Tania and Brian explore emotional misattribution - when we think we're feeling one thing, but we're actually feeling something else. They talk about hanger, nervous-excitement, sexy fear, The Ramones, and much more.

Talk psych to us:
Instagram: @talkpsychtomepodcast
Email: [email protected]

Further Reading:

• Extraneous factors in judicial decisions by Danziger, Levav, & Avnaim-Pesso (2011)
• Feeling Hangry? by MacCormack & Lindquist (2019)
• Violence restrained: Effects of self-regulation and its depletion on aggression by DeWall, Baumeister, Stillman, & Gailliot (2005)
  • See the Baumeister (1996) study that launched ego-depletion research.
• Get Excited: Reappraising Pre-Performance Anxiety as Excitement by Brooks (2013)
• Individual differences in sensitivity to disgust: A scale sampling seven domains of disgust elicitors by Haidt, McCauley, & Rozin (1994)
• Some evidence for heightened sexual attraction under conditions of high anxiety. by Dutton & Aron (1974)
• Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Csikszentmihalyi (2008)

Produced by Scarlet Moon Things
Music by Barrie Gledden, Kes Loy, and Richard Kimmings

Special thanks to Roi Ben-Yehuda, Massella Dukuly, Alyssa Greene, Andrea Crow, Kim Keating, and Joaquin Roca for research, input, and support!

Tania and Brian answer your most pressing (and random) questions about psychology.

Talk psych to us:
Instagram: @talkpsychtomepodcast
Facebook: @talkpsych2me
Twitter: @talkpsych2me
Email: [email protected]

Listener questions:

• How can things be so ugly they're cute?
• Is it possible to validate theories from evolutionary psychology?
• What are the benefits (and dangers) of imagination?

Further reading:

• Fox genetics study review by Dugatkin (2018)
• Cross-cultural study of guilt and ethical behavior by Arli, Leo, & Tjiptono (2015)
• Embarrassment research review by Keltner & Buswell (1997)
• Rethinking Positive Thinking by Oettingen (2014)

Produced by Scarlet Moon Things
Music by Barrie Gledden, Kes Loy, and Richard Kimmings

Huge thanks to Andrea Crow and Alyssa Greene for submitting your questions! 

Tania explains the psychology of cuteness, cute aggression, happy tears, and dimorphous expressions. Brian tries to understand how being ugly as a baby might have impacted his life. Together, they explore how cuteness is saving the world.

Talk psych to us:
Instagram: @talkpsychtomepodcast
Email: [email protected]

Further Reading:

• Sherman, Haidt, & James Coan, 2009: Viewing Cute Images Increases Behavioral Carefulness
• Aragón, 2015: "I Couldn’t Help But to Cry!” “I Couldn’t Help But to Yell “Yes!”” Dimorphous Expressions Inform Consumers of Users’ Motivational Orientations
• Aragón, Clark, Dyer, & Bargh, 2015: Dimorphous Expressions of Positive Emotion: Displays of Both Care and Aggression in Response to Cute Stimuli
• Fredrickson & Levenson, 1998: Positive Emotions Speed Recovery from Cardiovascular Sequelae of Negative Emotion.
• Kringelbach, Stark, Alexander, Bornstein, & Stein, 2016: On Cuteness: Unlocking the Parental Brain and Beyond
• Stavropoulos & Alba, 2018: “It’s so Cute I Could Crush It!”: Understanding Neural Mechanisms of Cute Aggression
• Budds, 2019: “Why Cute Design is Aww-some”
• Neotenic design: https://a-d-o.com/neotenic

Produced by Scarlet Moon Things
Music by Barrie Gledden, Kes Loy, and Richard Kimmings

Special thanks to Kim Keating, Max Cohen and Vicky Kuperman for research and ideation support.