CCU Psychology Department

Dr. Terry Pettijohn and student Molly Myers published the article "Level of concern: COVID-19 threat and music preferences in college students" in the journal Frontiers in Psychology. During the COVID-19 pandemic, people who felt more threatened by COVID-19 reported a greater preference for reflective and complex music.

Frontiers | Level of concern: COVID-19 threat and music preferences in college students IntroductionMusic preferences can be influenced by a variety of factors, including feelings of environmental threat. The COVID-19 pandemic caused increased l...

Women with masculine traits show greater resilience in creative tasks, study finds A recent study reveals that negative feedback can actually boost women's creative performance. However, women who strongly identify with traditional feminine traits tend to struggle more after facing such criticism.

Scientists discover how exercising muscles communicate with the brain to fight depression Physical exercise is known to improve mental health. A new study reveals that a muscle-released protein called apelin travels to the brain during exercise, promoting neuron growth and alleviating depression.

Brain scan study reveals physical links to PTSD's most distressing symptoms Researchers have discovered that damage to specific communication pathways in the brain makes it harder to suppress unwanted traumatic memories, leading to intense, "here-and-now" flashbacks for people with PTSD.

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Given permission to use AI, most college students show surprising restraint in their final essays When students are taught how to ethically integrate artificial intelligence into academic writing, they use text generators sparingly. A recent study shows undergraduates prefer using chatbots for brainstorming and revision rather than generating whole essays from scratch.

Depression isn't just in the head: Scientists find altered genetic activity in white blood cells A new study reveals that white blood cells in people with depression show abnormal activity in genes usually associated with brain connections. The findings highlight depression as a whole-body condition, potentially paving the way for future blood-based diagnostics.

People who prioritize personal growth tend to pursue more desirable romantic partners A recent psychology study found that people who are highly motivated by growth and advancement tend to have an inflated sense of their own attractiveness, giving them the confidence to pursue highly desirable romantic partners.

People are far more disturbed by someone who is "wrong" than someone who is merely "different" A new study challenges the idea that people simply prefer "like-minded" individuals. Through a series of experiments, researchers found that the belief that someone is factually wrong, not just different, is what truly drives social division and avoidance.

The Mediating Role of Time Perception between Life History Strategy and Risk-Taking: Experimental Evidence from Laboratory Tasks - Evolutionary Psychological Science While previous research has established associations between life history strategy (LHS) and risk-taking behaviors, the underlying psychological mechanisms remain underexplored. Drawing on recent theoretical advances linking temporal cognition to adaptive decision-making, the present study examined....