Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Lifeslices: the one about friendship Listen to me talk about one of my favorite research topics! lifeslices.podbean.com/e/lifeslices... 000
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 09/09/2026Check out this episode of Science Quickly @sciam.bsky.social (you might hear someone you recognize) www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/epis...scientificamerican.comHow many friends do we really need?Assistant professor of psychology Jessica Ayers’s new research challenges assumptions about the kind of friendships we need 000
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 01/09/2026Early career members @spspnews.bsky.social 🚨🚨🚨Don’t forget to submit to the Early Career Mini-Conference. Abstracts due 9/30 by 11:59 pm PT spsp.org/events/early...spsp.orgFresh Perspectives in Personality & Social Psychology: Early Career Virtual Mini-Conference | SPSPA half-day virtual conference highlighting innovative research and professional development from early career scholars in personality and social psychology. 031
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 21/08/2026Early career members of @spspnews.bsky.social, please take our anonymous survey about the benefits of your early career membership and intentions to renew! essex.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_... We appreciate you! - Early Career Member Network Committeeessex.eu.qualtrics.comQualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience ManagementThe most powerful, simple and trusted way to gather experience data. Start your journey to experience management and try a free account today. 001
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 07/08/2026Do we really pick between the quantity and quality of our friends? Check out @psycheddiego.bsky.social and my new piece in the @us.theconversation.com theconversation.com/a-lot-of-cas...theconversation.comA lot of casual friends, or only a few you’re really close with? New research questions that trade-offFriendships are integral to human health and well being, yet researchers know very little about how people make friends. A new study investigated what people prioritize for new friendships. 073
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 21/07/2026When is friendship jealousy helpful, and when is it hurtful? My undergrad RA Diana spent the last year looking over the literature and has pulled out some common threads. See her write-up of her work here: www.ayerslab.org/blog/when-is...ayerslab.orgWhen is friendship jealousy harmful or helpful?H!, I’m Diana! I’ve been a part of the APE Lab since Fall 2024 and graduated from Boise State University in May 2025 with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. This fall, I will conti 000
Reposted by Jessica D AyersDiego Guevara Beltran @psycheddiego.bsky.social · 03/06/2026Why is lower wealth often associated with greater empathy? New work at SPPS w @jessicadayers.bsky.social Yul Kwon Peter Todd @athenaaktipis.bsky.social shows lower wealth cultivates empathy via challenges and helping - but only among moderate helpers🧵https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506261449280doi.orgHelping People in Times of Need Cultivates Empathy Over Time - Diego Guevara Beltran, Jessica D. Ayers, Jung Yul Kwon, Peter M. Todd, Athena Aktipis, 2026Why is lower social class often associated with greater empathy? We test whether less wealthy people experience more challenges, thereby motivating them to help... 193
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 24/04/2026I love this paper (I read it when it was first published online)!!! 000
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 22/04/2026Do you want a lot of friend, or only a few that your really close with? In our new paper, we ( @psycheddiego.bsky.social D. Mercado & @athenaaktipis.bsky.social) present the concept, structure, and validation of friendship making orientation kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.meScienceDirect.com | Science, health and medical journals, full text articles and books. 141
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 21/04/2026In our new paper (with Keelah Williams and her amazing undergrads), we examine cross-societal evidence for sex difference in preferences for emotional support in friends. We find that women place more importance on this trait than men do kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.mePlease wait whilst we redirect youAll content on this site: Copyright © 2026 Elsevier B.V., its licensors, and contributors. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies. For all open access content, the relevant licensing terms apply. 001
Reposted by Jessica D AyersDiego Guevara Beltran @psycheddiego.bsky.social · 03/04/2026and is also featured in the EHB blog, in both English and Spanish! www.hbes.com/whom-should-... @jessicadayers.bsky.social @jeremykoster.bsky.social @athenaaktipis.bsky.social + Daniel Balliet, Lee Cronkhbes.comWhom Should We Help? People Track Shared Fate to Solve Cooperation Dilemmas - HBES– by Diego Guevara Beltran English Imagine you live in a small community where food is often scarce; storms, droughts, pests, and fires can destroy crops, disease and injuries can keep you from workin... 001
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 27/02/2026She provided a framework she is working on! Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get a picture of the slide! 010
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026Our current habitats look very different from the habitats we evolved to live in, and this has major implications for how we feel in the modern world 100
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026Our last talk of the day is Kristina Durante talking to us about dealing with the mismatch of how are brains are built and the world we live in currently #EPatSPSP2026 @spspnews.bsky.social 130
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026Some preliminary ideas about how we gain information about status and update our estimates of status 000
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026Humans form groups. So we can’t just assume that individual formality equates to who will win contests 100
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026Mitchell Landers talks to us about how status helps us predict coalitions #EPatSPSP2026 @spspnews.bsky.social 120
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026Ultra prosocials are the least desirable as a partner, even though they are considered to be the kindest and most wanted as a community member 000
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026Hojeong Lee talks to us about why REALLY kind people do not make the best romantic partners #EPatSPSP2026 @spspnews.bsky.social 100
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026Interdependence strongly guides partner choice, giving help, and getting help from people in your network #EPatSPSP2026 @spspnews.bsky.social 022
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026@psycheddiego.bsky.social talks to us about cooperation and interdependence in the Mayangna 121
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026It seems that humans prefer punishments of the same kind and have deterrence premiums for these punishments 000
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026Eyal Aharoni talks to us about punishment preferences #EPatSPSP2026 @spspnews.bsky.social 100
