Do vaccines harm? What health risks should we most fear? How much should personal experience—what we live, see, and hear—inform our answers to such questions? I have some data-informed thoughts: www.macmillanlearning.com/content-hub/...

After a hiatus--as Macmillan redid its blog site--I am can again offer essays that shine the light of psychological science on our everyday life. Here I reflect on the ways in which we humans, in our polarized world, differ...and on how we are all alike. www.macmillanlearning.com/content-hub/...

Opinion | Can James Talarico Reclaim Christianity for the Left?

Ezra Klein's interview of James Talarico offers a compelling exposition and application of the words and ethics of Jesus. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/o...

Congrats, David… great essay, which I’ve shared with colleagues researching hope (one here at aptly named Hope College).🤗

Wondering how you might change your life in the new year--perhaps with a better use of time, or achieving personal goals? My 2 cents re: an evidence-based action strategy: www.macmillanlearning.com/content-hub/...

Opinion | Willpower Doesn’t Work. This Does.

Some excellent social psych here, by friend Angela Duckworth: If you want to change, don't depend on willpower; create a change-supporting situation (e.g., putting the phone in a different room when wanting to study). www.nytimes.com/2025/12/28/o...

An Autism Epidemic? You are an educated reader, so I know that you know that vaccines do not cause autism. However, you probably have also read headlines such as the recent U.S. Health and Human Services release, “Autism...

The CDC website now says: “The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim....” I summarize the relevant evidence at community.macmillanlearning.com/t5/talk-psyc.... You can decide if, like me, you find the evidence amply persuasive that vaccines do NOT contribute to autism.

Opinion | The Screen That Ate Your Child’s Education

For teachers and school administrators, some evidence-based, practical advice for boosting student achievement (from my Social Psychology co-author, Jean Twenge). www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/o...

I am (and have been) an appreciative subscriber. So I guess to not be flooded with the sports posts I should just unsubscribe from you on BlueSky... and thus filter your content via the substack.

Jeff, if there's a way to receive your wonderful data-analytic posts without having my in-box flooded with your sports posts I'd love it.

Teaching Like a Psychologist: Drs. Dave Myers & June Gruber Discuss Strategies To Foster Wellness and Belonging

For psych teachers...and anyone else who might enjoy: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t... or open.spotify.com/episode/4Z6t...

How do you suppose the global homicide rate has changed over the last quarter century? (Hint: Another example of good things happening in our seemingly depressing world.) data.worldbank.org/indicator/VC...

Our AP Psych text on PBS News Hour tonight...in a segment on books banned in Department of Defense schools...for our coverage of gender and sexuality (coverage that honors the College Board AP course guidelines).

The Psychology of Psychology: Drs. Dave Myers & June Gruber Discuss Emotion, Happiness & Students' Wellbeing Podcast Episode · The What And Who Of EDU · 10/22/2025 · 36m

For any psych teachers/podcast listeners: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t... (also available at open.spotify.com/episode/6XYc... )

You Are Resilient Some people live charmed lives. Some people endure persistent depression. Most people—likely including you—manage well enough, but with occasional heartaches. A relationship fails. A job is lost. An i...

In our world, and perhaps in your life, there’s much to be distressed about. But there’s also, I suggest from research on human resilience, some good news for you. See if you agree…
community.macmillanlearning.com/t5/talk-psyc...

Teaching colleagues (& other friends), To start the new academic year, I offer some fun examples of the playful thoughts that season my text writing.
community.macmillanlearning.com/t5/talk-psyc...

An Autism Epidemic? You are an educated reader, so I know that you know that vaccines do not cause autism. However, you probably have also read headlines such as the recent U.S. Health and Human Services release, “Autism...

With explanations for the autism increase conjectured at the White House yesterday, with promise of more to come from RFK Jr., some might be interested in the pertinent research (which I summarized earlier this summer): community.macmillanlearning.com/t5/talk-psyc...

