Ozan Kuru

AI is turning research into a scientific monoculture Communications Psychology - The rush to study generative AI is producing a feedback loop of topical and methodological convergence, flattening scientific imagination and crowding out the pluralism...

🚨 AI is turning research into a scientific monoculture — and as a scientist, I worry about the long-term resilience of our research ecosystem.

Our new piece in @commspsychol.nature.com with @profsanderlinden.bsky.social and Jon Roozenbeek: www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Positionality statements are relevant for all research Madeleine Pownall and Sebastian Cordoba make the case for reflexivity and positionality statements as important in all kinds of research Madeleine Pownall and Sebastian Cordoba make the case for refle...

Reflexivity and Positionality Statements in Quantitative Research

"Choices about research questions, data sources, analytical techniques, and interpretation are all influenced by researchers’ epistemological commitments, their lived experiences..."

By @maddipow.bsky.social & @scordoban.bsky.social

We can build civic strength for an AI era not just by regulating tech, but by investing in communities, public literacy, and systems that help people participate meaningfully in decisions that affect them.

🚨Fully revamped paper with @iganson.bsky.social: We study levels of, and partisan differences in, "unconditional political bias" (UPB). This is a partisan's own admission that *nothing* a politician could do would lower their support for that politician.

Many media observers have weighed in about The Atlantic’s “hypothetical” measles story and the #ContentConfusion it created: e.g. @laurahazardowen.bsky.social, @kellymcb.bsky.social, @bgrueskin.bsky.social… Adding my own two cents in this 🧵. 1/4

"The mediating role of perceived benefits of AH treatments...highlights the need for [educational interventions] to provide evidence-based information about the limitations of AH in managing serious health conditions, while also recognizing its potential complementary role in holistic care."

The importance of good surveys - with random samples: the much reported resurgence of religiosity in young adults evaporates in the face of good data…

To: Jeffrey epstein[jeevacation©gmail.com] From: roger schank Sent: Mon 1/4/2010 12:15:13 PM Subject: there is a simpler explanation about women and intelligence intelligence comes about in part from real focus (goal-directed (this is why you have the absent minded professor caricature) it is a rare woman who is not first and foremost focussed on what thinking and feeling about her hard to be brilliant if you are worrying if you look fat or why hates you or why you dont own a kelly bag roger schank http://www.rogerschank.com/

Relevant to today's conversation about AI's inherent sexism, here's an email from cognitive psychologist and early AI theorist Roger Schank, arguing to Epstein that women can't be truly intelligent, because they care too much about what other people think.

Political campaigns worldwide experiment with AI. But how do people see different electoral uses of AI and with what consequences?

In a new study in @polcommjournal.bsky.social with @adrauc.bsky.social and @kunkakom.bsky.social, we address these questions. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... 1/

Gaza death toll in early part of war far higher than reported, says Lancet study Research suggests more than 75,000 killed in the first 16 months of conflict, 25,000 more than announced at the time More than 75,000 people were killed in the first 16 months of the two-year war in Gaza, at least 25,000 more than the death toll announced by local authorities at the time, according to a study published on Wednesday in the Lancet medical journal. The research also found that reporting by the Gaza health ministry about the proportion of women, children and elderly people among those killed was accurate. Continue reading...

Gaza death toll in early part of war far higher than reported, says Lancet study

Altman’s comments are a classic example of dehumanizing people: childhood and education are reduced to “training” for the purposes of economic productivity. These are obviously not the same, but Altman’s words imply the main purpose of humans is to serve capital

3/

The FDA quietly removed a web page warning against therapies and treatments making “false claims” about autism. Some of those so-called cures include raw camel milk, clay baths, and chlorine dioxide. trib.al/ezfRUbd

BJPolS abstract text discussing economic inequality in the United States, focusing on its impact on the belief in the American dream among adolescents. It highlights findings from a study related to socioeconomic factors and belief systems.

NEW -

Adolescent Exposure to Economic Inequality and Belief in the ‘American Dream’ on Entering Adulthood - https://cup.org/4rmfyyE

- @sldemora.bsky.social & Benjamin J. Newman

#OpenAccess

Good impact narratives must connect to our everyday lives - LSE Impact Research impact is often communicated in abstract and bureaucratic language. To be meaningful it needs to connect to peoples' everyday lives.

