Jess Tracy
@ProfJessTracy
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social-personality psychologist, UBC prof, deadhead. Author of TAKE PRIDE, and forthcoming WHY WE MATTER: The Science Behind What Makes Life Meaningful
Vancouver, BC
Joined January 2011
If you are or ever have been a Terry Gross fan, listen to this. Seriously can’t recommend enough:
podcasts.apple.com
Podcast Episode · Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso · 2025-09-14 · 1h 39m
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I often say I'm in academia for the late morning starts and wearing hoodies to work, but @neelpatel knows the truth: "...scientists are driven by a passion to imagine what is possible, by dreams of turning very idiosyncratic obsessions into something that stands some glimmer of a
Before I became a journalist, I had planned to become a scientist. It has been incredibly disorienting and disheartening to see how a career in research has now become just as uncertain and tumultuous as journalism itself. My latest for @nytopinion:
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I'm also super honored to see my book Take Pride on this incredible list - thanks so much @sapinker!
What a great list to be on—Steven Pinker’s “15 Life-changing Books.” My WHOLE EARTH DISCIPLINE is on with the likes of @DavidDeutschOxf’s THE BEGINNING OF INFINITY. Link below…
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So honoured to be invited back to @HiddenBrain to answer listener questions-- many thanks to @ShankarVedantam and the amazing Hidden Brain team! Listen @ https://t.co/JOIi1HECEp (or check out my original interview
podcasts.apple.com
Podcast Episode · Hidden Brain · 2025-02-14 · Hidden Brain+ Only · 30m
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Love this interview with my friend @LenMandy of How to fall in love with anyone fame!
nytimes.com
And an update to the famous Modern Love story “To Fall in Love With Anyone, Do This.”
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Economic sociologist Brooke Harrington (@EBHarrington) explains how the tech billionaire "broligarchy" keeps the masses in check by sowing division on the internet
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I don't want to do the thing I explicitly advise against in this podcast, so I'll just say that this was a really cool experience and I'm especially thrilled that my parallel parking brag made the final cut.
For centuries, philosophers and theologians have warned about the dangers of hubris. Pride is an emotion that can make us arrogant, egotistical, and reckless. But psychologist @ProfJessTracy says that viewing pride as only negative leads us to miss out on the powerful ways it
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Happiness. Sadness. Guilt. Anger. Fear. So often when we think about emotions, we think about how we experience them as individuals. But what happens when we experience them with dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of other people? This week, we kick off a new series called
hiddenbrain.org
This week, we kick off our new series, Emotions 2.0, with a special double episode about the emotions we experience with other people. We often think that emotions like happiness or sadness live...
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Fighting for social justice can burn ya right out, but there are still many radical joys to be had. @ProfJessTracy is here to remind us Why We Matter in this gorgeous new book!
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For only the second time in our 179-year history, the editors of Scientific American are endorsing a candidate for president. That person is @KamalaHarris. | Editorial
scientificamerican.com
Kamala Harris has plans to improve health, boost the economy and mitigate climate change. Donald Trump has threats and a dangerous record
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Sex is great, but have you ever watched a qualified, experienced woman eviscerate an ignorant, unprepared sociopath for two hours?
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Holy sh*t. This new Kamala Harris ad, which will air on Fox ahead of the debate, will mess with Donald Trump as it uses the words of Trump’s own cabinet & inner circle to show how he is unfit & unable to serve. This is so good. Watch & share it below.
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Excited to share our paper in @PNASNexus, with @ProfJessTracy, Nick Rule, & Laura Tian! We show that the muscles people use to pose a smile—and the intensity of those activations—reveals personality, enabling others to form accurate personality judgments. https://t.co/ZBkpmXmZrw
academic.oup.com
Abstract. People ubiquitously smile during brief interactions and first encounters, and when posing for photos used for virtual dating, social networking,
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Great teaching advice from @paulbloomatyale. Last year I adopted #14 and I'm eagerly awaiting the payoff this term.
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What makes something seem human? A display of gender. In new work, in-press @PNASNews, @JessTracy, @PsychedDiego, Jeremy Koster & I show that gender (also) takes primacy in social perception in a nonWEIRD, small-scale society. Check out paper (& art) at: https://t.co/tOLKR5ck3u
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Super excited about my lab's new foray into the nexus where science and meaning meet. If you or a pre-grad you know finds these ideas interesting, consider applying to work with me at @UBCPsych! To learn more read https://t.co/dHolxdHjC7 and spread the word to awesome applicants.
journals.sagepub.com
Humans need to experience meaning in their lives yet often find it difficult to do so. We argue that, for nonreligious individuals in many Western cultures, the...
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reposted with correct address for @Ian_Hohm (apologies for showing my Gen-X in original post)
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Does materialist science destroy existential meaning? @Ian_Hohm, @LiminusVisuals, and I argue here that yea, it does. But that doesn't mean you have to choose between science and meaning ... https://t.co/D9g6f3o3Pw
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