says

Adam Grant of the Wharton School says that people do their best work when they’re given a chance to pursue autonomy, mastery, belonging, and purpose.

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Men’s Health

These two personality traits make you instantly more attractive, say studies of over 4,000 people

A study by postdoc Natalia Kononov of the Wharton School suggests that kindness and helpfulness can make someone more attractive, regardless of the situation or relationship.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

After years of anti-vaccine advocacy, RFK Jr. said vaccines protect children. But experts say he must go further amid measles outbreak

Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center and Jessica McDonald of APPC’s Factcheck.org comment on the need to debunk vaccine misinformation in public health messaging.

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Deseret News (Salt Lake City)

‘Marry or be fired’ and other global efforts to boost fertility

Jesús Fernández-Villaverde of the School of Arts & Sciences says that the world population will peak in 2055, followed by a systematic decline at a rapid rate.

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The Guardian

Formerly anti-vax parents on how they changed their minds: ‘I really made a mistake’

According to surveys from the Annenberg Public Policy Center, the proportion of respondents who believe vaccines are unsafe grew from 9% in April 2021 to 16% in the fall of 2023.

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