Social Sciences

Health, housing and the path ahead: UC Berkeley researchers on the Los Angeles fires

January 13, 2025
By Jason Pohl, Kara Manke, Lila Thulin, Anne Brice, Robert Sanders

At least 11 people have been killed and over 10,000 structures burned in and around Los Angeles since a series of wildfires erupted on Tuesday. Propelled by powerful Santa Ana winds and historically dry conditions, the fires quickly became among the most destructive in California history and among the costliest disasters ever seen in the U.S. Roughly 150,000 people remain under evacuation orders on Friday, with blazes...

https://news.berkeley.edu/2025/01/10/health-housing-and-the-path-ahead-uc-berkel…

A new approach to decision-making can reduce stress, increase efficiency, UC Berkeley study reveals

January 7, 2025
By Sara Martin

In a world overflowing with choices — from what to eat for breakfast to which career path to pursue — decision-making has become an ever-present obstacle for most. Research from UC Berkeley’s Department of Psychology has demonstrated a new way that people can overcome this obstacle, by changing the way they approach their decisions.

This innovative approach, detailed in a study recently published in Nature Human Behaviour, focuses on altering the way people think of the relationship between their...

UC Berkeley Social Sciences alumni share career advice with students seeking internships

December 18, 2024
By Jessica Ballardo

UC Berkeley Social Sciences and other Cal alumni offer students helpful tips on navigating the job market and advice on breaking into a diverse array of fields.

As part of the Social Sciences Career Readiness Internship Program (SSCRIP) program, Social Sciences students receive valuable career advice from alumni in sectors such as nonprofit, finance, AI, tech, higher education...

UC Berkeley senior Eli Glickman awarded prestigious Marshall Scholarship

December 16, 2024
Lauren Miller

Eli Glickman, a senior Political Science major and Public Policy minor in the UC Berkeley College of Letters & Science from Bethesda, MD, has been named a 2025 Marshall Scholar, the university’s first since 2022. As a Marshall Scholar, Glickman will be funded for two years of graduate study in the United Kingdom. Glickman is Berkeley’s 34th recipient of the Marshall Scholarship since its inception in 1953.

“I was extremely pleased when I first learned that I had been selected as a Marshall Scholar,” Glickman shared. “The application process...

How bad will it get? Political scientists have a pessimism bias, study finds

December 18, 2024
By Edward Lempinen

The past decade has seen historic challenges for U.S. democracy and an intense focus by scholars on events that seem to signal democratic decline. But new research released today (Dec. 17) finds that a bias toward pessimism among U.S. political scientists often leads to inaccurate predictions about the future threats to democracy.

The research, co-authored by UC Berkeley political scientist Andrew T. Little, offers a possible solution: an approach that aggregates experts’ predictions, finds the middle ground and then reduces the influence of pessimism, leading to the...

https://news.berkeley.edu/2024/12/17/how-bad-will-it-get-political-scientists-ha…

UC Berkeley economics professor leads research on policymaking for California’s key issues

December 18, 2024
By Jessica Ballardo

Editor’s Note: The work of UC Berkeley Social Sciences faculty helps shape California public policy. In this series, learn more about their research and projects and how they resonate with state policymakers and address solutions to the most pressing issues facing California, from food access to homelessness.

UC Berkeley Economics and Public Policy Professor Jesse Rothstein, an expert in education policy and the labor market, tackles critical California issues like criminal justice reform and homelessness through his leadership at the California Policy...

Cognitive Science students use AI tools to become entrepreneurs through innovative course

December 19, 2024
By Aubrey Spowart

The Cognitive Science program’s Berkeley Accelerator & Startup Incubator in Cognitive Science (BASICS) class, which fuses cognitive science and entrepreneurship, hosted a Pitch Day recently for students to present their business plans. The event marked the culmination of months of brainstorming and hard work in the class.

“The primary goal of the course is to give cognitive science students tools to be entrepreneurs,” said Uri Korisky, one of the course’s instructors. “We guide them through all the steps needed to flesh out their ideas into...

Psychology researchers awarded $4.5 million grant for bipolar disorder study

December 13, 2024
By Aubrey Spowart

Several studies at UC Berkeley’s Psychology Department have emerged that promise to reshape our understanding and treatment of bipolar disorder. From securing a $4.5 million grant to launching a diet-focused study, UC Berkeley psychology researchers are determined to improve the lives of those suffering from this complex disorder.

A UC Berkeley study...

Do animals get jealous like people? Researchers say it’s complicated.

December 12, 2024
By Jason Pohl

It’s a question that has puzzled thinkers for centuries: Are we humans alone in our pursuit of fairness and the frustration we feel when others get what we want?

In recent years, evolutionary psychologists have suggested that we’re not all that special. Animals, from corvids to capuchin monkeys, express what humans might recognize as jealousy when, for example, they are passed over for a sought-after snack. Many argue this is evidence we are not alone in our aversion toward unfairness.

But new research from the University of California, Berkeley, makes the case that humans...

https://news.berkeley.edu/2024/12/12/do-animals-get-jealous-like-people-research…

Psychology alumna and tech advisor Britt Sellin provides career tips for Social Sciences students and young alumni

January 10, 2025
By Jessica Ballardo

UC Berkeley Psychology alumna Britt Sellin says the social science theories she learned as a Berkeley Social Sciences student — such as researching how people think and behave — have been essential to her 30-plus-year career as a human resources leader in the tech industry.

Sellin’s long career in HR has been focused on high-growth tech companies, with her holding senior positions at Cloudera, VMware and Sun Microsystems. Now, Sellin is a professional coach and mentor, as well as an advisor at SproutsAI, an AI agent platform that automates...