Erin Westgate

awww thanks Mikey 🥰🥰🥰

Each time I teach our grad methods course I'm struck by the brilliance of our colleagues, and so thankful for the tremendous resources others provide our field. This article by Tim Wilson, @erinwestgate.bsky.social, & Elliot Aaronson is a superb example. openpublishing.princeton.edu/read/the-art...

Genuinely, I understand why the world hates professors, I hate most of us too

One of my favorite papers is Cohen's "The Earth Is Round (p < .05)"—for style as much as methodological points. I can't vouch that he's correct on all counts, but it's an enjoyable read and successful at making me think (also he may well be right on all counts) (1/5)

psycnet.apa.org/record/1995-...

Excited to share our newest publication. Here we test a central hypothesis in cannabis use, does use alter a person's emotions in a theoretically expected way, and if so for whom and under what conditions is that observable. We found that cannabis use was linked to complex changes in emotions.

‼️ Postdoc recruitment

Want to help build and understand the future of scientific collaboration? We are seeking a postdoc in computational meta‑science.

📍 UF (Gainesville, FL)

💰 $55–60k (1-3 years)

🧠 High intellectual agency

📅 Deadline March 10

Send us your idea. Details attached!

Four more days left to apply for a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in the Social Science Collaborartory.

For the right candidate, I'm upping the offer: I will double the supply of toy dinosaurs that come with this position 🦕

We find that children from low-SES backgrounds are viewed as more hardworking than smart -- as "strivers." Children's stereotypes on this topic are correlated with their parents'. 👇

In 25-Country Survey, Americans Especially Likely To View Fellow Citizens as Morally Bad | Pew Research Center Across 25 countries, Americans are the most likely to see the morality and ethics of people in their country as somewhat or very bad.

A majority of Americans (53%) now see their fellow citizens as MORALLY BAD. Another marker of a divided country. Pew survey of moral evaluations of many issues in 25 countries. Detailed report; no paywall.

#psychscisky #socialpsych #sociology #moralPhil

www.pewresearch.org?p=290236

The paradox of inequality that isn’t: rising economic inequality depresses and polarizes citizens’ belief in meritocracy Abstract. This study examines how rising income inequality has been impacting individuals’ belief in merit-based success, using three decades of survey dat

🔍 How does economic inequality impact beliefs in meritocracy?

Using comprehensive survey data from 39 advanced capitalist democracies over more than three decades, Markus Gangl & I examine how rising economic inequality has been shaping citizens' belief in meritocracy.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwag016

The sky is not falling; high-quality platforms (Prolific, Verasight, CR Connect) have low rates of apparent bots. osf.io/preprints/ps... But also not zero; vigilance is very much needed!

What a ridiculous chart. If AI can replace 3/4 of the education profession, that's not just a recession for white collar workers. That's just a massive hollowing out of the public good (education and schooling) that most people have the most contact with.

Is it even a visit to Florida if it doesn’t involve palm trees, water, and a few dozen alligators?!? Thanks again to @drmeltemyucel.bsky.social for a great talk and visit with the UF social area!

Remember: it’s a balmy 93 here in Florida!!

Yesterday, I gave a talk to the University of Florida's Social Psychology area. Many thanks for your engaging questions and warm weather ☀️🐊🛶

This is the impact of the intervention on inclusive equitable policy on our Asian Am samples. Reminders of Asian racism during the pandemic and information about how remote work protected some people tended to boost support for inclusive equitable policy relative to a control. Interestingly, simply reminding about the pandemic racism also tended to increase support for equitable policy.

These studies found that the intervention increased support for inclusive anti-discrimination policies, and the study of those policies.

Anyway, check out the paper here: online.ucpress.edu/collabra/art...

...and congratulations to A. Chyei Vinluan for bringing it into the world!

I want to take you back, for a moment, to 2020. We are at the beginning of the pandemic and many of us are working remotely. I don't remember this time particularly fondly--this was pre COVID-19 vaccines, and there was a lot of rhetoric around how the virus had come from China. 🧵

Aww thanks, but all the credit here goes to Ashley - she’s the cool one!

I was in a film directed by Sean Penn

New paper by LIFE alumna @erinwestgate.bsky.social and colleagues out now!

Basically ZERO awards in NSF SBES 🤯

Consistent with what I’ve heard from friends, who say last summer’s submissions haven’t even been reviewed yet…

Now available online at Journal of Environmental Psychology!

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Now available online!

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Two people shake hands in front of a boardroom meeting with a city landscape in the background.

How Joint Review Can Boost Faculty Diversity

A new study finds that Black and Hispanic faculty have much higher chances of promotion or tenure when they are evaluated alongside other candidates. https://bit.ly/4aTV7lq

#EDUSky #HigherEd #AcademicSky

Congrats, Thomas!!

I'm honored to be elected an APS fellow! 🥳 Thanks to those who nominated me. @psychscience.bsky.social www.psychologicalscience.org/members/fell...

In an interesting #SPSP2026 talk, @abdoe.bsky.social presented data showing that assigning participants to watch a debate (versus an informational video, or no video) on rent control made them significantly more intellectually humble.

The political effects of X’s feed algorithm - Nature Among users initially on a chronological feed, 7 weeks of exposure to X’s algorithmic feed in 2023 shifted political attitudes and account-following behaviour in a more conservative direction compared...

Check out this recent @nature.com paper reporting a field experiment on X. It shows X's algorithm boosts conservative content and downranks traditional media—shifting users’ views on key issues. Switching to chronological doesn’t reverse the effect. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Do You Agree? Do You Strongly Agree? The Effect of the Number of Response Categories on Response Processes and Verification of Substantive Hypotheses Abstract. This study investigates how the number and labeling of response categories in survey scales affect respondent behavior, psychometric properties,

This is consistent with earlier psychometric work that suggests 5-7 is the best response scale options, but good to see that the finding holds up in contemporary research. Also, good to see that labeling scales whether anchored or not has little impact on findings. academic.oup.com/ijpor/articl...

Enchantment Scuba Just a scuba diver exploring Florida’s natural springs with a GoPro!

One of my dive buddies, Jenn, takes gorgeous videos of our dives in the Florida springs….she’s finally decided to share her videos publicly here on her new YouTube channel - as the kiddos say, “like & subscribe!”

(I think it’s so cool she’s doing this)

youtube.com/@enchantment...

💯