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
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If you are or ever have been a Terry Gross fan, listen to this. Seriously can’t recommend enough: podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcas…
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 chance to change the world..." So well said.
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: nytimes.com/2025/04/03/opini…
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…
So honoured to be invited back to @HiddenBrain to answer listener questions-- many thanks to @ShankarVedantam and the amazing Hidden Brain team! Listen @ podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcas… (or check out my original interview @https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/emotions-2-0-the-feeling-that-moves-us-forward/)
Love this interview with my friend @LenMandy of How to fall in love with anyone fame! nytimes.com/audio/app/2025/0…
Jess Tracy retweeted
Economic sociologist Brooke Harrington (@EBHarrington) explains how the tech billionaire "broligarchy" keeps the masses in check by sowing division on the internet
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 can be used for good. This week, we continue our Emotions 2.0 series with an episode on pride — why it’s a more important emotion than we realize.
hiddenbrain.org/podcast/emot…
Jess Tracy retweeted
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 Emotions 2.0. In our first episode, @Amit_Goldenb looks at how group dynamics shape – and sometimes distort – how we feel.
hiddenbrain.org/podcast/emot…
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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 bit.ly/4daH36q
Jess Tracy retweeted
Sex is great, but have you ever watched a qualified, experienced woman eviscerate an ignorant, unprepared sociopath for two hours?
Jess Tracy retweeted
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.
Jess Tracy retweeted
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.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/a…
Great teaching advice from @paulbloomatyale. Last year I adopted #14 and I'm eagerly awaiting the payoff this term. open.substack.com/pub/paulbl…
Jess Tracy retweeted
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: pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pna…
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 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.… and spread the word to awesome applicants.
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 ...journals.sagepub.com/doi/epu…
reposted with correct address for @Ian_Hohm (apologies for showing my Gen-X in original post)