Perspectives in 2020

Horien and colleagues provide a roadmap to working with large, publically available imaging datasets.

How can we determine the best way of measuring a psychological construct? Bach et al. propose a ‘retrodictive validity’ approach, in which candidate methods are ranked based on their sensitivity to detect known effects, with the most sensitive then being favoured for use in novel scenarios.

Dubois and colleagues describe how a testable framework for personality research, delineating personality’s causal and constitutive relations with genes, environment, brain, mind and behaviour will benefit the field.

Giurge and Whillans et al. highlight the problem of time poverty, explore the factors that drive it, discuss its personal and social consequences, and call for more research attention to this pervasive form of poverty.

Thirty-two experts propose ten considerations for managing the de-escalation of COVID-19 containment measures while still maintaining public adherence to social and physical distancing.

Lorenz-Spreen et al. argue that effective web governance is needed to empower individuals online. They describe two classes of behavioural interventions—nudging and boosting— that can help redesign online environments for informed and autonomous choice

Leroi et al. argue that neutral models, which are evolutionary models that do not involve a process of natural selection, must be applied with care, and that alternative methods are often needed to conclusively explain the diversity of variants.

Behaviour change is crucial to preventing SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the absence of pharmaceutical interventions. West et al. argue that we urgently need effective interventions to increase adherence to personal protective behaviours.

Forty-three experts highlight some key insights from the social and behavioural sciences for effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic and point out important gaps researchers should move quickly to fill in the coming weeks and months.

Claessens et al. propose that the two dimensions of political ideology identified by previous research correspond to two key shifts in the evolution of human group living: a shift towards cooperation and a shift towards group conformity.

Many decisions in life involve deliberating about trade-offs between sooner and later outcomes. Bulley and Schacter argue that the mechanisms of prospection and metacognition are integral to deliberation in intertemporal choice.

Sharot and Sunstein propose a framework of information-seeking, whereby individuals decide to seek or avoid information based on combined estimates of the potential impact of information on their action, affect and cognition.