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026Marius Unnvik talks about the 5 meta analyses that show germ aversion and pathogen disgust are moderately correlated, only germ aversion is associated with SOI, and political orientation changed its association post 2020 #EPatSPSP2026 @spspnews.bsky.social 110
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026Kaelyn Sabree provides cross-cultural data that people are rating sounds associated with (fluid) expulsion as more disgusting than non-expulsion sounds with 17k participants #EPatSPSP2026 @spspnews.bsky.social 041
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026Do people bond or bridge in their social networks when under pathogen threat? Ocla Jeong says we bond, more than bridge, using multi decade pathogen threat data #EPatSPSP2026 @spspnews.bsky.social 000
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026Next we have our fabulous panel with @sarahehillphd.bsky.social Damian Murray and Steve Neuberg on the challenges and opportunities facing the field #EPatSPSP2026 @spspnews.bsky.social 000
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026There are so many things we don’t know about friendships, and the fact that we are just scratching the surface on the darker sides of friendship goes so much promise to future research! #EPatSPSP2026 000
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026The coolest thing so far is that there seems to be a loyalty psychology (that comes online 7/8/9 years of age) and makes younger kids (5-6) upset at neutrality from everyone, not just friends! #EPatSPSP2026 @spspnews.bsky.social 100
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026We don’t like neutral responses, but ONLY when it’s our friends that stay neutral when something happens to us! 000
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026Next Alex Shaw talks about my favorite topic: friendship! But we get to talk about the dark side and when we are upset with them (we need more research!). #EPatSPSP2026 @spspnews.bsky.social 200
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026We can look at community patterns in DNA 🤯 we see that Neanderthals had small groups, which meant their genetic relatedness is similar to modern gorilla groups #EPatSPSP2026 000
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026Looking at genetic variation across the world, and finding support for genetic variation starting in Africa 000
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026The graphs and figures in these slides are fantastic! Humans have moved everywhere, yet humans are “uninteresting” to study from the terms of genetic variation. So many knowledge drops in Maanasa’s talk and we still have so much more to talk about! 210
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026And now we have Maanasa Raghaven is giving us a great talk in paleogenetics and and appreciation of how we became who we are #EPatSPSP2026 @spspnews.bsky.social 110
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026Turned out that social unpredictability and resource unpredictability are conceptually distinct and predict different outcomes/ solve different problems #EPatSPSP2026 010
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026Next Krystina Boyd-Frenkel talks about how different forms of unpredictability are associated with different forms of problems humans have to solve #EPatSPSP2026 @spspnews.bsky.social 011
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026We also see seasonal implicit prejudices too! But not for explicit attitudes and prejudices. 000
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026Do moral values change with the seasons? The answers appear to be yes! #EPatSPSP2026 100
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 26/02/2026First talk of the #EPatSPSP2026 evolutionary psychology preconference is Mark Schaller’s talk on seasonal cycles and how they influence human psychology @spspnews.bsky.social 010
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 29/01/2026You can still register through 2/13 @spspnews.bsky.social 011
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 29/01/2026At the 2026 EP preconference (ep2026.mystrikingly.com), we will host a panel on challenges and opportunities in the field featuring @sarahehillphd.bsky.social , Steve Neuberg, & Damian Murray. If you have questions, submit them here! forms.gle/M5yf5DEpHiTi... #EPatSPSP2026 @ahrako.bsky.socialep2026.mystrikingly.com2026 Chicago on Strikingly 000
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 05/11/2025What an exciting new platform to talk about all of the cool things that can influence us. athenaaktipis.substack.com I’m personally excited for the ones on hijacking and how it might not be only bad! @athenaaktipis.bsky.socialathenaaktipis.substack.comNot for Peer Review: Field Notes From The Edge of Chaos | Athena Aktipis | SubstackAfter publishing over 100 peer-reviewed papers—an essential but slow process—I’m opening decades of notebooks to explore the evolution of life, the practice of living well now, and the work of buildin... 040
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 24/10/2025Missed the deadline? This just in!! Preconference submissions will remain OPEN until Monday (10/27) at 8 am ET!!! Don’t let this opportunity pass you by! @ahrako.bsky.social @spspnews.bsky.social #EPatSPSP2026 011
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 23/10/2025It’s the last day friends!! Submit those abstracts!!! #EPatSPSP2026 011
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 21/10/2025Registration and housing is OPEN!! But the submission portal closes soon (IN TWO DAYS)! Submit your abstracts if you haven’t yet!!! @ahrako.bsky.social #EPatSPSP2026 022
Reposted by Jessica D AyersAthena Aktipis @athenaaktipis.bsky.social · 11/10/2025💞 Friendship isn’t about keeping score. It’s about helping when it counts. In our new The Conversation article, @jessicadayers.bsky.social & I explore why true friendship works like risk-pooling, not exchange. Read here 👉 doi.org/10.64628/AAI... #Friendship #Psychologydoi.orgFriendships aren’t just about keeping score – new psychology research looks at why we help our friends when they need itFriendship isn’t a tit-for-tat balance sheet, but that’s how researchers have traditionally defined it. New studies are refining the model to be less about transactions and truer to real life. 041
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 10/10/2025Do we really keep score in our friendship? See what @athenaaktipis.bsky.social and I have to say about why this isn’t always the case theconversation.com/friendships-...theconversation.comFriendships aren’t just about keeping score – new psychology research looks at why we help our friends when they need itFriendship isn’t a tit-for-tat balance sheet, but that’s how researchers have traditionally defined it. New studies are refining the model to be less about transactions and truer to real life. 032
Jessica D Ayers @jessicadayers.bsky.social · 17/09/2025Glad to have had the chance to pitch why we need to research friendship to @boisestate.bsky.social stake holders as an ASSERT (www.boisestate.edu/ifits/facult...) fellow at today’s pitch event.boisestate.eduASSERTAligning Stakeholders and Structures to Enable Research Transformation (ASSERT) is a cohort faculty development program where faculty, from all ranks and various academic units, become an ASSERTive co... 000