Press & Media

Scroll down to access news articles featuring our research. You can also access selected videos, podcasts and links to TV and movies featuring our lab members.

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Press

• People are quick to believe the worst when they are stressed – study Evening Standard (July, 28 2021) PDF VERSION
• People are quick to believe the worst when they are stressed – study Yahoo!News (July, 28 2021) PDF VERSION
• Optimism researcher on the surprising human reaction to the pandemic Globes (March, 28 2021) PDF VERSION
• A Vaccination against the Pandemic of Misinformation Scientific American (February, 22 2021) PDF VERSION
• DAVOS 2021: Americans ‘no less happy’ despite coronavirus crisis Yahoo Finance (January, 25 2021) PDF VERSION
• The Birther Myth Stuck Around For Years. The Election Fraud Myth Might Too.
  FiveThirtyEight (November, 23 2020) PDF VERSION
• Nine Nonobvious Ways to Have Deeper Conversations The New York Times (November, 19 2020) PDF VERSION
• Pessimism Among People With Bipolar Disorder Is A Predictor Of Relapse Forbes (November, 12 2020) PDF VERSION
• Optimism may be dangerous in a pandemic, say behavioral psychologists Big Think (October, 27 2020) PDF VERSION
• Happiness expert: One technique for staying upbeat during the pandemic CNBC (October, 25 2020) PDF VERSION
• Why optimism could be unhelpful in a pandemic, according to behavioral psychologists CNBC (October, 21 2020) PDF VERSION
• A likely culprit in Covid-19 surges: People hell-bent on ignoring social distancing orders Vox (July, 2 2020) PDF VERSION
• Optimism bias needs a reality check Business Daily (June, 11 2020) PDF VERSION
• Trouble concentrating? Forgetting things? Our brains are doing strange things during this time of crisis. NPR (June, 11 2020) PDF VERSION
• People are optimistic about own COVID-19 risk, pessimistic about society Medical Press (June, 1 2020) PDF VERSION
• Why We Can’t Have A ‘Democratic’ Discourse On Death Penalty
  Live Law (May, 30 2020) PDF VERSION
• Researchers say a little pessimism may not be a bad thing to weather COVID-19 crisis The globe and mail (May, 16 2020) PDF VERSION
• So many people are convinced that they had covid-19 already The Washington Post (May, 6 2020) PDF VERSION
• Why We Can’t Stop Watching the News Psychology Today (April, 30 2020) PDF VERSION
• Childhood in the time of corona- How will this pandemic shape the next generation? The telegraph (April, 22 2020) PDF VERSION
• Why it’s still important to feel hope – even when everything seems so hopeless The telegraph (April, 15 2020) PDF VERSION
• Why we find it difficult to recognise a crisis  BBC Future (April, 14 2020) PDF VERSION
• Why optimism may not be enough to carry us through times of crisis Fast Company (April, 5 2020) PDF VERSION
• “I’ll do what I want”- Why some ignore social distancing orders on coronavirus Vox (March, 24 2020) PDF VERSION
• What you experience may not exist. Inside the strange truth of reality  New Scientist (January, 29 2020) _{PDF VERSION}
• Why duplicity is a debate winner The Times (December 18, 2019) _{PDF VERSION}
• The Truth about Lying and What It Does to the Body Psychology Today (December 20, 2019) _{PDF VERSION}
• Strength of conviction won’t help to persuade when people disagree Science Daily (December 16, 2019) _{PDF VERSION}
• This Brain Region Lights Up When People Display Confirmation Bias Discover (December 16, 2019) _{PDF VERSION}
• Here’s what happens in the brain when we disagree The Spectator (December 20, 2019) _{PDF VERSION}
• Why is it so difficult to make people change their minds?, Medical News Today (December 18, 2019)  _{PDF VERSION}
• How to change you and your bank balance, Weekend Switzer (October 4, 2019) _{PDF VERSION}
• Optimism, pessimism-What about a hopeful pessimist, Thrive Global (September 9, 2019)  _{PDF VERSION}
• People’s motivations bias how they gather information ScienceDaily  (June 27, 2019) _{PDF VERSION}
• The way to change anti-vaccine campaigners’ minds, The Spectator (March 14, 2019) _{PDF VERSION}
• Here’s how to get everyone to adopt the planetary health diet, Wired (January 19, 2019) _{PDF VERSION}
• 5 types of climate change deniers, and how to change their minds, Big Think (January 14, 2019) _{PDF VERSION}
• What happens in your brain when you change your mind, Open Democracy (January 4, 2019) _{PDF VERSION}
• How Political Polarization Breeds Ignorance, Pacific Standard (October 24, 2018) _{PDF VERSION}
• New in Paperback, The New York Times (October 12, 2018) _{PDF VERSION}
• Three titles honoured in the Society’s 2018 Book Award, British Psychological Society (October 2, 2018) _{PDF VERSION}
• Kavanaugh Or Ford? Why It’s So Hard To Read The Body Language Of A Liar, Forbes (September 29, 2018) _{PDF VERSION}
