Calling researchers on the academic job market: McGill psychology is hiring at the assistant professor level. Deadline = September 5. mcgill.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/McGill_Caree... @mcgill.ca
Thomas Talhelm
@thomastalhelm.bsky.social
I'm an associate professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. I also founded Smart Air, a social enterprise dedicated to making low-cost air purifiers and teaching people how to build their own.
Researchers accidentally discovered people are speaking ~30% fewer words per day than 20 years ago, according to recordings of sounds in people’s daily lives. Young people declined even more.
I asked people whether AI fundraising appeals for help for a natural disaster victim would be more effective if voiced as "I" versus "he/she." People had the same intuition as me, and we were wrong! 🧵
My rice theory ended up inspiring an article in the weekly newspaper The Jewish Press! jewishpress.com/rice-wheat-a...
Lessons are more effective than practice, according to a new study of 40,000 chess players on Chess.com. @psychscience.bsky.social
UChicago's Center for Applied AI wrote up a little study I helped with. Check it out! How AI can make fundraising more effective. @chicagoboothreview.bsky.social www.chicagobooth.edu/research/cen...
Who’s asking? Using the 'Right' Voice in AI Fundraising
<span>Requests for help have always come from people. Thomas Talhelm's research asks what happens when it doesn't, and finds that the old rules of persuasion flip entirely.</span>
chicagobooth.edu
Some air pollution particles are small enough to enter our bloodstream. 😓
Smart Air@smartairfilters.bsky.social · 3w agoTraffic pollution particles on red blood cells after one hour near a busy road.
I found out today that I'm an expert in ergonomics.
My seed theory research was featured in a French magazine. 🇫🇷 Sacre bleu! How fun! Also, the sketch of me makes my facial hair look far more rugged than I am in real life. 😆 epsiloon.com/tous-les-num... @epsiloon.com @pnasnexus.org
I wrote a magazine article going over evidence that culture is sneakily persistent in the face of modernization. 🌱 Check it out! I think some of the data will surprise people.
Christian Jarrett@christianjarrett.bsky.social · 4w agoDoes modernisation erase cultural difference – or amplify it? psyche.co/ideas/does-m... We understandably fear the flattening effect of modernity. But global data from China to Peru tells a hopeful story. By @thomastalhelm.bsky.social for @psyche.co
Post-doc opportunity in psychology, sociology, political science, or education in Potsdam. www.uni-potsdam.de/en/socedlico...
This is where Smart Air started. It began with Particle Counting, the blog by @thomastalhelm.bsky.social Talhelm. The blog is still online today, and the original DIY air purifier post is here: particlecounting.tumblr.com/post/5548362...
How to Make a DIY Air Purifier
Based on my research into how different filters work, I concluded that a HEPA filter is all you really need to fight particulate air pollution in China. Given the fact fancy air purifiers run for...
particlecounting.tumblr.com
Culture has deep roots in the geography, and is transferable to new inhabitants, research in China with students moving region to study suggests—they are flexible and adopt the thought style of their new home within months, explains @thomastalhelm.bsky.social: buff.ly/iAytQNp
These are the countries where AI use in academic papers has increased the most (blue) and least (yellow), according to a new study.
I had a great time at APS! My theme was how we sometimes say one thing and the listener hears something difference, like how “estoy embarazada” sounds like “embarrassed” to Americans but means “pregnant” to Spanish speakers. 🇪🇸 @psychscience.bsky.social #APSBarcelona26
I enjoyed getting the chance to talk about why people in collectivistic cultures agree LESS with survey items about identifying with relationships. Thanks to the hardworking people at @psychscience.bsky.social for putting together the conference! 👏 #APSBarcelona26
Veronica Benet-Martinez asks about culture and personality: love match or arranged marriage? @psychscience.bsky.social #APSBarcelona26
Kunalan Manokara finds that people expect rich people to express self-oriented emotions (like pride) and less wealthy people to express other-oriented emotions (like gratitude).
Rui Sun presenting on gratitude and wellbeing across cultures at APS. Is the link different across cultures, age, social class? #APSBarcelona26 @psychscience.bsky.social
Most people don't know this! 📢 People in collectivistic cultures report LESS overlap in the classic overlapping circles measure. I'll explain why in APS Barcelona, Friday 4-5:20pm. Join me! @psychscience.bsky.social #APS2026 #APSBarcelona26 @chicagoboothreview.bsky.social
Are you going to APS this week in Barcelona? If so, join me on Friday for a symposium on how culture shapes emotion! #APS2026
📢 If you know anyone on the job market, Arizona State University's Thunderbird business school is hiring in cross-cultural management! 🚨 App deadline = June 15. Starts this fall. apply.interfolio.com/183830 @arizonastateuni.bsky.social @spspnews.bsky.social @aomconnect.bsky.social
Perry The Peregrine Falcon is back this morning. ☕️
If you know anyone looking to gain research experience through an RA position, pass along this position in Denmark. Topics include psychology, food, and applied AI. Applications due June 1. www.au.dk/om/stillinge...
These regional differences in the UK probably seem minor to Americans--Midlands versus Cornwall? Who cares? But these differences helped shape America's regional cultures (according to one theory).
How do humans parse their environment? This study identified four components after asking thousands of people. psycnet.apa.org/record/2027-...
📢 Calling all students still on the market for this fall. 🚨 Post-doc opportunity working on how to adapt interventions to different cultures, with Catherine Thomas at the University of Michigan. Due June 15: careers.umich.edu/job_detail/2... @iaccp.bsky.social @umich.edu @spspnews.bsky.social
I had a great time visiting the University of Washington yesterday and sharing fun new data on how randomly assigning people to take a study in Arabic, Swahili, Indonesian, or Italian changes how they work. @uwfosterschool.bsky.social
