Conversation starters from MSU Psychology
November 25, 2025 - Shelly DeJong
Looking for some conversation starters for your holiday meals and family gatherings? Try one of these nine topics based on research and expertise from MSU Psychology!
1. The better you handle daily stress, the more extroverted you may feel.
An MSU study led by Dr. William Chopik had over 2,000 adults complete diaries three times every day over an 18-year period! This is the largest and longest study to look at how managing daily stress may affect your personality.
They found that as people get better at handling daily stress, they also become more extroverted, agreeable, and open to new experiences. Likewise, the worse they manage daily stressors, the more introverted, unfriendly and closed off from new experiences they become.
2. Approximately 70% of people dream in color instead of black and white.
Cognitive Neuroscientist Dr. Kimberly Fenn shared in an Ask the Expert article that approximately 70% of people report dreaming in color, as opposed to just in shades of black and white. But this estimate may be low because scientists have to rely on what dreamers remember about their dreams.
Older people report far less color in their dreams than younger people. The prevailing explanation for this is based on the media they experienced while young. If the photographs, movies and television you saw as a child were all in black and white, then you are more likely to report more black-and-white dreams than color dreams.
3. Microbes help shape early brain development, particularly the region that controls stress and social behavior.
MSU research led by Dr. Alexandra Castillo-Ruiz found that microbes play an important role in shaping early brain development, specifically a key part of the brain that controls stress, social behavior, and vital body functions.
The study used a mouse model to highlight how natural exposure to these microbes not only impacts brain structure immediately after birth but may even begin influencing development while still in the womb.
This work is of significance because modern practices, like Cesarean delivery and the use of antibiotics around birth, disrupt maternal microbes. In the United States alone, 40% of women receive antibiotics around childbirth and one-third of all births occur via Cesarean section.
4. People consistently misjudge your personality when they see your tattoos.
An MSU study from the Close Relationships Lab took photos of people’s tattoos and had them complete personality measurements. A second group then rated the personality of each person based only on the photo of the tattoo.
They found that the second group all had similar assumptions of what the tattooed person was like...but those assumptions weren’t accurate.
As tattoos become more mainstream, this research sheds light on how specific tattoos are judged — and shows how wrong those judgements can be.
5. Pregnant women’s saliva differs depending on their mental health and stress levels.
MSU research led by Dr. Joseph Lonstein found that the number and type of microbes present in the saliva of pregnant women differ according to whether they are experiencing life stress and symptoms of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
This is the first study to look at the association between the type and number of microorganisms in the mouth and throat, also known as the oral microbiome, and maternal mental health.
The researchers said that their findings suggest that the oral microbiome could be a potential target for interventions to improve poor psychological well-being during pregnancy.
6. Dopamine is more complicated than we thought.
MSU research led by Dr. Alexander Johnson found that dopamine is involved in reshaping memories of past rewarding events. This challenges the established theories of dopamine function and opens new avenues for understanding dopamine’s role in the brain.
Since dopamine is involved in so many aspects of brain function, these insights have wide-ranging implications.
“In the future, we may be able to use these approaches to reduce the value of problematic memories and, as such, diminish their capacity to control maladaptive behaviors,” said Dr. Johnson.
7. The number of nonparents in the United States who never want children is growing.
An MSU study found that the percentage of U.S. nonparents who never want children has doubled over the past 20 years. It rose from 14% in 2002 to 29% in 2023.
The study, led by Dr. Zachary Neal and Dr. Jennifer Watling Neal, is one of the first to consider both men and women as well as desires for both biological and nonbiological children.
The researchers used data from the National Survey of Family Growth which surveyed 80,000 adults.
8. Concussions look very different across different people.
Doctoral student Reid Davis (in both psychology and kinesiology) studies psychological implications of returning to play following sport-related concussions.
In an MSU article, Davis shared that there are six different types of concussions! Developmental factors, sex differences, and psychosocial factors can affect an athlete’s response to concussions.
After an injury, athletes often are given a return-to-sport plan that addresses their physical healing, but there isn’t a framework yet for accessing psychological readiness. When an injury occurs, there can be a tendency to overlook psychological aspects because of the belief that once the injury goes away, the psychological distress naturally resolves. But that’s not how the human brain works.
9. Experiencing stress in mid to late gestation affects girls and boys differently.
Prenatal stress has been linked to negative health and mental health outcomes in children and adults. But at what stage of pregnancy does prenatal stress have the biggest impact?
An MSU study led by Dr. Alytia Levendosky found periods of higher sensitivity to stress in both mid and late gestation - but found that girls and boys had differing patterns of sensitivity. The data showed that experiencing stress in mid-gestation affected girls and late gestation stress impacted boys.
Previous studies in this field stopped their last stress assessment between 32-34 weeks. Because this study ran through week 41, the researchers were able to locate the time that is most sensitive for boys.