Many of us are brimming with good intentions right now, determined to eat more healthily, get organized or fulfill our other New Year’s resolutions. But by February we’ll have reverted back to our old ways. Why is it so difficult to make these lasting behavioral changes? Wendy Wood, PhD, of the University of Southern California, discusses the research on how habits drive our behavior, why habits are so difficult to break, and how we can harness the power of habit to make the behavioral changes we want.

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Links Wendy Wood, PhD Music Jazz Music Loop by anechoix via freesound.org

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We’re taking a holiday break, so we’re revisiting one of our favorite episodes from this past year. Back in the spring we talked to University of Florida psychologist Erin Westgate about the surprisingly fascinating topic of boredom. What is boredom? Is it always bad to be bored? What can we do to infuse even boring times with meaning? 

Links Erin Westgate, PhD Music "Emotional Piano" by tictac9 via freesound.org.

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These days, Republicans and Democrats don't just disagree with each other's political opinions -- many view members of the other party as immoral and even abhorrent. Eli Finkel, PhD, a social psychologist at Northwestern University in Chicago, led a group of social scientists who published a paper in the journal Science about the causes and consequences of this deepening rift. Finkel studies American politics, romantic relationships and the intersection of those two concepts. He joins us to discuss the rise of political sectarianism and why the current state of American politics is like a bad marriage.

Links

Eli Finkel, PhD Political sectarianism in America

Music "Tension Orchestra Chords" by Frankum via Freesound.org Sponsor APA 2020 Virtual

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The simulated shock generator for Stanley Milgram’s famed studies on obedience, artifacts from the Stanford Prison Experiment, and a curious machine called a psychograph that promised to read your personality by measuring the bumps on your head--all of these items are on display at the Cummings Center for the History of Psychology at the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio. The center’s mission is to preserve and interpret psychology’s historical record. Director Cathy Faye, PhD, talks about the center’s collection and how she and her staff work to preserve psychology’s past as well as document its present. Links

Cathy Faye, PhD Cummings Center for the History of Psychology   Music Expressions of the Mind by ShadyDave via freesound.org Sponsor APA Virtual 2020

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For many people, the holiday season can be a time of stress rather than joy even in the best of times. And this year, of course, the holidays will be different for everyone, as the coronavirus pandemic forces us to forgo holiday gatherings and family visits. Elaine Rodino, PhD, discusses the "holiday blues" and how to get through the season, this year and every year.

Links

Elaine Rodino, PhD

Music "A Christmas Tale" by lena_orsa courtesy of freesound.org

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In our increasingly diverse country, many workplaces have implemented diversity training programs aimed at fostering cohesion, mutual respect and understanding among employees of different backgrounds. Calvin Lai, PhD, an assistant professor of psychology at Washington University in St. Louis, discusses what we can learn from psychological research about whether diversity training works and what makes for effective training.

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More than one-third of young adults ages 18 to 23--the older members of Gen Z--said that their mental health was worse right now than at the same time last year, according to APA's Stress in America survey. That's a higher number than any other age group. Emma Adam, PhD, a developmental psychologist at Northwestern University, discusses why the stresses of 2020 are hitting young adults so hard, why the pandemic's effects on teen stress seem to be more mixed, and how stress may affect this generation's health and development.   

Music Used in this Episode "Expressions of the Mind" by ShadyDave via freesound.org

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When you open the newspaper, turn on the nightly news or scroll the Internet, is what you are reading and seeing true? How do you know? What is “fake news” and why does it seem to be everywhere? Dr. Dolores Albarracin explains why fake news is so compelling, and what it takes to counteract it.

"Countdown News Intro" by chimerical via Freesound.org

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Scientists are racing to develop a safe, effective, vaccine for COVID-19 – but will people be willing to take it when it's available? We already have a flu vaccine, but less than half of Americans get it each year. Gretchen Chapman, PhD, a cognitive psychologist who studies health behavior, discusses why people choose to get vaccinated–or not–and how policymakers can encourage vaccination.

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Many Americans see this as the most consequential election in recent American history. What will shape voters’ decisions and actions this year? Jon Krosnick, PhD, director of the Political Psychology Research Group at Stanford University, discusses the psychological forces at play when people decide whether to vote and whom to vote for. He also talks about his recent research that finds Americans are increasingly concerned about climate change.

Links: Jon Krosnick, PhD Credits: Music bed "Dramatic Scroller" by FoolBoyMedia, freesound.org (CC BY-NC 4.0)

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