The Research Center for Group Dynamics

The Science of Social Relationships RCGD fall 2025 SEMINAR SERIES ISR Thompson 1430 | Mondays 3:30 to 5 R. Chris Fraley | 10.06.25 What Makes People Secure or Insecure in their Relationships?

Why are some people more secure in their relationships than others? Today at 3: @rcfraley.bsky.social joins the RCGD Series on the Science of Social Relationships! buff.ly/92KtRNS

The Science of Social Relationships RCGD fall 2025 SEMINAR SERIES ISR Thompson 1430 | Mondays 3:30 to 5 R. Chris Fraley | 10.06.25 What Makes People Secure or Insecure in their Relationships?

Some people are relatively secure in their relationships, while others are uncomfortable with opening up and depending on others. Why are some people more secure than others? Learn Monday as @rcfraley.bsky.social joins the RCGD Series on the Science of Social Relationships. buff.ly/92KtRNS

Dating app data is hard to access, so researchers made their own app Dating apps collect a lot of useful data from their users that could help researchers better understand love and relationships.

Dating app data is hard to access, so RCGD's Amie Gordon and PSC's Elizabeth Bruch made their own app. Gordon tells @npr.org: "People have been doing this research for decades, but we still can’t reliably predict whether any given couple is going to stay together."

www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2...

The Science of Social Relationships RCGD fall 2025 SEMINAR SERIES ISR Thompson 1430 | Mondays 3:30 to 5 Darby Saxbe | 09.29.25 The Transition to Fatherhood as a Window for Neural, Hormonal, and Psychological Remodeling

Don't miss @darbysaxbe.bsky.social speaking in the RCGD seminar series on the transition to fatherhood. The talk will review studies on hormone and brain changes across the transition to parenthood in first-time human fathers. buff.ly/92KtRNS

Good Conversations Don’t Require Everybody to Agree, Neuroscience Shows Brain imaging is illuminating the patterns linked to productive, positive dialogue, and those insights could help people connect with others

@falklab.bsky.social wrote a nice summary of our hyperscanning work on how people form social connection and find agreement through conversation: www.scientificamerican.com/article/good...

Is Overconfidence Avoidable? New research examines overconfidence among tournament chess players to investigate if it is prevalent in an environment that should discourage it.

Overconfidence (and Dunning-Kruger) in chess-players, who typically rate themselves 89 points higher than their ELO rating.

“If I was matched against someone [like that], I would not feel good about that match,” Heck said.

www.psychologicalscience.org/news/2025-se...

#LooktoMichigan for innovation in survey research! A great talk on the future of survey research.

The Science of Social Relationships RCGD fall 2025 SEMINAR SERIES ISR Thompson 1430 | Mondays 3:30 to 5 Darby Saxbe | 09.29.25 The Transition to Fatherhood as a Window for Neural, Hormonal, and Psychological Remodeling

The RCGD series on the Science of Social Relationships continues Monday with a talk from @darbysaxbe.bsky.social on the transition to fatherhood. The talk will review studies on hormone and brain changes across the transition to parenthood in first-time human fathers. buff.ly/92KtRNS

This will be the first time that I’m talking about this brand new work with @randridge.bsky.social; please join!

Pebbling: How sharing memes can get us in touch with our inner penguin Jokes as relationship maintenance

Are you sharing memes, jokes, and reels incessantly? Guess what, so do I. Somebody called it "pebbling," and I am here for it!

open.substack.com/pub/mediated...

The Science of Social Relationships RCGD fall 2025 SEMINAR SERIES ISR Thompson 1430 | Mondays 3:30 to 5 Brett J. Peters | 09.22.25 It takes two to co-ruminate: An examination of co-rumination as a dyadic social emotion regulation strategy

Today! Brett Peters @theloveconsortium joins the RCGD seminar series with insights on how we should seek and provide support through challenging times.The series is open to the public: buff.ly/92KtRNS

A colleague made an inspiring point earlier today: The work of social scientists may never be more important. Whatever the current administration destroys doesn't just provide a chance to rebuild, but a blank slate to build something better. There's a lot of important work to do.

The Science of Social Relationships RCGD fall 2025 SEMINAR SERIES ISR Thompson 1430 | Mondays 3:30 to 5 Brett J. Peters | 09.22.25 It takes two to co-ruminate: An examination of co-rumination as a dyadic social emotion regulation strategy

Co-rumination– discussing and rehashing negative feelings with another person– comes with tradeoffs. Findings from Brett Peters @theloveconsortium may help improve recommendations on how people should seek and provide support through challenging times. Join the next RCGD seminar: buff.ly/92KtRNS

ISR's VR Lab: Bring your research vision to life.

@rcgd-isr.bsky.social has launched the VR Lab-- UM's premier facility specifically dedicated to supporting VR/AR for research. Explore their new website and resources: vrlab.isr.umich.edu

SPSSI Journals Traffic stops are common and consequential for citizens’ legal socialization and for racial gaps in police-community trust. Efforts to change the tenor of police interactions, however, may discount t...