The Marvel of Hearing—and the Blessings, and Mishaps, of Not-Hearing Thanks to our eyelids, we can, when our head hits the pillow, switch off our vision. Some of us also have “earlids.” When I remove my cochlear implant processor and hearing aid, I cannot hear my own v...

My 2 cents on the wonder of hearing, the gifts of not-hearing, and the gaffes and humor of mishearing.

THE MARVEL OF HEARING--AND THE BLESSINGS, AND MISHAPS, OF NOT-HEARING
David Myers
Thanks to our eyelids, we can... Some of us also have “earlids.” community.macmillanlearning.com/t5/talk-psyc...

For psych teachers ... a nice example of the availability heuristic in operation...people judging reality by easily available images of horrific happenings, rather than data. Anecdotes>Statistics.

James Maas has died, at 86. Jim taught more than 65,000 intro psych students at Cornell, in an 1800-seat hall. He also wrote/spoke widely on sleep. Each November, for some 15 years, I flew to Ithaca to speak to his class and spend time with Jim and his students. He was a great encourager and friend.

For psych teachers: A nifty figure-ground example.

Is Seasonal Affective Disorder a Zombie Idea? “The great tragedy of Science,” observed biologist Thomas Huxley in 1870, is “the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact.” Yet some ideas, once rooted, believed, and publicized, become hard...

Does seasonal affective disorder—aka wintertime depression—exist? Or is misery a year-round malady? I shine some big data light on the supposed seasonality of sadness. I’m curious: Do you, too, find the data persuasive, or at least suggestive? ow.ly/iUhj50Wio3U

Before surmising that LA is in chaos, consider LA’s vastness (500 sq. miles and 4 million people). Ditto other cities: The media give us few images of planes that land, or protests that are peaceful. If regrettable violence is a pin prick in a city, it may in our minds seem like chaotic devastation.

A gentle reminder as we process protest images this week: Human judgment is easily hijacked by memorable graphic images, such as a burning LA Waygo car, that get replayed over and again. Psych students know the phenomenon as the “availability heuristic” (judging reality by easy-to-picture examples).

An Autism Epidemic? You are an educated reader, so I know that you know that vaccines do not cause autism. However, you probably have also read headlines such as the recent U.S. Health and Human Services release, “Autism...

“Autism Epidemic Runs Rampant,” declared a recent HHS release. Has there actually been an epidemic-level increase in autism rates? Might vaccines be involved even in a small way? For my 2 cents, see community.macmillanlearning.com/t5/talk-psyc...

Is this the time of monsters — or miracles? Headlines warn of a world in collapse, but solutions journalist Angus Hervey finds the overlooked triumphs that never make the news — from the rollout of malaria vaccines to the recovery of sea turtle...

Depressed by today's politics and environmental destruction? Then perhaps treat yourself to 10 minutes of good news (from www.ted.com/talks/angus_...) or sign up for the weekly www.fixthenews.com newsletter.

Better to Be Color-Blind or Racially Aware? The new U.S. Administration has vowed to end diversity initiatives and “forge a society that is color-blind and merit-based.” Do its policies herald a new era in which all are welcome? Does its “color...

What are the arguments for and against today’s new “color-blind” policies? I review some pertinent research. community.macmillanlearning.com/t5/talk-psyc...

We often fear the wrong things, partly by feeling anxious when not in control (as when on a low-risk airline flight vs. driving). Likewise, Waymo robo taxis may feel scarier. But compared w/ human drivers have about 90% fewer property damage and injury claims. storage.googleapis.com/waymo-upload...

Dining Alone In his landmark 2000 book, Bowling Alone, Harvard public policy researcher Robert Putnam documented “the collapse of American community,” marked by declining participation in civic and religious organ...

Social connections boost happiness. Yet adults—especially older adults—are spending more time alone. So, I wondered, does communal senior living enhance late-life well-being? community.macmillanlearning.com/t5/talk-psyc...