Here’s some of the most interesting psychology research published this summer that I think you will appreciate!

1. Feeling behind can make relationships more transactional

In one experiment, participants imagined living on a planet where resources were distributed unequally. One group compared themselves with high-status residents; the other with low-status residents. Those made to feel relatively deprived were more likely to evaluate relationships in terms of costs and benefits and place greater value on “useful” qualities in potential friends.

​Read the original study​

This finding comes with some uncomfortable implications, particularly for ambitious individuals. Constant upward comparison may do more than make you dissatisfied; it may slowly change what you notice in other people. Over time, you can become an opportunist without realizing it, evaluating relationships by what they might offer you and unconsciously sorting people according to what you can extract from them.

Check yourself by asking this question: If this person had no status, access, audience, or professional value to me, would I still want to know them?

2. Humble people seek feedback they can actually use

Participants completed difficult pattern-recognition problems and were randomly assigned to receive either detailed feedback, including the right answer and a hint, or simple correct/incorrect feedback. Intellectual humility predicted greater receptivity only when the criticism offered a path to improvement. In a follow-up, more intellectually humble participants actively chose the detailed feedback more often.

​Read the original study​

“Being open to feedback” is vague. A better test is what information you seek after getting something wrong.

Ask your co-worker, “What would you change if you were me?” rather than “How did I do?” And if you manage people, keep in mind that feedback is more useful when it includes a pragmatic recommendation that can be implemented.

3. Problematic short-form video use may narrow our relationship with the future

Researchers surveyed 1,567 teenagers three times over one year, measuring problematic short-form video use, future-oriented thinking, and their ability to recover from everyday academic setbacks. Problematic use was defined by signs of dysregulation: difficulty controlling or reducing use, discomfort when unable to watch, and continued use despite negative consequences.

Adolescents with higher levels of this problematic use tended to become less future-oriented six months later, and weaker future orientation subsequently predicted more difficulty recovering from ordinary academic setbacks. Because the researchers did not manipulate video use, this does not prove causation, but it does raise an interesting question about the mechanism underneath the association.

​Read the original study​

Much of adult life depends on staying oriented toward rewards that are still far away: saving, training, writing, raising children, building a career. One reasonable interpretation of these findings is that problematic short-form content may shorten the time horizon people use to think about their own lives, making them less likely to anticipate problems, prepare for setbacks, and act proactively. When you are less oriented toward the future, ordinary difficulties are more likely to catch you flat-footed.