New paper out today in Social and Personality Psychology Compass! What happens when our moral values come into conflict? Our new paper explores "metamorality": the second-order principles we use to navigate conflicting moral choices. W/ Jesse Graham

In 2023 we showed how engagement-based algorithms exploit human social learning biases, distorting how we learn what's normal, common, or credible from each other ("Algorithm-mediated social learning," Trends in Cognitive Sciences). The obvious follow-up: where does generative AI fit in?

New: Researchers have quantified how easy AI search is to manipulate. Just 13 words buried in a random Reddit comment can poison AI search results. They suggest this is not easy to stop: "The way you can attack these systems is so much dumber than you think it is" www.404media.co/it-is-trivia...

It Is Trivially Easy to Use Reddit to Manipulate AI Search, Research Suggests

"We show that a tiny snippet—just 13 words—of retrieved text on a UGC website like Reddit, Wikipedia, Quora, or Facebook can change AI agents to output spam / scam content pretty consistently."

404media.co

Researchers looked at people’s positions on specific issues, rather than just whether they identified as conservative or liberal. They found 43% of self-identified conservatives supported mostly left-leaning policies on topics like spending, climate action, immigration, and vaccine mandates.

Thinking Ideologically: The Limited Role of Left and Right Labels as Policy Shortcuts

Abstract. How do voters use left-right ideological labels as shortcuts for policy positions in evaluating electoral candidates? We offer a distinction betw

academic.oup.com

As I mentioned in the below thread, this project involved many feats of engineering, led by the fantastic @markptorres.bsky.social. If you're a CS or CSS person interested in the gory details, see his blog post: markptorres.com/research/202...

William J. Brady@williambrady.bsky.social · 2mo ago

✨New paper out @nature.com ✨ For 8 weeks around the 2024 US election, we randomly assigned 2,000 people to use social media algos we built ourselves. Do engagement-based algorithms amplify intergroup, moral & emotional (IME) content—and does that distort how we see political norms? 🧵🔗 👇

✨New paper out @nature.com ✨ For 8 weeks around the 2024 US election, we randomly assigned 2,000 people to use social media algos we built ourselves. Do engagement-based algorithms amplify intergroup, moral & emotional (IME) content—and does that distort how we see political norms? 🧵🔗 👇

This paper benefitted enormously from the very involved and insightful editorial team @nature.com, led by @meharpist.bsky.social.

Mary Elizabeth Sutherland@meharpist.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Millions of people(including me) turn to LLMs for information and advice. But who shapes their output? A @nature.com paper shows the influence of state controlled media on LLM output. Read all the details in the article here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Meet @williambrady.bsky.social, an assistant professor of management and organizations at @kelloggschoolnu.bsky.social and a 2026 APS Spence Award recipient!

Member Spotlight: 2026 Spence Awardee William Brady on Blazing Your Own Research Path

The Spence Award recipient answered a few questions about his research on the interactions between human psychology and technology, the highlights of his career, and his practical advice for future re...

psychologicalscience.org

📣 The difference between replicable and not replicable is not itself scientifically replicable. 📣 New work with Erkan Buzbas, showing that verdicts such as "X% of results replicated" are based on an inferential machinery that doesn't work. arxiv.org/abs/2604.26268

Are you a leader trying to figure out how to evaluate an AI system? Are you in business, journalism, civil society, or the tech industry? I'm excited to share the publication of the book I wish I had in my first job testing AI seventeen years ago: "Auditing AI." mitpress.mit.edu/978026205172...

Climate change impacts are here, but public support for action remains polarized. Which climate messages move people? In a ~13,500-person megastudy, we tested 10 of the most-cited messages. Six increased pro-environmental attitudes in the U.S.—but only by 1–4 percentage points. 🧵

Is social media dying? How much did Twitter change as it became X? Which party now dominates the conversation? Using nationally representative ANES data from 2020 & 2024, I map how the U.S. social media landscape has changed Here are the key take-aways 🧵 Full paper out now in in JQD:DM!

New preprint! w/Tessa Charlesworth & @williambrady.bsky.social: The Psychology of Algorithmic Bias We introduce a psychology-centered framework to specify mechanisms through which human behavior interacts dynamically with AI systems to produce algorithmic bias. osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/rxu37_v1

New preprint! ✨ Do you and your partner have made-up words ("eggy" to mean awkward)? Do you and your bestie have an anecdote you love to tell together (that time one of you tripped over an acorn)? Do you and your closest colleague have a cherished ritual (weekly lunch at "the usual spot")? 🧵

They double-booked a room for the "Healthy, Wise, Wealthy, Decision Making" and "Moral Machines" sessions at SPSP, but @williambrady.bsky.social exercised some masterful (& healthy & wise & moral & wealthy?) negotiation skills and we're now getting two sessions of talks in one 😊

