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Moral Psychology

What a Mess: Chaos and Creativity

Wray Herbert | Posted 04.22.2013 | Science
Read More: Creativity, Design-Heuristic, Moral Psychology, Broken Windows Theory, Decision-Making, Crime, Traditionalism, Law and Order, Morality, Broken-Windows-Theory, Science News
Wray Herbert

One of the most influential ideas about crime prevention to come out in recent years is something called the "broken windows theory." According to this theory, small acts of deviance -- littering, graffiti, broken windows -- will, if ignored, escalate into more serious crime.

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Is Religion Just an Assortment of Gut Feelings?

Wray Herbert | Posted 04.10.2013 | Science
Read More: Religion, Philosophy, Moral Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Contagion Bias, Dual Process Theory, Heuristics and Biases, Intuition, Evolution, Morality, Belief, Science News
Wray Herbert

The vast majority of the planet's seven billion people ascribe to some kind of religious belief -- that is, a faith in things that cannot be proven. This makes no sense from a scientific and psychological point of view.

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Why Ayn Rand Won't Go Away: 'Atlas Shrugged,' Part 2 and the Motor of Moral Psychology

Michael Shermer | Posted 12.12.2012 | Politics
Read More: Atlas Shrugged Part 2, Politics, Morality, Moral Psychology, Paul Ryan, Atlas Shrugged, Jonathan Haidt, Ayn Rand, Ron Paul, Atlas Shrugged Movie, Paul Ryan Ayn Rand, Politics News
Michael Shermer

Why don't liberals admire Ayn Rand and her philosophy of objectivism, so forcefully presented in this book and film?

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Why We Hate Atheists: Fear Of The Faithless

Mark Matousek | Posted 02.26.2012 | Politics
Read More: Hatred, Fundamentalism, Moral Psychology, Terror, Altruism, Atheism, Rapists, Politics News
Mark Matousek

Atheists challenge this family system. We stand outside the big tent, wondering why the faithful have so little faith in the inherent goodness of human beings.

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The Psychology Of 'Purity'

Wray Herbert | Posted 11.17.2011 | Healthy Living
Read More: Psychological Science, Moral Psychology, Embodied Cognition, Moral Heuristics, Morality, Psychology Morality, The Inner Life, Healthy Living News
Wray Herbert

This is the first study to explore the physical embodiment of virtue. Soap and water can literally salve our guilt, and soften our moral judgments of others.

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The Link Between Ownership and Creativity

Wray Herbert | Posted 11.17.2011 | Healthy Living
Read More: Squatting, Psychological Science, Moral Psychology, Heuristics, Private Property, Cognitive Psychology, Patricia Kanngiesser, Ownership, The Inner Life, Healthy Living News
Wray Herbert

New research suggests that our moral judgments about property ownership may be an intuitive process--one more fundamental than society's laws and regulations.

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The Psychology of Knock Offs: Why 'Faking It' Makes Us Feel (and Act) Like Phonies

Wray Herbert | Posted 11.17.2011 | Healthy Living
Read More: Self Psychology, Fransesca Gino, Prada, Dan Ariely, Duke University, Harvard Business School, Heuristic Mind, Ray Ban, Chloe, UNC-CHapel Hill, Psychological Science, Moral Psychology, Michael Norton, Versace, Counterfeit Brand Names, Knockoffs, Predictably Irrational, The Inner Life, Healthy Living News
Wray Herbert

That's why we buy knockoffs, isn't it? To polish our self-image--at half the price? But new research suggests that they may not work as magically as we'd like--and indeed may backfire.

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