Experimental Anthropology

https://earlychildhoodmatters.online/2026/can-we-make-the-idea-of-using-your-parental-leave-entitlement-sacred/

“Can we make the idea of using your parental leave entitlement sacred?” Dimitris Xygalatas shares why ritual makes early moments of parenthood sacred from bedtime routines to parental leave.

By our very own recent graduate, Mohammad Saraei: https://psyche.co/ideas/spirituality-cant-be-reduced-to-whats-happening-in-the-brain?fbclid=IwY2xjawPzWsxleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFTRndiVUVhVWx0UnNjanl0c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHqe7BEwD5mj2IUYfD7DhZthE20Ugl9TPHrhvEAVfY1wTwoQoXg3V3EdBhDj4_aem_FPrYHs2QzHA6-AfHeq3Ryg

Spirituality can’t be reduced to what’s happening in the brain | Psyche Ideas Seeing the ‘mind’ as extending beyond the head can help us better understand the nature of transcendent experiences

Check out our new paper, hot off the press.
We test a simple question: Do people judge the exact same action differently when it’s framed as a ritual rather than something ordinary?
Spoiler: yes!
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-025-06309-2

https://apnews.com/article/we-mode-collective-joy-5f4b778df6b73f9f76453746cc4d9cd2

Move. Cheer. Dance. Do the wave. How to tap into the collective joy of 'we mode' What is “we mode,” and how can you tap into it to improve your life? ‘We mode’ is that ineffable feeling you have when you finish a group exercise class or cheer together in a stadium with thousands of sports fans.

Congratulations to our grad student, who is now Dr. Mohammad Amin Saraei!

New paper published on the self-signaling effects of attending Pope Francis’s Funeral: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666622725000383?via%3Dihub

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-ritual-mind/202510/jane-goodall-changed-how-we-see-ourselves

Jane Goodall Changed How We See Ourselves She spent her life among chimpanzees, but in the process, Jane Goodall transformed our understanding of what it means to be human.