iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Joshua Conrad Jackson @joshcjackson.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I’m excited to announce that our proposal (with @williambrady.bsky.social and @douglasguilbeault.bsky.social ) “Fostering Innovation Through Humility in the Online Marketplace of Ideas” was funded by the John Templeton Foundation We'll be hiring for this grant soon. Details about the project below!

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Joshua Conrad Jackson @joshcjackson.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Check out this thread for a new perspective paper where we introduce the idea of “upstream selection” to explain how adaptive social learning strategies can become maladaptive in algorithm-mediated digital ecosystems

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William J. Brady @williambrady.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

✨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? 🧵🔗 👇

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Igor Grossmann, PhD @igi.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

1/ We're hiring a postdoc in the Wisdom & Culture Lab @uwaterloopsych.bsky.social to lead a new SSHRC-funded project on cultural narratives & decision-making. Fall '26 / Winter '27 start. 🧵

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Nakwon Rim @nwrim.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

New paper in @commspsychol.nature.com, with @ycleong.bsky.social, Marc Berman, and @joshcjackson.bsky.social! Two-sentence summary: Political pundits often talk as if partisans are divided in how they feel about political issues, as in “Democrats love abortion” or “Republicans hate immigrants.” 1/2

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Roger Myerson @rbmyerson.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

#NoKings in Chicago.

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Joshua Conrad Jackson @joshcjackson.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Our paper on close relationships as microcultures (led by @mrossignacmilon.bsky.social) is a nice example of how cultural evolutionary ideas are beginning to broaden psychological theorizing I highly recommend to cultural evolutionists who are interested in psychology, or vice versa!

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Oleg Urminsky @olegurminsky.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

When you collect data online, are the results from humans or AI? In a project led by Booth PhD student Grace Zhang, we estimate the prevalence of AI agents on commonly used survey platforms: osf.io/preprints/ps... 🧵

osf.io

OSF

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Joshua Conrad Jackson @joshcjackson.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

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!

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Dorsa Amir @dorsaamir.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

Thrilled to share our latest paper, out now in Science Advances! We explored the development of cooperative behaviors — fairness, trustworthiness, forgiveness, & honesty — across five societies, culturally contextualizing them & seeing how they correlate. (1/5) www.science.org/doi/full/10....

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Danica Dillion @danicajdillion.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

We're excited to announce the first Mind & Machine Alignment Summit at Ohio State! Join leaders from social science and the AI industry to advance AI that promotes well-being and aligns with human values. Learn about emerging work and connect with leading researchers and builders.

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Yuanze Liu @yuanzeliu.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

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.”

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Dolores Albarracin @dalbarra.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

Postdoctoral Researcher Positions!

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Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · 23/11/2025

UPDATE: Americans who use YouTube 84% Facebook 71% Instagram 50% TikTok 37% WhatsApp 32% Reddit 26% Snapchat 25% X (Twitter) 21% Threads 8% Bluesky 4% Truth Social 3% Full Pew Research Center report: www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/1…

Chart showing change in the use of online platforms. Over the past few years, four of them have grown in overall use among U.S. adults – TikTok, Instagram, WhatsApp and Reddit. TikTok: 37% of U.S. adults report using the platform, which is slightly up from last year and up from 21% in 2021. Instagram: Half of U.S. adults now report using it, which is on par with last year but up from 40% in 2021. WhatsApp and Reddit: About a third say they use WhatsApp, up from 23% in 2021. And 26% today report using Reddit, compared with 18% four years ago. While YouTube and Facebook continue to sit at the top, the shares of Americans who report using them have remained relatively stable in recent years.

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Danica Dillion @danicajdillion.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

Americans are growing more socially isolated and politically divided. Our new paper in Applied Network Science suggests these two forms of disconnection may be linked. People with denser, more connected social networks often feel less partisan animosity. 🧵

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Cultural Evolution Society @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

Only 2 days left to get your abstracts in!

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Politics and Social Change Lab @pascl-stanford.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Thank you to @joshcjackson.bsky.social and Dan Medvedev for a fascinating recent lab presentation on how attitudes toward the rich vary globally! Innovative methods and fascinating findings, all around. @robbwiller.bsky.social

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Jean Barré @jbarre.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

What happens when we model the detective archetype at scale? 🕵️‍♂️📚 Our new paper, accepted for #CHR2025 combines literary history and computational modeling to trace how the figure of the detective evolves across 150 years of French fiction. arxiv.org/pdf/2511.00627

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Joshua Conrad Jackson @joshcjackson.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

Our "Historical Psychology" special issue is now out in CRESP! www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu... Co-edited with @mohammadatari.bsky.social and featuring historical perspectives on love, racial identity, emotion expression, well-being, collectivism, religion, and more! Brief 🧵

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Jin X. Goh | 吴晋勋 @jinxungoh.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

On election day, I wanna announce that I am recruiting social psych PhD students for my lab at UIC. My lab focuses on racial identities (esp Asian, Latino, MENA Americans) and intra-minority conflict/ coalition. So please tell your students to pick me! All details on my website: www.pbandjlab.com

iconic scene from Grey's Anatomy. Meredith Grey in scrub telling Derek "so pick me, choose me, love me"

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Pat Savage @patrickesavage.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

This thicc 71-chapter book (academic.oup.com/edited-volum...) arrived just in time to use as the textbook for my new "Cultural Evolution" class I've just started teaching! Featuring this chapter from @cailinmeister.bsky.social @psmaldino.bsky.social & Jingyi Wu as well as much more including...