• The science behind Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony to Senate judiciary committee, East Bay Times (September 27, 2018) _{PDF VERSION}
• Comprehensive Study Shows Americans Remain Optimistic in Troubled Times, PR Newswire (September 13, 2018) _{PDF VERSION}
• Return to Reason: The Science of Thought, Scientific American (September 3, 2018) _{PDF VERSION}
• What is the optimism bias? Study reveals best time to break bad news, Newsweek (August 6, 2018) _{PDF VERSION}
• How to futureproof your kids, The Telegraph (June 30, 2018) _{PDF VERSION}
• Your brain constantly shuffles between ‘ignorance is bliss’ and ‘thirst for knowledge’ states, International Business Times (June 27, 2018) _{PDF VERSION}
• How your brain decides between knowledge and ignorance, Science Daily (June 25, 2018) _{PDF VERSION}
• Five titles have been shortlisted for our book award, The British Psychological Society (June 16, 2018) _{PDF VERSION}
• Should we trust people whose politics differ from ours? The Guardian (June 15, 2018) _{PDF VERSION}
• Why Optimists Make More Money Than Pessimists, NAV (June 6, 2018) _{PDF VERSION}
• Trump’s not a liar. He’s a madman, The Washington Post (May 29, 2018) _{PDF VERSION}
• Would you go to a Republican doctor? The New York Times (May 24, 2018) _{PDF VERSION}
• Lying seems to be getting worse. Psychology suggests there’s a reason why, MSNBC (May 23, 2018) _{PDF VERSION}
• How your mind, under stress, gets better at processing bad news, aeon (May 15, 2018) _{PDF VERSION}
• Changing your mind has never been easy. But we must start listening again, The Guardian (February 25, 2018) _{PDF VERSION}
• Book Review: The Influential Mind, Psych Central (December 22, 2017) _{PDF VERSION}
• 5 Great Business Psychology Books from 2017, Inc. (December 18, 2017) _{PDF VERSION}
• The Must-Read Brain Books of 2017, Forbes (December 18, 2017) _{PDF VERSION}
• 2017 Review: The 10 Best Event Sessions, The Holmes Report (December 17, 2017) _{PDF VERSION}
• Our Favorite Books of 2017, Greater Good at UC Berkeley (December 8, 2017) _{PDF VERSION}
• What to read over the holidays, Stanford Business (December 5, 2017) _{PDF VERSION}
• Best political books of 2017, The Times (November 25, 2017) _{PDF VERSION}
• These 7 TED talks have completely changed how I make decisions, Business Insider (November 23, 2017) _{PDF VERSION}
• Understanding the Influential Mind, Scientific American (September 27, 2017) _{PDF VERSION}
• What motivates employees more, rewards or punishments? Harvard Business Review (September 26, 2017) _{PDF VERSION}
• Why Hard Facts Aren’t Enough to Alter Our Beliefs, NBC News (September 25, 2017) _{PDF VERSION}
• How Our Desires Shape Our Beliefs, Thrive Global (September 22, 2017) _{PDF VERSION}
• How We Make Up Our Minds, The New York Times (September 22, 2017) _{PDF VERSION}
• Emotion, the Great Manipulator, Time (September 21, 2017) _{PDF VERSION}
• Why People Can’t Agree on Basic Facts, Time (September 19, 2017) _{PDF VERSION}
• In the Battle to Change People’s Minds, Desires Come Before Facts, Wired (September 17, 2017) _{PDF VERSION}
• Why don’t facts matter?, CNN (September 14, 2017) _{PDF VERSION}
• Want to change minds? Try this, CNN (September 14, 2017) _{PDF VERSION}
• What the Brain Reveals About Our Power to Change Others, Psychotherapy Networker (September 11, 2017) _{PDF VERSION}
• How our Desires Shape Our Beliefs, The Guardian (August 27, 2017) _{PDF VERSION}
• The Truth Is, Lying Might Not Be So Bad, KUOW (March 28, 2017) _{PDF VERSION}
• Why Piling On Facts May Not Help In The Battle Against Fake News, KRCC (March 14, 2017) _{PDF VERSION}
• Lying gets easier on the brain the more you do it, Quartz (March 9, 2017) _{PDF VERSION}
• Optimism v pessimism in 2017: the comedian and the psychologist debate, The Guardian (January 2, 2017) _{PDF VERSION}
• Psychological research that helps explain the election, The New Yorker (December 25, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• 11 TED Talks that show how weird the human mind really is , Science Alert (December 19, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• How lying changes your brain in just a short period of time, Huffington Post (October 26, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• Little white lies the start of ‘slippery slope’, scientists find, The Australian
