Subscribe
Long before Amy Chua’s provocative 2011 memoir,Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, raised the bar for tough-love parenting, psychologists at UC Berkeley were studying the effects of three kinds of child-rearing: authoritarian (too hard), permissive (too soft) and authoritative (combo). Now, with the recent release of Berkeley alumna Kim Wong Keltner’s memoir, Tiger Babies Strike Back, along with other scholarly works and testimonials, the results are in.
Social science archive
When mom is the CEO at home, workplace ambitions take a back seat
January 18, 2013: It’s often said that women can have it all – motherhood and a successful career. But a new UC Berkeley study suggests that women who rule the household have less energy for or interest in being a rising star in the workplace.
Powerful people better at shaking off rebuffs, bonding with others
January 18, 2013: Employees often tiptoe around their bosses for fear of offending them. But new UC Berkeley research shows people in power have thicker skin than one might think.
Top psychologists to present research on sleep, awe and more at ‘Big Easy’ conference
January 10, 2013: Poor sleep can sour relationships. Powerful people are better at shaking off rebuffs. Moms who run the household are less concerned with rising to power in the workplace, and people who gaze at the vastness of nature tend to be less self-centered. These are among several intriguing findings UC Berkeley psychologists will be presenting at this week’s annual meeting of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology in New Orleans.
I School prof Geoff Nunberg’s word of the year for 2012: big data 
January 4, 2013: Berkeley linguist Geoffrey Nunberg picks “big data” as the word of the year for National Public Radio’s Fresh Air show, and explains why people should pay attention to it. With audio.
Banguns initiative calls for change, accountability
December 21, 2012: UC Berkeley political scientist Steve Fish is helping to launch an initiative called Banguns in response to the Sandy Hook massacre. Those signing the initiative pledge to vote for, or financially support, only those elected officials who actively support effective new gun-control legislation
Scientists construct first map of how the brain organizes everything we see
December 19, 2012: Our eyes may be our window to the world, but how do we make sense of the thousands of images that flood our retinas each day? UC Berkeley scientists have found that the brain is wired to put in order all the categories of objects and actions that we see. They have created the first interactive map of how the brain organizes these groupings.
Special Anglo-American relationship to be studied in new program
December 13, 2012: Whether it involves Reagan and Thatcher, FDR and Churchill, or the colonies and the crown, the special relationship between Great Britain and the United States is generally known – but not necessarily well-understood. A new program aims to change that.
To Berkeley civil-rights scholar, race is uppercase concern
December 11, 2012: Civil-rights scholar john powell rethinks notions of race for the 21st century in a recently published essay collection, Racing to Justice. In a Q&A with the NewsCenter, powell discusses the book and his ambitious vision for the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society, which he heads at Berkeley.
Mexican American toddlers lag in preliteracy skills, but not in their social skills, new study shows
December 11, 2012: Mexican American preschoolers fall behind their white counterparts in terms of early language and preliteracy skills, but the social competencies between the two groups are indistinguishable, according to a new UC Berkeley/UCLA study.
Conservatives can be persuaded to care more about the environment, study finds
December 10, 2012: When it comes to climate change, deforestation and toxic waste, the assumption has been that conservative views are intractable. But new research from UC Berkeley suggests that such opinions can be changed with messages couched in terms of fending off threats to the “purity” and “sanctity” of Earth and our bodies.
L&S ‘Big Ideas Courses’ aim to inspire faculty, students alike
November 30, 2012: According to Executive Dean Mark Richards, the concept for the program grew out of long-range plans in L&S to enhance the undergraduate curriculum. Big Ideas Courses allow undergrads not only to delve into important issues from multiple viewpoints, but also to fulfill their requirements in new and interesting ways.
Thnx4.org: An easy way to give thanks, and maybe improve your life
November 19, 2012: It’s Thanksgiving week, and UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center has gone live with Thnx4.org, an interactive gratitude journal. On the site, people are invited to say what they’re thankful for and share the posts with others — at the same time contributing to a national research project. Taking part, research shows, can affect lives for the better.
How science can heal a divided electorate
November 8, 2012: In the aftermath of President Obama’s re-election, how can Republicans and Democrats work together? Jason Marsh of UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center interviews Righteous Mind author Jonathan Haidt on psychological differences that fueled the election’s partisan divide — and what we can do to overcome it.
Thnx4.org goes live to both teach and research the power of gratitude
November 6, 2012: Feeling grateful? UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center has just gone live with Thnx4.org, an interactive gratitude journal. On the site, people are invited to say what they’re thankful for and share the posts with others — at the same time contributing to a national research project. The Cal Gratitude Challenge will remain open all month.
