New podcast Unraveling Behavior launched
A new science podcast, Unraveling Behavior, has been launched by the Center for Adaptive Rationality. The podcast delves into human judgment and decision making, exploring how people make decisions, how they handle risk, and how our surroundings shape our behavior. The first episode focuses on the impact of digital media on democracy.
In each episode, Ana Sofia Morais engages in insightful conversations with researchers to unravel the complexities behind how people think, decide, and act. The podcast aims to bring the latest research from the world of psychology and behavioral science to a broader audience, making these complex topics accessible and engaging.
In the first episode, Sofia Morais is joined by Lisa Oswald, a computational social scientist who specializes in public discourse in online environments. They discuss an important study co-authored by Lisa Oswald and published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour (Lorenz-Spreen, Oswald, Lewandowsky, & Hertwig, 2023). The study explores the complex relationship between digital media and democracy, showing that these platforms can simultaneously benefit democracy by enhancing political participation, while also harming it by contributing to growing political polarization.
A key takeaway is that content production on social media is highly skewed, with a small fraction of users generating the majority of posts—often those that amplify extreme or biased viewpoints. The episode also explores the broader implications of these findings, discussing the role of politics, corporate responsibility, and the critical need for transparency and robust content moderation policies to safeguard democratic values in the digital age.
Users can watch the full interview on YouTube and listen to Unraveling Behavior on popular podcast platforms such as Spotify or Apple Podcasts. The podcast will be released every eight weeks and is suitable for anyone interested in the science behind human behavior and decision making.
For more details about the podcast, please visit here.
About
Ana Sofia Morais earned her PhD in Psychology from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Following research positions at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW), and Kiron Open Higher Education, she has been working as a science writer and communicator at the Center for Adaptive Rationality at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development since 2019.
Lisa Oswald earned her PhD in Political Science from the Hertie School in Berlin. Since 2023, she has been a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Adaptive Rationality at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development. Her research explores public discourse in online environments and the impact of digital media on democratic politics. She is also interested in public perceptions of climate change, environmental behavior, and science communication.
