Sujata Gupta
Science News
Burlington, VT, United States
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Past articles by Sujata:
Trauma distorts our sense of time and self. A new therapy might help
The therapy has helped veterans struggling with mental illness imagine their future selves. → Read More
Lots of people feel burned out. But what is burnout exactly?
Researchers disagree on how to define burnout, or if the phenomenon is really another name for depression. Helping people cope at work still matters. → Read More
We prioritize family over self, and that has real-world implications
Two studies show how family bonds improve personal and mental health, suggesting policy makers should shift away from individualistic mindsets. → Read More
Pandemic languishing is a thing. But is it a privilege?
Positive psychologists contend that people can flourish if they try hard enough. But this pinnacle of well-being might not be so fully in our control. → Read More
Why fuzzy definitions are a problem in the social sciences
Social sciences research is plagued by murky definitions and measurements. Here’s why that matters. → Read More
The pandemic shows us how crises derail young adults’ lives for decades
Age matters for when we experience calamities, such as pandemics. Young adults are especially vulnerable to getting thrown off their life course. → Read More
The pandemic may be stunting young adults’ personality development
People typically become less neurotic and more agreeable with age. The COVID-19 pandemic may have reversed those trends in adults younger than 30. → Read More
Looking for a job? Lean more on weak ties than strong relationships
A 50-year-old social science theory gets put to the test in a new study using data on 20 million LinkedIn users. → Read More
How living in a pandemic distorts our sense of time
The pandemic has distorted people’s perception of time. That could have implications for collective well-being. → Read More
Sleep deprivation may make people less generous
Helping each other is inherently human. Yet new research shows that sleep deprivation may dampen people’s desire to donate money. → Read More
Friendships with rich people may help lift children out of poverty
For poor children, forming connections to richer peers is linked to greater earnings later in life, researchers say. → Read More
The idea that many people grow following trauma may be a myth
Studies of posttraumatic growth are fundamentally flawed and can contribute to toxic cultural narratives, researchers say. → Read More
How having health care workers handle nonviolent police calls may impact crime
A new study analyzes a Denver program that sends a mental health professional and EMT to handle trespassing and other minor crime offenses. → Read More
COVID-19 has killed a million Americans. Our minds can’t comprehend that number
We intuitively compare large, approximate quantities but cannot grasp such a big, abstract number as a million U.S. COVID-19 deaths. → Read More
Pressure to conform to social norms may explain risky COVID-19 decisions
As a science reporter covering COVID-19, I knew I should mask up at Disney World. Instead, I conformed, bared my face and got COVID-19. → Read More
How to get people to choose more plant-based foods instead of meat
A meat-heavy diet, with its high climate costs, is the norm in the West. So social scientists are working to upend normal. → Read More
Latin America defies cultural theories based on East-West comparisons
Theories for how people think in individualist versus collectivist nations stems from East-West comparisons. Latin America challenges those theories. → Read More
Ukrainian identity solidified for 30 years. Putin ignored the science
Social scientists have mapped Ukrainian allegiances shifting from Russia toward Ukraine since the country’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. → Read More
Nudge theory’s popularity may block insights into improving society
Small interventions that influence people’s behavior can be tested. But the real world requires big, hard-to-measure changes too, scientists say. → Read More
Military towns are the most racially integrated places in the U.S. Here’s why
The military’s big stick approach allowed the institution to integrate troops and military towns. Can the civilian world follow suit? → Read More