Across 11 studies with North American samples, observers judged people who stayed neutral on contested sociopolitical issues as no more moral than people who openly opposed them, because they read neutrality as apathy or strategy rather than genuine indecision.
Television ads recruiting plaintiffs against makers of blood thinners reduced prescription fills for the targeted drugs and increased hospitalizations for conditions the drugs treat, such as stroke, according to a study of US Medicare data from 2015 to 2019.
Analyzing the technical challenge of The Great British Bake Off, economists found that expert judges rank the first bake they taste more favorably, in the British show and other English-speaking versions, with no recency effect.
Analysing 1,134,512 complaints to the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, researchers estimate that using an LLM raised the chance of relief by 6.9 percentage points. Experiments showed AI edits helped through clearer presentation, with the facts unchanged.
Using 8.8 million US property sales around 3,699 large solar sites, researchers found farmland within 2 miles gained about 19.4% in value while homes within 3 miles lost about 4.8%, with bigger losses in conservative counties.
Across six preregistered studies with 3,204 people, those who laughed off a harmless faux pas were judged warmer, more competent and more authentic than those who showed embarrassment. When the blunder harmed others, the advantage shrank or reversed.
In a two-week trial with 61 stressed young adults in Michigan, taking openly labelled placebo pills twice a day cut depression scores from 22.69 to 12.93, far more than in a control group, with similar drops in stress and anxiety.
Across 2,161 sales of nine Hall of Famers' Topps rookie cards, prices rose about 20% after each player's death and stayed elevated for at least 60 days, a predictable bump that rational investors should have priced in.
In survey experiments with more than 10,000 Americans, a congressman who denied sexual misconduct drew less support for resignation than one who apologized, by 5.5 points for an affair and 18.6 points for rape. Apologies did not help even when evidence proved the charges.
In three experiments (N = 441, 444 and 740), unexpectedly short replies lowered people's sense that their basic psychological needs were met, even when warm, from a close other, or given an excuse, because recipients felt devalued.