New in JSI (OA): Reckless speeding or tinted windows? We look at racial disparities in reasons why drivers are stopped, their disparate impacts on community trust, and how police departments exacerbate —or mitigate— their impacts through policy. (1/7)
spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

The Science of Social Relationships RCGD fall 2025 SEMINAR SERIES ISR Thompson 1430 | Mondays 3:30 to 5 Jaimie Arona Krems | 09.15.25 Friendship and the supra-dyadic nature of challenges in close relationships

Today!! @Jaimiekrems.bsky.social joins RCGD's public seminar series on the Science of Social Relationships, with a talk on the dynamics and study of FRIENDSHIP: buff.ly/92KtRNS

The Science of Social Relationships RCGD fall 2025 SEMINAR SERIES ISR Thompson 1430 | Mondays 3:30 to 5 Jaimie Arona Krems | 09.15.25 Friendship and the supra-dyadic nature of challenges in close relationships

Join us for RCGD's public seminar series on the Science of Social Relationships. Don't miss @Jaimiekrems.bsky.social Monday to speak on the science and study of FRIENDSHIP: buff.ly/92KtRNS

Michigan Health Endowment Fund Grant to Support Suicide Prevention, Implementing PC CARES in Michigan Tribal Communities The Michigan Health Endowment Fund (MHEF) will support the implementation of community-led programming to combat elevated youth suicide rates in Michigan’s tribal communities.  The grant of $416K to t...

🌅 We're thrilled to share the news that the Michigan Health Endowment Fund (MHEF) will support the implementation of PC CARES with community-led programming to combat elevated youth suicide rates in Michigan’s tribal communities. @elizabeth-evans.bsky.social More on the grant: myumi.ch/9p3r9

How do we create and maintain high-quality relationships? Amie Gordon is kicking off the RCGD fall seminar series on the Science of Social Relationships.

The Science of Social Relationships RCGD fall 2025 SEMINAR SERIES ISR Thompson 1430 | Mondays 3:30 to 5 Amie Gordon | 09.08.25 Leveraging Modern Technology to Better Understand Relationships from Beginning to End

Despite decades of research, relationship scientists have yet to fully unpack the mysteries of dating and compatibility. Amie Gordon kicks of the RCGD series on the Science of Social Relationships with insights on leveraging modern tech to gather large-scale data on romantic relationships. TODAY!

The cachet of CASBS fellowship works its magic very quickly

Congrats to 2025-26 fellow @profpjones.bsky.social, named the next director of the @umisrcps.bsky.social 🙌👏

Announcement: cps.isr.umich.edu/2025/08/29/c...

Definitely ask to be nominated especially if you are from outside the U.S. but also from Universities that you often don’t normally see award recipients. Look at the APS fellows list for names to ask

Looking forward to working with @pbost.bsky.social !

👀 New "dad brain" research from @darbysaxbe.bsky.social; Darby Saxbe will join RCGD's fall seminar series on the science of social relationships-- with a talk on the transition to fatherhood 9/29. Check out the series that kicks off next week! rcgd.isr.umich.edu/news-events/...

Filial Closeness and Attitudes on Intergenerational Familial Care in Lebanon: Implications for Future Care Policy for Older Adults - PubMed Our results underscore the importance of considering contextual and situational factors that relate to older adults' attitudes and preferences for care. They suggest that (a) parents' attitudes and…

myumi.ch/8qy5b

"Our results underscore the importance of considering contextual and situational factors that relate to older adults' attitudes for care. They suggest that parents' attitudes and beliefs may relate to their desire to decrease strain on family members and increase solidarity"

Hamilton the musical with the caption "I'm not throwing away my shot."

Ending the summer having submitted five first-author manuscripts and a response to a published paper.

This K01 and the protected time are the best!

Thank you #NIH #NICHD

Thank you @rcgd-isr.bsky.social #ISR #psychology @umich.edu

Start Generating: Harnessing Generative Artificial Intelligence for Sociological Research - Thomas Davidson, 2024 How can generative artificial intelligence (GAI) be used for sociological research? The author explores applications to the study of text and images across mult...

Other examples: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

The Full Release of the ANES 2024 Time Series Study is now available!

The data and documentation can be downloaded from the ANES website at: electionstudies.org/data-center/...

Low Power and High Psychopathy: A Toxic Combination for Psychological Aggression - PubMed Power and aggression are core relational variables that share a fickle relationship. It is unclear whether high or low power relates to psychological aggression and under which circumstances. We…

What is the link between power and aggression in people with high psychopathy? Does high power ignite aggressive traits and behavior, or does low power lead to aggressive compensation? RCGD's Brad Bushman, Robert Körner, and Astrid Shütz investigate:

@darbysaxbe.bsky.social will join the RCGD series on the Science of Social Relationships this fall. Join us for insights that can elevate how we live. 💗 rcgd.isr.umich.edu/news-events/...