Syllabus for my new "Cultural Evolution" class:

Topic
Reading 1 (Textbook)
Reading 2 (primary source)
Course overview
(none)
(none)
How to read + history
Foreword: A brief history of the study of cultural evolution
Editor’s Preface
How and why to read (and write and publish) academic research
Arts
39) Cultural evolution and music
Sequence alignment of folk song melodies reveals cross-cultural regularities of musical evolution
Communication
55) Language phylogenies: Modeling the evolution of language
Language trees with sampled ancestors support a hybrid model for the origin of Indo-European languages
Animal culture
22) What constitutes non-human culture and how is it studied?
Cultures in chimpanzees
Technology
36) Digital culture
Large language models show human-like content biases in transmission chain experiments
Religion
44) The cultural evolution of religion and cooperation
Testing the Big Gods hypothesis with global historical data: A review and ‘retake’
Sociality
49) Cultural evolution and the economic wealth of nations
Dual Evolutionary Foundations of Political Ideology Predict Divergent Responses to COVID-19
Coevolution
60) Cultural evolution and diet
Dairying, diseases and the evolution of lactase persistence in Europe
Applications (policy)
69) Cultural evolution and public policy
Female genital cutting is not a social coordination norm
Applications (science)
71) Cultural evolution of science
The natural selection of bad science
Final discussion
1) Perspectives on cultural evolution from pioneers in the field
Genes, culture, and scientific racism

The thicc 71-chapter Oxford Handbook of Cultural Evolution

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Joshua Conrad Jackson @joshcjackson.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

Adam Smith wrongly predicts that celebrity wages will drop once people begin to like celebrities (Wealth of Nations was published in 1776)

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Björn Lindström @bjornlindstrom.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

How do humans keep inventing tools and technologies that no single person could create alone? Our new preprint, led by @anilyaman.bsky.social & @ts-brain.bsky.social shows that semantic knowledge guides innovation and drives cultural evolution. 🧠📘 arxiv.org/abs/2510.12837

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Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

Has anything great happened in your life because of social media?

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Joshua Conrad Jackson @joshcjackson.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

🚨Historical Psych Pre-Conference🚨 We have a great lineup of speakers for the #SPSP2026 edition! Submit your poster or data blitz abstract by Oct. 23 (link below!). Open to folks from any career stage Any research on psychological change or historical context of social psych is welcome!

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Diego Reinero, Ph.D. @diegoreinero.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

We're accepting poster & data blitz abstract submissions from all career stages. If your work is broadly related to morality, you should apply! We welcome a wide range of topics and approaches. Submit here: spsp.wufoo.com/forms/2026-p... Deadline to submit an abstract: Oct. 23.

spsp.wufoo.com

2026 Preconference Submission Portal

Use this submission form for all preconference submissions. Select your preconference first as this may change submission fields. The submission guide can be found here . You may submit to multi...

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Nour Kteily @nourkteily.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

@elijfinkel.bsky.social & I are recruiting a postdoc in the #LitowitzCenter for Enlightened Disagreement at Northwestern University. We seek research excellence regarding navigating conflict. Application deadline: Nov. 17. Salary: ~$80k. facultyrecruiting.northwestern.edu/apply/MjQzNw==

facultyrecruiting.northwestern.edu

Northwestern Faculty Search -

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Alejandro Pérez Velilla @apvelilla.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

I am happy to announce that our project on risk and social learning is now in press at Psychological Review. Several new additions and revisions thanks to detailed feedback from colleagues and anonymous reviewers. osf.io/preprints/so... @psmaldino.bsky.social @babeheim.bsky.social

osf.io

OSF

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Joshua Conrad Jackson @joshcjackson.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

🚨New preprint🚨 osf.io/preprints/ps... In a sample of ~2 billion comments, social media discourse becomes more negative over time Archival and experimental findings suggest this is a byproduct of people trying to differentiate themselves Led by @hongkai1.bsky.social in his 1st year (!) of his PhD

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Nava Caluori @ncaluori.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

The @spspnews.bsky.social Religion & Spirituality Preconference is accepting applications for talks, data blitzes, & posters until 10/23! We're excited to hear from Kathleen Corriveau, @alexandraworm.bsky.social, @drmeltemyucel.bsky.social & @joshcjackson.bsky.social. More info: tinyurl.com/33x9za7r