Life in the margins
November 6, 2012: The effects of social stigma can be physically harmful, even deadly. Those shunned by society — due to homelessness, drug use, non-conforming gender identity or other attributes — tend to have poorer health and higher death rates than those in the mainstream. At the School of Public Health, many faculty and students are working to address the health effects of marginalization, reports Berkeley Health Online.
Probing the depths of poll work
November 5, 2012: What does it take to conduct a fair, accurate and transparent election? Staff at the Election Administration Research Center, at Berkeley Law, study this in detail, sometimes climbing into the trenches themselves to see how the process really works. Two EARC researchers discuss what they’ve learned and what they’ll be watching for on Election Day.
New GOTV efforts could help Latino voters achieve political potential, says researcher
October 31, 2012: Latino voters could realize their political potential with a few changes in get-out-the-vote efforts, according to a UC Berkeley political scientist.
Don’t be so fast to judge a cat by its color, study warns
October 23, 2012: Just like humans, domestic cats are often judged by their color, and the media and folklore help perpetuate these stereotypes. Take the snobbish, aloof, white kitty who promotes Fancy Feast cat food, and spooky images of black cats, which can be associated with bad luck and witches, especially around Halloween. A new UC Berkeley study warns that typecasting cats according to their color can negatively affect adoption rates at shelters.
Survey shows program boosts Latino parents’ child knowledge, confidence
October 16, 2012: Researchers at UC Berkeley report promising results from a five-year-old parenting program, Abriendo Puertas (“Opening Doors”), which significantly helps Latino parents prepare their young children to succeed in school.
Social welfare dean committed to domestic violence’s youngest victims
October 15, 2012: Nearly 40 years after graduating from UC Berkeley, Jeffrey Edleson is back as dean of the School of Social Welfare. With October marking National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Edleson talks about his two main research areas: prevention and intervention for children exposed to domestic violence, and new and expectant fathers at high risk for being violent.
Grave matters
October 10, 2012: For most of his scholarly career, Berkeley historian Thomas Laqueur has looked at the ways that political and ecclesiastical powers have regarded our living bodies. Over the past decade, reports California Magazine, Laqueur’s interests have shifted to new terrain: burial grounds on four continents, and their role in civilization.
New oral history online: Warren Hellman talks about Hardly Strictly Bluegrass
October 5, 2012: Catch the late Warren Hellman talking about his Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in this video clip from The Bancroft Library’s Regional Oral History Office.
Fox squirrels show long-term investment savvy when hoarding nuts 
October 3, 2012: Researchers at UC Berkeley are gathering evidence this fall that the feisty fox squirrels scampering around campus are not just mindlessly foraging for food, but engaging in a long-term savings strategy. Humans could learn something about padding their nest eggs from these squirrel diversification efforts. Of course, with squirrels, it’s not about money, but about nuts.
Reports shows political preferences of California’s Asian Americans
October 2, 2012: sian Americans, who account for 10 percent of registered voters in California, support a tax measure proposed by Governor Jerry Brown, are closely divided on the death penalty ballot measure, overwhelmingly support affirmative action, and support tax increases on high earners to close the federal budget deficit, according to two new reports.
Voters act on performance, not policy, new book says
October 2, 2012: Politicians may focus on policy issues in hopes of persuading voters, but a new book by a UC Berkeley political scientist says that’s not what matters most to voters.
The ‘Steep’ rise of the Tea Party
October 1, 2012: A new collection of scholarly essays edited by Lawrence Rosenthal, executive director of UC Berkeley’s nonpartisan Center for Right-Wing Studies, and program director Christine Trost takes a hard look at the hard right.
Distinguished historian Henry May dies at 97
October 1, 2012: Margaret Bryne Professor of American History Emeritus helped define scholarly discussion of American history during the Enlightenment and in the post-World-War-I era
New book marks 25th anniversary of classic on race, ethnicity
September 28, 2012: First published in 1986, Racial Formation in the United States is considered a classic in the literature on race and ethnicity. UC Press has just published Racial Formation in the 21st Century. The new book marks the 25th anniversary of the seminal work by Michael Omi, professor of ethnic studies at Berkeley, and Professor Howard Winant of UC Santa Barbara.
More evidence that kids think like scientists
September 27, 2012: From the sandbox to the lab, new research by UC Berkeley psychologist Alison Gopnik shows that babies and youngsters really do think like scientists as they learn from experiments and observations.
At library’s research-advisory service, a specialist is ‘in’
September 26, 2012: A popular research-advisory service at Doe Library provides customized, one-on-one assistance to Berkeley undergrads during peak times each semester. For fall 2012 its dates are Sept. 24 through Nov. 21. Now, for the first time, students can make their appointments online.
