Interesting Social Psychology Facts

Social Psychology has proved again and again that it can be a source of amazing psychology facts. Indeed, some of the most interesting revelations are discovered after studies and experiments were done in this field. Social Psychology deals with the way people deal with each other, and it involves the communications and the connections human beings form with one another. It studies how our minds are changed by the people around us. The reason these studies are so interesting is because they’re so relevant. They deal with real things that happen to all of us. This also makes social psychology something that discovers some of the most useful psychology facts for normal people to learn about.

1. “Intellectual Humility” Makes You More Intelligent

Intellectual humility is a simple term that hasn’t been talked about much in social psychology. But recently, a new study has discovered that this trait relates to one of the most interesting psychology facts. First of all, what exactly is intellectual humility? Intellectual humility is the point of view that your own beliefs may in fact be wrong. Duke University started studying this trait, and found out that those with high intellectual humility are better able to weigh evidence when making a decision. Intellectual humility is also enables people to listen to a person’s argument by the facts, without judging that person’s personality based on their views.

2. We Really Do Have An “Ideal Type”

The University Of California just released a study that confirms the notion that everyone has a “type.” They collected data on over 1,000 past relationships, and what they found was one of the most telling psychology facts ever. They found that people generally end going for the same people over and over, with most people’s past lovers sharing very similar physical characteristics. But it goes deeper than just the outer appearance. They also found out that people’s past lovers were similar in the areas of education, religiosity and intelligence. But the researchers were quick to point out that some of these factors might also be a reflection of where you live, not something you make a choice about.

3. People Look Like Their Names

This has to be one of the most surprising psychology facts I’ve ever read about. Apparently, people are able to match up people’s faces to their correct names with surprising accuracy. This was all done as part of a study from the Hebrew University Of Jerusalem. The study involved thousands of participants from both Israel and France. They found that people were surprisingly accurate at guessing names of random faces, with an accuracy of 25-40%, compared to a accuracy of 20-25% had their choices been random. They also found that the accuracy was helped by cultural factors, as French people were better able to guess the names of French people, whereas Isreali people were better at guessing the names of their fellow Israeli faces.

4. Older Mothers Make Better Parents

This fact is pretty unsurprising, but it’s still one of the more groundbreaking psychology facts. A study conducted by Aarhus BSS found that older women were less likely to punish or scold their children, and the children they raised were less likely to have emotional and social issues. This is a good thing, because women are waiting longer and longer before they have children these days. There are a number of reasons for why older women are better at raising children. But the main reason is that older women are in more stable relationships. The older a woman is, the more likely she is to have a person there helping her, and this aid gets reflected back on the psychological well-being of the child. Although children are more likely have healthier minds with older mothers, they are also more likely to suffer from complications at birth, such as physical deformities.

5. People Perceive Black Men To Be Larger And Stronger Than They Actually Are

This is one of those psychology facts that is shocking at first, but it makes sense when you think about it. Apparently, Black men are perceived as being larger and stronger than they actually are when compared to non-black men. The study was published in the American Psychological Association’s Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. One of the authors of the study, John Paul Wilson, explains his findings: “Unarmed black men are disproportionately more likely to be shot and killed by police, and often these killings are accompanied by explanations that cite the physical size of the person shot.” The study interviewed people by showing them faces of both black and white men, and asking them to guess how tall they were based only on their faces. The interviewees guessed on average one inch higher for black faces than they did the white ones. They also found that when showed pictures of black and white athletes, the interviewees were rating the black athletes as stronger, when all sets of athletes could bench press approximately the same weight.

6. The Facebook Time Warp

One of the most amazing psychology facts has come to light after a study on social media published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology. This study suggests that people’s perception of time might actually be altered when they look at images online. I can certainly see how this is the case, as it’s quite easy to lose track of time when on the internet. This suggests that frequent use of sites like Facebook might actually be negatively effecting people’s ability to manage their time and prioritize tasks. This is nothing new, and is really just common sense when you think about it. But now it’s been scientifically proven. This study, along with many other studies on Facebook such as one on reduced attention spans, suggest that Facebook might not be very good for our social and personal lives.

