Hidden Brain

Summer vacations often take time, energy and money to plan. Expectations can run unreasonably high. This week in Stopwatch Science, we dive into what research says about how to have a better getaway.

It doesn’t take a psychologist to see narcissism in our culture of selfies. But we decided to talk to one anyway. Jean Twenge is a researcher and author of the books The Narcissism Epidemic, and Generation Me.

Six months ago, Hidden Brain’s Max Nesterak made a resolution to quit smoking. But as we all know… resolutions are made to be broken. This week, we check in with Max to find out how he’s fared, and give you social science insight to help you quit your bad habits too.

This week on Hidden Brain, we find out what makes humans of all ages cheat. Plus in Stopwatch Science, Dan Pink comes armed with studies on how our social context influences our cheating habits.

In the wake of the mass shooting in Orlando, we explore how groups such as the Islamic State explicitly try to capitalize on the grievances and individual frustrations of potential “recruits.”

This week on Hidden Brain, Shankar talks to Google’s Laszlo Bock for insider tips and insights about what works — and what doesn’t work — in recruiting, motivating, and retaining a talented workforce.

What do large tables, large breakfasts, and large servers have in common? They all affect how much you eat. This week on Hidden Brain, we look at the hidden forces that drive our diets.

Uber is built on the scourge of surge. When demand is high, the company charges two, three, even NINE-POINT-NINE times as much as normal for a ride. Riders hate it . . . but not so much that they stop riding. Yep, “dynamic pricing” has helped the company to grow into one of the largest taxi services in the world. What’s the psychology behind it? Shankar sits down with Uber’s Head of Economic Research Keith Chen to talk about when we’re most likely pay for surge, when we hate it the most, and why monkeys would probably act and feel the same way. That’s right. Monkeys.

Many of us have heard that we should think positive… Visualize ourselves achieving our goals. But researcher Gabriele Oettingen finds, this isn’t actually the best advice. Instead, we should use her strategy — which she calls WOOP.

Traffic. You hate it, we hate it, the rest of the world hates it, and unfortunately, our best efforts to curb it usually only make it worse. This week on Hidden Brain, we visit a few of the world’s most congested cities, and investigate a few options to make driving safer and less maddening.