• Liars in Making Small lies tune your brain to be dishonest, The Times of India (October 26, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• Lies breed lies: Brain may get desensitized to dishonesty, Fox News (October 26, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• How little lies lead to bigger lies, CBS News (October 25, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• Lying Appears to Make It Easier to Tell More Lies, Vice (October 25, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• The Fascinating Reason Why Liars Keep On Lying, Huffington Post (October 24, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• Why Big Liars Often Start Out as Small Ones, New York Times (October 24, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• From porkies to whoppers: over time lies may desensitise brain to dishonesty, The Guardian (October 24, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• Why being dishonest is a slippery slope, The Conversation (October 24, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• Lying feels bad at first but our brains soon adapt to deceiving, New Scientist (October 24, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• The more we lie, the easier it is for our brains to be increasingly more deceitful, Wired (October 24, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• Slippery slope: Study finds little lies lead to bigger ones, Associated Press (October 24, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• From Fibs to Fraud: Why Lying Is a Slippery Slope, Discover Magazine (October 24, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• Little white lies make it easier to go on and tell big whoppers, The Telegraph (October 24, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• Whenever you lie, your brain adjusts to make telling bigger whoppers study finds, The Independent (October 24, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• Neuroscientists show how tiny fibs snowball into big lies, LA Times (October 24, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• Slipper Slope: Study finds little lies lead to bigger ones, San Francisco Chronicle (October 24, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• Brain study shows how small lies grow into whoppers, Stat (October 24, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• Lying may be your brain’s fault, honestly, CNN (October 24, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• Telling white lies could encourage people to tell bigger fibs in the future, The Sunday Express (October 24, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• Little white lies are not as innocent as you think: over time, small fibs may desensitize our brains to dishonesty, The Daily Mail (October 24, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• Little white lies help the brain prepare for telling whopping fibs, study reveals, The Mirror (October 24, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• Lies Breed Lies: Brain May Grow Desensitized to Dishonesty, Live Science (October 24, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• How Small Fibs Lead To Big Lies, NPR (October 24, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• Telling a lie makes way for the brain to keep lying, PBS (October 24, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• How do politicians get so comfortable with lying? One theory: practice, Vox (October 24, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• Positive thinking can make you too lazy to meet your goals, BBC – Capital (October 12, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• Genomes, good news, and you, MIT News (September 8, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• Why facts don’t unify us, NY Times (September 2, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• China is the only country that’s remotely optimistic about the future, Tech Insider (July 5, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• Recognizing the Role of Optimism Bias in Case Evaluation, Lexology (June 1, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• Why do we ignore obvious dangers?, Observer (May 26, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• Excessive Optimism Played a Big Role in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig Disaster, Fox News (May 4, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• 6 TED Talks You Should Watch To Up Your Mindset, Forbes (March 30, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• Why we’re hard-wired for hope, Arab News (March 2, 2016) _{PDF VERSION}
• 50 Must-Read Psychology Books, Sparring Mind (October 10, 2015) _{PDF VERSION}
• Risk Factor: The Happy Pill, Financial Chronicle (August 07, 2015) _{PDF VERSION}
• 9 TED Talks that will teach you how your mind works, Business Insider (July 20, 2015) _{PDF VERSION}
• Here’s the Root of Our Financial Problems, Time Magazine (July 6, 2015) _{PDF VERSION}
• 7 Lessons on How to Hack Your Own Brain, Time Magazine (July 1, 2015) _{PDF VERSION}
• Motley Fool: Nine thoughts about investing and the economy, Sydney Morning Herald (February 3, 2015) _{PDF VERSION}
• The Economic Power of Positive Thinking, Bloomberg Buisnessweek (February 2, 2015) _{PDF VERSION}