7. People Get Outraged At Unethical Things To Serve Themselves

We live in a world where everyone seems to get offended at pretty much everything. Whether it’s the alleged mistreatment of minorities or whether or not to sing the national anthem, people are getting offended left right and center. But according to a recent study, this so called “moral outrage” is actually self-serving. Let’s be clear, we’re not talking about the people who themselves are being offended. We’re talking about people who become outraged about other people getting offended, as they see it. This study was published recently in Motivation and Emotion, and found that “The opportunity to express moral outrage at corporate harm-doers inflated participants perception of personal morality.” They also found that those who were unable to express that they were “good people” when faced with a morally outraging situation expressed more moral outrage later, when they were able to. Basically, people become morally offended to make themselves feel better.

8. Hard Times Lead To Extreme Views

One of the most relevant psychology facts right now is in regard to extreme political views. And this fact can really explain the rise of political extremism these days. The study that found this out was based out of the University of California, led by Roxane Cohen Silver. She revealed that, “We found that adults who experience a range of adverse events over their lifetimes, such as serious illness or a community disaster, are more likely to express extreme or polarized views on a variety of topics. This appears to be the case even when those topics, such as political opinions, have little or nothing to do with the adverse events they encountered.” They studied over 1,600 Americans of all backgrounds to come to this conclusion. Adversity was also seen to increase aggression towards other groups of people.

9. Lack Of Sleep It Harder To Read People’s Faces

This is one psychology fact that you might want to pay attention to if you want to be able to read people well. A recent study suggests that without a good amount of sleep, it’s very difficult to read people’s facial emotions. The study was conducted through the University of Arizona. They studied 54 participant’s reaction the same male face in various states of emotion (sad, happy, scared, etc.). They found that people who had been deprived of sleep for one night found it much harder to interpret the correct emotions on the male’s face. The study also pointed out, however, that even when sleep deprived, people are still able to figure out when someone is about to hurt them. It’s the more subtle emotions that are harder to figure out without sleep. The researchers behind this also pointed out how worrying this is, because it’s these kinds of social skills that make us human.

10. Not Having Kids Will Make People Angry At You

Speaking of moral outrage, one study suggests that you’ll probably be the subject of a lot of that if you decide not to have kids. The study was conducted by Dr. Leslie Ashburn-Nardo through Indiana University. The subjects were told to read a paragraph about 4 non-fictional married couples. One of these couples did not have children. What Dr. Leslie Ashburn-Nardo noticed was that the people who read about the couple without children predicted that they would live unhappy, unfulfilled lives. Dr. Leslie Ashburn-Nardo also noticed that these people conveyed a sense of disgust and anger toward this childless couple. Dr. Leslie Ashburn-Nardo calls this expectancy within society for couples to have children the “Moral Obligation Of Parenthood.” 

https://today.duke.edu/2017/03/modest-personality-trait-intellectual-humility-packs-punch

http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/lifestyle/sex-talk/2017/03/23/Dating-deja-vu-study-confirms-we-really-do-have-a-type

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/02/170227100804.htm

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/03/14/psychologists-we-see-black-men-as-larger-and-stronger-than-white-men-even-when-theyre-not/?utm_term=.cb6209299e20

http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/facebook-browsing-may-distort-perception-of-time-0307172

http://reason.com/blog/2017/03/01/moral-outrage-is-self-serving

Personal adversity builds extreme political views, UCI study finds

http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2017/03/23/Study-finds-lack-of-sleep-limits-ability-to-interpret-facial-expressions/3761490289196/

http://now.howstuffworks.com/2017/03/17/adults-who-choose-not-have-kids-inspire-moral-outrage