💥New | Good impact narratives must connect to our everyday lives

✍️Anna Przybyło-Józefowicz

#ResearchImpact #SciComm #ImpactNarratives

Medical Decision Making in Relative Risk Scenarios: Understanding the Challenges of Communicating Alternative Health Due to well-being movements and the COVID-19 pandemic, the exclusive use of alternative health (AH) treatments has been increasing even for serious and life-threatening conditions. This phenomenon ...

Our new study published in Health Communication: Wu and Kuru (2026). Medical Decision Making in Relative Risk Scenarios: Understanding the Challenges of
Communicating Alternative Health. free first 50 copies link here

The Interplay of Conservatism and Religiosity on Misinformation Susceptibility: Evidence From the 2022 Malaysian General Election Abstract. The spread of online political misinformation on social media and messaging platforms during Malaysia's 15th General Elections raised significant

Our new study published in International Journal of Public Opinion Research: @taberez.bsky.social , Tan, Kuru (2026). The Interplay of Conservatism and Religiosity on Misinformation Susceptibility: Evidence From the 2022 Malaysian General Election

RFK Jr. can't change state vaccine regulations. But, he can dismantle the vaccine supply chain.

FDA's failure to review Moderna's mRNA flu vaccine demonstrates how HHS can weaponize the vaccine approval process to discourage the production of new, innovative, and potentially life-saving vaccines.

UT-Austin to merge race, ethnic and gender study programs More than 800 students are pursuing degrees in the affected departments, which include African, Latino and gender studies.

This is AWFUL. Univ of Texas is consolidating 4 depts into 1: African and African Diaspora Studies and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, American Studies, and Mexican American and Latino Studies will become "a Social and Cultural Analysis department." www.texastribune.org/2026/02/12/t...

Asian Americans have long histories of violence, discrimination, & exclusion.

Much of this behavior is poorly understood. The literature on discrimination against other racial groups is much larger than the literature on anti-Asian animus.

A group of my coauthors and I are trying to fill that gap.

Gallup ends presidential approval polling. There are plenty of alternatives but having one firm back the 1930s was a great continuity. Here is my last update of their series. RIP.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Not only that, but social cues about entertainment audiences provide indicators both of the demographic make-up of the audience as well as whether watching certain content is normative of one's partisan (and racial) ingroup—all of which predicts exposure intentions.

The Handbook of Inoculation Theory and Practice <p><b>Provides an in-depth&nbsp;</b><b>account</b><b> of inoculation theory across multiple disciplines and applied contexts worldwide</b></p> <p>Inoculation theory has become one of the most influen...

Out now with Wiley: The Handbook of Inoculation Theory and Practice, edited by Bobi Ivanov, Kimberly Parker, and me—the first handbook devoted entirely to inoculation theory. Grateful for my co-editors and contributors. #InoculationTheory

www.wiley.com/en-us/The+Ha...

There have been increasingly shrill accusations against the EU over its digital legislation, based on accusations of "censorship" by defenders of "free speech" -- including, so it appears, the right to peddle an AI app that seemingly produces child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
1/9

65% of Americans, up from 54% in June of 2025, think the actions of ICE have gone too far in enforcing immigration laws.
(NPR/PBS News/@maristpoll.bsky.social)
More, via Opinion Today:
opiniontoday.substack.com/p/260205-top...

New study on communicative dynamics in relative risk scenarios in health decision making, forthcoming in Health Communication, Yuanyuan Wu & Ozan Kuru

Very specific to certain medical research, yet also a warning about other vulnerable areas

Characteristically thoughtful discussion of a known snag of survey research -- people who care a lot about politics are more likely to take political polls -- and what we might be able to do to address that

(As noted, I think this is such a fun experiment)

Our BPP paper on government shutdowns, need for chaos, and prospect theory (w/ Erin Fitz, @stecula.bsky.social, Matt Hitt, and me). Here's the abstract and link for "Mindset to Gain? Framing Effects, Need for Chaos, and the Limits of 'Burning It All Down'." www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Recent paper to read on this:

By @jinxungoh.bsky.social and team.

drive.google.com/file/d/1_MbT...

Why some people speak up against prejudice, while others do not Repeated exposure to discrimination increased the likelihood of aggressive confrontation.

I wrote about our recent paper for @uk.theconversation.com

"...it does mean that judging these responses without understanding their cultural roots risks blaming individuals for navigating systems that were never designed to protect them."

theconversation.com/why-some-peo...