• Planning for optimism bias in Utah, Herald (January 06, 2015) _{PDF VERSION}
• The Resilient Person’s DNA, Forbes (June 04, 2014) _{PDF VERSION}
• Wired Health: how do we harness self-monitored health data, Medical News Today (April 30, 2014) _{PDF VERSION}
• Positivity not scaremongering could help you lose weight, Wired (April 29, 2014) _{PDF VERSION}
• Positive thinking can trip into costly delusion, HeraldNet (April 12, 2014) _{PDF VERSION}
• Want A Better Life? Be An Optimist – With a Twist, Forbes (March 17, 2014) _{PDF VERSION}
• Cyber Security Risk: Perception vs. Reality in Corporate America, Wired (March 10, 2014) _{PDF VERSION}
• Would you rather have time or money?, Forbes (December 20, 2013) _{PDF VERSION}
• Psychology: Good and bad news on the adolescent brain, Nature (October 30, 2013) _{PDF VERSION}
• Why We Make Bad Decisions, New York Times (October 19, 2013) _{PDF VERSION}
• In Defence of Brain Rotting Cliches and Scientific Myths, The Guardian (October 15, 2013) _{PDF VERSION}
• Young People Resist Bad News, Nature (September 26, 2013) _{PDF VERSION}
• Youngsters Learn More From Good News Than Dire Warnings, Science World Report  (September 22, 2013) _{PDF VERSION}
• Even When Told True Risks, Kids Often Misjudge Them, NPR (September 10, 2013) _{PDF VERSION}
• New Play Development: Death by Talkback, Huffington Post (March 25, 2013) _{PDF VERSION}
• Your Child’s Fat, Mine’s Fine: Rose-Colored Glasses and the Obesity Epidemic, National Public Radio Health News (March 4, 2013) _{PDF VERSION}
• January’s Stock Temptation, New York Times (January 1, 2013) _{PDF VERSION}
• Why humans look on the bright side, Sydney Morning Herald (January 1, 2013) _{PDF VERSION}
• Optimism bias: Why the young and the old tend to look on the bright side, Washington Post (December 31, 2012) _{PDF VERSION}
• Resolutions: So Irresistible, So Hard to Keep, Wall Street Journal (December 17, 2012) _{PDF VERSION}
• Why We’re Born Optimists, and Why That’s Good, The Atlantic (December 13, 2012) _{PDF VERSION}
• How happiness changes with age, BBC (December 4, 2012) _{PDF VERSION}
• How the brain filters bad news, The Guardian (September 25, 2012) _{PDF VERSION}
• Removing the Optimism Bias, The Scientist (September 24, 2012) _{PDF VERSION}
• Researchers identify brain region that generates optimism bias, Wired(September 26, 2012) _{PDF VERSION}
• Optimistic Investors need to get real, FT (August 24 2012) _{PDF VERSION}
• Why we fool ourselves into optimism, CNN (June 27, 2012) _{PDF VERSION}
• Neural Responses Reveal Our Optimistic Bent, Scientific American (April 10, 2012) _{PDF VERSION}
• Why your brain always looks on the bright side, Daily Mail (Jan 06, 2012) _{PDF VERSION}
• The optimism bias: reasons to be cheerful (interview), The Guardian (Jan 1, 2012) _{PDF VERSION}
• The optimism bias (book extract), The Guardian (Jan 1, 2012) _{PDF VERSION}
• Brain Imaging Reveals Why Optimists Are The Way They Are, Huffington Post(Oct 11, 2011) _{PDF VERSION}
• Brain ‘rejects negative thoughts’, BBC (Oct 9, 2011) _{PDF VERSION}
• Blame ‘Faulty’ Frontal Lobe Function for Undying Optimism in Face of Reality, Science Daily (Oct 9, 2011) _{PDF VERSION}
• Optimism is (still) in, Forbes (July 13, 2011) _{PDF VERSION}
• Cheer up, you’re really an optimist, Toronto Star (July 8, 2011) _{PDF VERSION}
• The Human Brain: Optimism Bias, Examiner (July 7, 2011) _{PDF VERSION}
• Illusions and reality, Time (June 6, 2011) _{PDF VERSION}
• Morning Links: Squid Watch, The Wall Street Journal (May 31, 2011) _{PDF VERSION}
• The Optimism Bias, TIME magazine (May 28, 2011) _{PDF VERSION}
• Major Delusions, New York Times (May 14, 2011) _{PDF VERSION}
• The ups of being down, The Sunday Times (July, 2009)
• Except in one career, our brains seem built for optimism, The Wall Street Journal(Nov 9, 2007) _{PDF VERSION}
• Optimism lights up a brain part, LA Times (Oct 29, 2007) _{PDF VERSION}
• This is Your Brain on Optimism, Newsweek (Oct 24, 2007) _{PDF VERSION}
• Brain regions responsible for optimism located, Reuters (Oct 24, 2007) _{PDF VERSION}
• Source of ‘optimism’ found in the brain, NewScientist (Oct 24, 2007) _{PDF VERSION}
• Dopamine levels in brain ‘influence decision making’, BBC News (Jan 8, 2010) _{PDF VERSION}
• Can Dopamine Make Your Future Look Brighter?, Time Magazine (Nov 27, 2009) _{PDF VERSION}
• Scientist identify brain regions that help us make choices, The Telegraph (Mar 27, 2009) _{PDF VERSION}
• Thanks for the memories, PsychPost (1 July, 2011) _{PDF VERSION}
• 9/11 memroies reveal how flashbulb memories are made in the brain, Discover Magazine (14 Oct, 2008) _{PDF VERSION}
• Report Links 9/11 Memories to Proximity, Washington Post (Dec 18, 2006) (The Associated Press) _{PDF VERSION}