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Joshua Conrad Jackson @joshcjackson.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

One of my favorite conferences, @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social, just released key dates and other info! I highly recommend checking it out for great research from across the social, behavioral, and natural sciences

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Helena Miton @helenamiton.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

🚨 New paper alert! (slightly belated) We (with @joshcjackson.bsky.social) suggest that complex technologies, as they need several (often many) people to use them, require innovations that distribute cognition to help regulate cognitive load and coordinate. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

sciencedirect.com

Complex technology requires cultural innovations for distributing cognition

Over the last decade, new research has shown how human collectives can develop technologies that no single individual could discover on their own. How…

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Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

Below is my new post about our Three Stages of Religious Decline paper (www.nature.com/articles/s41...). We argue that a similar process of decline affects countries on every populated continent, including countries in which Christianity, Islam, Buddhism or Hinduism is the largest religion. A🧵

pewresearch.org

How religion declines around the world

A country’s religious affiliation tends to decline in three transitional stages that unfold across generations, a new paper using Center data proposes.

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Joshua Conrad Jackson @joshcjackson.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

@helenamiton.bsky.social and I have a new paper out: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Past theories focus on how we evolve complex technologies (jet engines), but neglect cultural innovations that help us operate these technologies (pilot checklist) Paper has tons of examples and new theory!

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William J. Brady @williambrady.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

Social media often feels saturated with politics and morality - but is that feeling accurate? Our new paper finds that moralization has increased markedly on social media from 2013-2021, more than traditional media. See 🧵 below!

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Joshua Conrad Jackson @joshcjackson.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

One of the largest-scale analyses of historical text data that I have contributed to The finding: language on social media has become more moralized over the 21st century; we don't see the same trends on news media Kudos to the first author @curtispuryear.bsky.social on the enormous effort

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Joshua Conrad Jackson @joshcjackson.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

English language is filled with trait words like “caring” and “smart” These words are the currency of personality/social psych, yet key questions remain about their evolution, function, and structure We take on these questions in a preprint led by @yuanzeliu.bsky.social osf.io/preprints/ps...

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Dorsa Amir @dorsaamir.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

Look what you could publish (anonymously) in Nature in 1970.

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Joshua Conrad Jackson @joshcjackson.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

If anyone is submitting to SESP and looking for a speaker to complete their symposium, I have a collaborator doing really interesting work related to culture, income, and social cognition. He has multiple cool projects on all of those topics. Feel free to message me and I can connect you

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Franki Kung @frankikung.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

I'm disappointed to share that my NSF career grant on anti-Asian dehumanization was terminated. This affects ongoing project activities, which have shown great progress so far, and support for my research team and more. I'm sad to share that the hiring of the postdoc role is currently on pause.

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

Working with an interdisciplinary team, we have developed a website to communicate how the White House's proposed cuts to health research would cause losses of $16B and 68,500 jobs. Find out how your community may be impacted. Explore more at SCIMaP: scienceimpacts.org a 🧵

US map via scienceimpacts.org visualization of economic loss due to IDC cuts to 15% as part of Feb 7, 2025 executive order, with shading denoting intensity of cuts.

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Joshua Conrad Jackson @joshcjackson.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

I'm hiring a new lab manager! Deadline to apply is April 1st. More details here: www.chicagobooth.edu/-/media/facu... I formed some of my deepest and most impactful partnerships as a lab manager, and it's a position that I highly value. If you are a PI, please circulate to possible applicants!

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Jon Freeman @freemanjb.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

Wyd at 8AM this Saturday? If at #SPSP2025 in Denver, and willing to tolerate such an aggressive time slot, please join us for our symposium on High-Dimensional Social Cognition, featuring @gandalfnicolas.bsky.social , @chujunlin.bsky.social, @joshcjackson.bsky.social, and myself

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Joshua Conrad Jackson @joshcjackson.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

This was a really interesting project to be part of, and cool use of causal methods to study a big societal question. I recommend reading the preprint, and looking at our last theoretical paper (linked here) that generated the predictions tested in this paper.

sciencedirect.com

Algorithm-mediated social learning in online social networks

Human social learning is increasingly occurring on online social platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok. On these platforms, algorithms expl…

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Alejandro Pérez Velilla @apvelilla.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

My first PhD project is out there. Thank you to my advisor @psmaldino.bsky.social and to mentor, co-author and friend @babeheim.bsky.social for encouraging and helping build this exciting and insightful collaboration. Onwards!

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Erika Kirgios @erikakirgios.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

How do job seekers react when orgs quantify their diversity commitments? In a 🚨new paper🚨 with @ikesilver.bsky.social & Edward Chang, we explore competing predictions about how women and racial minorities react to measurable goals vs. vague, values-focused commitments.

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