Mistakenly Seeking Solitude [PDF]→

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Epley, N., & Schroeder, J. (2014). Mistakenly seeking solitude. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143, 1980-1999. [APA PsycNet Link]

  • Short Summary: This paper finds that people prefer to sit in solitude in public settings (on buses, trains, cabs, and in waiting rooms) than to talk to a stranger, but when randomly assigned to talk to a stranger in these same settings, report greater happiness and no less productivity compared with sitting in silence or doing what they want (10 experiments).

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A (Creative) Portrait of the Uncertain Individual: Self-Uncertainty and Individualism Enhance Creative Generation [PDF]→

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Rios, K., Markman, K.D., Schroeder, J., & Dyczewski, E.A. (2014). A (creative) portrait of the uncertain individual: Self-uncertainty and individualism enhance creative generation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40, 1050-1062. [SAGE Journals Link]

  • Short Summary: This paper finds that self-uncertainty, relative to uncertainty in general, increases creative generation among individualists (5 studies).

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Overlooking Others: Dehumanization by Commission and Omission [PDF]→

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Waytz, A., & Schroeder, J. (2014). Overlooking others: Dehumanization by commission and omission. Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology, 21, 1-16. [APA PsycNet Link]

  • Short Summary: This paper distinguishes between two forms of dehumanization, dehumanization by commission (actively and overtly representing others as subhuman) and dehumanization by omission (more passively overlooking others’ mental capacities).

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The Lesser Minds Problem [PDF]→

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Waytz, A., Schroeder, J., & Epley, N. (2014). The lesser minds problem. In Bain, P., Vaes, J., & Leyens, J. P. (Eds.) Humanness and Dehumanization (pp. 49-67). New York, NY: Psychology Press. [APA PsycNet Link]

  • Short Summary: A common psychological bias is assuming others have less active and sophisticated mind than we do. This paper identifies three forms of this “Lesser Minds Problem” and its consequences.

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