@killianmcloughlin.bsky.social social media news especially likely to use villian / victim framing; low quality news especially; more likely to evoke outrage and draw engagement when doing so #spsp

New work from @drsanaz.bsky.social : using smart phone sensing data, one of the biggest predictors of people higher on authoritarian measure was Facebook and social media use #spsp

Many think LLM-simulated participants can transform behavioral science. But there's been a lack of accessible discussion of what it means to validate LLMs for behavioral scientists. Under what conditions can we trust LLMs to learn about human parameters? Our paper maps the validation landscape. 1/

We're excited about the upcoming Computational Psychology preconference at @spspnews.bsky.social this Thursday. See our action-packed full day agenda below! Featuring 3 keynote talk themes with related early-career speakers, data blitz session, panel discussion. Don't miss it! #SPSP

Last year at SPSP we had some great discussions about research with LLMs. This time #spsp2026 we're back with a whole workshop! Friday 2/27 at 8am, + informal drinks at 6pm to continue the conversation More info, plus a chance to submit discussion topics, here: spsp2026.carrd.co

Ethical and Reproducible use of Large Language Models for Data Analysis | SPSP 2026 Professional

Ethical and Reproducible use of Large Language Models for Data Analysis | SPSP 2026 Professional

spsp2026.carrd.co

M.J. Crockett@mjcrockett.bsky.social · last yr.

Grateful for the chance to share my thoughts on responsible use of LLMs in psychology research @spspnews.bsky.social #spsp2025. Here's a summary of my presentation for those who missed it. Thanks to @ashwinia.bsky.social for organizing this panel! How should LLMs be used in psychology research? 🧵

Interested in why moral conflict is so common on social media? Join us at #SPSP 2026 for our symposium. We’ll present new findings on how platforms shape digital discourse and explore pathways toward healthier online environments 🗓 Saturday, the 28th | 9:30–10:40 AM 📍 Room E270, Level 2

Very honored by this one! Thanks to all my mentors, students and colleagues who made it possible! And congrats to all the recipients for their amazing work.

Association for Psychological Science@psychscience.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Congratulations to the 2026 APS Spence Award Recipients! @dorsaamir.bsky.social, @williambrady.bsky.social, @esfinn.bsky.social, @andrewgrotzinger.bsky.social, @ycleong.bsky.social, @danieljamesyon.bsky.social, www.psychologicalscience.org/members/awar...

For folks interested in learning about our lab's research, check out this flier with all our presentations at this coming #SPSP2026 conference @spspnews.bsky.social. With research by several rising stars covering tech, culture, politics and more Credit to our talented lab manager Hanying Yao!

Congrats to @mjcrockett.bsky.social on the Troland Research Award from @nasonline.org ! Having witnessed the "unusual achievement" first hand, very happy to see the recognition 🌹💐 www.nasonline.org/award/trolan...

Troland Research Award – NAS

Two Troland Research Awards of $75,000 are given annually to recognize unusual achievement by early-career researchers (preferably 45 years of age or younger) and to further empirical research within ...

nasonline.org

Before the end of this year, I’m glad to share a short perspective/policy piece, recently out with @joshcjackson.bsky.social , Zhao Wang, and @williambrady.bsky.social: “Large AI Models Have a Prioritization Problem: Policy Implications and Solutions.”

New preprint: Empathy, Thick and Thin papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... It is perhaps foolhardy to attempt to say something new about a topic as widely studied as empathy. I tried anyway! 1/

New from me - how AI-generated political videos have become just another part of social media, used to entertain, outrage and monitize attention theconversation.com/ai-generated...

AI-generated political videos are more about memes and money than persuading and deceiving

Don’t discount the threat of AI political videos fooling people, but for now, they’re mostly about bolstering group identity and cashing in on viral content.

theconversation.com

Out now in Scientific Reports! Despite high correlations, ChatGPT models failed to replicate human moral judgments. We propose tests beyond correlation to compare LLM data and human data. With @mattgrizz.bsky.social @andyluttrell.bsky.social @chasmonge.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

ChatGPT does not replicate human moral judgments: the importance of examining metrics beyond correlation to assess agreement - Scientific Reports

Scientific Reports - ChatGPT does not replicate human moral judgments: the importance of examining metrics beyond correlation to assess agreement

nature.com

So there you have it, twin study estimates were greatly inflated, and molecular data sets the record straight. I walk through possible counter-arguments, but ultimately the uncomfortable truth is that genes contribute to traits much less than we always thought.

Great work by @natematias.bsky.social & Megan Price: public involvement in AI is an important part of rigorous science. AI systems are sociotechnical, meaning that the lived experience of the public is essential for validation, etc. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

How public involvement can improve the science of AI | PNAS

As AI systems from decision-making algorithms to generative AI are deployed more widely, computer scientists and social scientists alike are being ...

pnas.org