Online Videos (selected)

*best viewed in Chrome/Firefox

Documentaries and TV

• Secrets of the Brain – Lying (Insight TV)
• Imprescindibles (RTVE, 2020)
• The Doctors (CBS, 2020)
• CNN Special Report (CNN, 2019)
• MSNBC Live (MSNBC, 2018)
• Smerconish (CNN, 2018)
• Channel 10, Israel (2018)
• The Today Show (NBC, 2017)
• Global Business (CGTN America, 2017)
• The One Show (BBC, 2016)
• Power Lunch (CNBC, 2015)
• The Today Show (NBC, 2015)
• Redesign My Brain (ABC, 2015)
• Dishonesty – The Truth About Lies (CNBC & Salty Productions, 2015)
• How to be happy (RTÉ One, 2014)
• Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman. Reality Check: Is our Universe Real? Season 4, E8 (The Science Channel, 2013)
• Israel Night News (2013)
• Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman. What Makes Us Who We Are? Season 3, E4 (The Science Channel, 2012)
• Horizon: Out of Control (BBC2, 2012)
• Dara O Briain’s Science Club, Episode 1: Reproduction (BBC, 2012)
• Dara O Briain’s Science Club, Episode 3: Extinction (BBC, 2012)
• Dara O Briain’s Science Club, Episode 4: Space (BBC, 2012)
• Dara O Briain’s Science Club, Episode 5: Brain (BBC, 2012)
• Dara O Briain’s Science Club, Episode 6: Music (BBC, 2013)
• Redes, (RTVE, 2012)
• The Daily Rundown (2011)

Radio and Podcasts (selected)

• Optimism – how we’re drawn to the bright side, even in a pandemic (Episode 17).Politics on the Couch, February 27th 2021.
• The Optimism Bias and Influencing Other People (Episode 133). Being Well Podcast
• Should we be optimistic? LSE, February 2nd 2021.
• The Age of Denial (Episode 2). BBC Radio 4, March 15th 2019.
• The Age of Denial (Episode 1). BBC Radio 4, March 14th 2019.
• The Tyranny of Story (Episode 2) BBC Radio 4, December 15th 2018.
• The Tyranny of Story (Episode 1) BBC Radio 4, December 8th 2018.
• Science Weekly podcast The Guardian, May 25th 2018.
• BBC Start The Week BBC Radio 4, February 19th 2018.
• Why Do We Follow the Crowd? BBC World Service, March 20th 2018.
• Here’s Why All Your Projects Are Always Late — and What to Do About It Freakonomics, March 7th 2018.
• Free Thinking BBC Radio 3.
• The Joy of Bad Films BBC Radio 3, December 6th 2017.
• The Truth Is, Lying Might Not Be So Bad NPR, Morning Edition, March 28th 2017.
• I’m Right, You’re Wrong NPR, The Hidden Brain, March 14th 2017.
• Are we natural optimists? NPR, TED Radio Hour, May 6th 2016.
• Optimism – Our Enemy BBC Radio 4, April 2nd 2016.
• Your Child’s Fat, Mine’s Fine: Rose Colored Glasses and the Obesity Academic  NPR, Health News, March 4th 2013.
• Listen to a podcast of Tali Sharot talking about the Optimism Bias recorded at The RSA, London, January 19th 2012.
• The Optimism Bias Louisa Jewell Blog, June 24th 2011.
• Tali Sharot on optimism, podcast recorded at The Wellcome Collection, London.