Dinner Conversation Topics from MSU Psychology
November 27, 2024 - Shelly DeJong
Looking for some conversation starters this holiday season? Try one of these nine topics based off research and expertise from MSU Psychology!
1. The idea that at a certain age your personality becomes fixed is a myth!
Researchers today administer surveys to people at multiple points in their life and you can see that they are still changing well into their 80s, said MSU personality psychologist Dr. Ted Schwaba. And this goes for all kinds of personality traits. Traits like optimism might seem like obvious candidates for change depending on your life circumstances. But even deeper trait-level characteristics, like how responsible we are or how friendly we are, can and do change. One takeaway is that if you’re not happy with your current personality, you’re not stuck where you are. You’re not going to wake up tomorrow and be a whole different person, but there is quite a bit of wiggle room in your personality.
2. Taking melatonin may have more consequences than benefits if your sleep is already healthy!
MSU Psychology graduate Dr. Elle Wernette and her advisor Dr. Kimberly Fenn ran a research study where participants took either a placebo or melatonin pill, slept in the lab while EEG recorded their brain waves, and completed cognitive tasks. Their findings showed that melatonin did not affect sleep much, but it did impair cognition (in placekeeping and attention) in the morning!
3. Parents have the ability to protect the development of their child’s brain.
Much of Clinical Scientist Dr. Alexandra Burt’s research focuses on understanding the role of neighborhood disadvantage in youth mental health--specifically how neighborhood conditions shape behavioral and brain development. Her team recently found that parental nurturance protected the brain from the negative effects of community violence. She said, “It was exciting to see that there are concrete things that parents can do to protect kids and their brains from the hard stuff they might encounter in the world. Parents have the ability to protect their child inside and out, to protect the development of their brain. Sort of like every hug and every kind word that you give your child is stored within their little body.”
4. Fewer people want to stand out in public compared to 20 years ago!
A recent study found a dramatic decline in people’s desire to stand out from other people over the past 20 years. The study tracked over a million people’s desire to stand out or be unique from 2000 to 2020. This study provides some of the first evidence-based data comparing people’s motivation to stand out in today’s hyper-digital world compared to the early 2000s. This data suggests that individuals see that expressing uniqueness might compromise their ability to fit in with others or may even lead to being ostracized.
5. MSU discovered a method for CRISPR-based genome editing in Nile grass rats which is good news for preclinical trials!
This is an important breakthrough because Nile grass rats have similar sleep/awake patterns to humans. Currently, preclinical research relies on nocturnal lab mice who have very different sleep patterns to humans, which has led to humans and mice evolving quite differently in their neural circuits and gene-regulatory networks. These differences are complex, so the researchers believe this new Nile grass rat model is essential to untangle the relationship between genes and behaviors that are relevant to human health and disease.
6. Taking a placebo (that they were aware was a placebo) still effectively helped participants manage stress, anxiety, and depression!
Researchers recruited participants experiencing prolonged stress for a two-week randomized controlled trial. Half of the participants were randomly assigned to a non-deceptive placebo group and the other half to the control group that took no pills. The study found that the group willingly taking the placebo showed a significant decrease in stress, anxiety, and depression in just two weeks compared to the no-treatment control group.
7. Having people in your life who expose you to other social circles helps you stay the most informed!
An MSU study examined over 50 real social networks and 2,500 simulated social networks to understand how new ideas get shared. These findings suggest that one of the most influential theories in social sciences, the Strength of Weak Ties theory, needs revising. This 50-year-old theory states that casual acquaintances or “weak ties” are especially important because they expose you to new ideas. But the new study suggests that there’s no need to prioritize having many casual acquaintances over a few close friends just to keep up with the latest news and trends. Instead, if you want to stay in the loop, the researchers suggest making sure you’re interacting with a diverse set of people, including some who run in totally different social circles.
8. What age are you when you’re officially old? Turns out that is an ever-changing number! As individuals get older, their belief on when old age begins gets pushed back.
An MSU study explored age perceptions over the course of the lifespan of over one million people across 13 countries; it was the largest and most culturally diverse study conducted to date on this topic. The researchers found that every country had some degree of age bias. For every year people got older, individuals expressed the perception that old age begins even later in life. Additionally, they reported feeling younger than their current age and believing that others perceived them to be younger than their current age.
9. Why are jobs so boring? Turns out there’s a pretty big gap between people’s career interests and U.S. job demands.
A recent MSU study used a national dataset of 1.21 million residents and found that the interest demands of the U.S. labor market differ significantly from the supply of interested people—which means many people have unfulfilled interests at work. This study is the first to look at labor gaps using career interests instead of skills or knowledge. Interest gaps were also larger at lower education levels. This suggests that higher education can offer more opportunities to achieve interest fit at work.