Ulterior Motives

How goals, both seen and unseen, drive behavior

Art Markman Ph.D.

What Types of Goals Do People Pursue?

What are the main kinds of goals that people tend to pursue? A recent paper analyzed the words in English that correspond to goals to answer this question.

Do Extreme Protests Affect the Popular Support of a Movement?

Protests may or may not spur companies or legislators to act. New research explores the effect they have on movements' ambitions to win popular support.

Cell Phones Harm Classroom Performance... a Bit

Anyone who has ever taught a class knows that multitasking is rampant, and smartphones are a big culprit. How bad is it to use a phone in class?

How Do You Make Morally Difficult Decisions?

Many choices in life involve some tradeoff that may also have a strong moral dimension. How do we deal with these two dimensions of decisions?

Happiness, Well-Being, and Other People

Humans are a social species, so it would make sense that being around other people generally makes us feel better than being alone. But what kinds of people make us feel happy?

Great Negotiations Start with Great Offers

When you negotiate, should you make the first offer? It could depend on whether you frame it in terms of what you're giving up or what you're requesting.

Why You Can See the Value of a Set of Objects at a Glance

When you have a lot of time to look carefully at objects, you can see a lot of detail. But what can you take away from a single glance?

People Trade Off Speed and Accuracy. Do Plants?

The slower you do something, the more accurately you tend to do it. Is that true for plants as well as animals?

Poor Sleep and Loneliness: A Vicious Cycle?

The feeling of being lonely is the sense that you have less social contact with others than you want. How does feeling lonely relate to the quality of your sleep?

Anxiety Hampers Learning About Untrustworthy People

In all facets of our lives, we have to figure out who to trust. Trust involves a level of vulnerability. Anxiety can make it hard to learn who to trust.

Does Nostalgia Make You Happy or Sad?

Nostalgia is a feeling of longing for the past. What impact does nostalgia have on our sense of well-being?

Is a Happy Day Filled with Happy Moments?

How do the feelings you have in a day affect your overall impression of it?

In the modern world, we have lots of ways of engaging with other people. Are there stable individual differences in how often people engage in these activities?

Kids and Adults Think Good People Are Happy People

What does it mean for us to think someone is happy? Good feelings are part of it, but being a good person may matter more.

The Benefits of Listening to Music When You Exercise

Chances are you have listened to music while exercising before. Did it actually have any benefits for you? Studies suggest that it probably did.

People Don’t Share Their Failures Often Enough

I often advocate for people to analyze their failures in order to improve for the future. But people rarely share their mistakes. Why?

Can Being Agreeable Lead to Financial Problems?

Your personality reflects the tuning of your motivational system. How does that relate to your attitudes toward money?

Narcissism and the Pursuit of Status

We know a lot more about what narcissists do than about why they do it. A new paper examines the "why" more closely.

You Might Use External Memory Aids Too Often

Research suggests people may rely on memory aids even when doing so is costly.

People Believe Others Are Essentially Good

A consequence of putting something in a category, is that you come to believe that it belongs in that category because it has some essence that makes it a member of that category.

Distance Affects What Makes You Feel Good or Bad

In order to determine whether something is good or bad, you need to compare it to something else. Comparisons also play a big role in your satisfaction with what you have.

You Worry More About Significant Others than Yourself

I have vivid memories of worrying about things my kids did when they were younger. Why was I more worried about them than about myself?

In life, there is what you are supposed to do and what you actually do. Sometimes, those are the same things. How do you balance these pressures?

Should Everyone Act Like an Extravert?

A randomized controlled trial looked at what happens when you tell people to act like extraverts for a week.

Risky Behavior Among Teenage Boys May Be Contagious

The stereotype for teenagers (particularly teenage boys) is that they engage in risky behavior. A central question is the role of social influences on this risky behavior.

Other People Probably Like You More Than You Think They Do

You probably meet new people all the time. How good are judging whether they like you soon after you meet?

How Do Personality Traits Influence Values and Well-Being?

There are a variety of stable aspects of our selves that help us to define who we are. Two of the most prominent are personality traits and values.

Gratitude May Increase Self-Control

Gratitude has many benefits. When you’re feeling down, it can help you feel connected to others. Gratitude may also give a boost to people’s self-control.

Firearms and Suicide

In the United States, the debate about firearms continues. Does easy access to guns in the United States influence success of suicide attempts?

There Are Two Types of Misinformation

Over the last decade, people have become sensitive to “fake news.” This is a problem, because information in memory influence your beliefs, even if you know it is false.

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