[UPDATE 20/3/17 This post is now closed to further applications. Thank you to the nearly 300 of you who applied. I’m sorry that due to the intense interest in this post it has not been possible to acknowledge each application. We have now reviewed all applications and on the afternoon of Monday 20 March we contacted four shortlisted applicants by email. If you have not heard from us, I’m sorry you have not been successful on this occasion]

Psychology blogger sought

The British Psychological Society’s Research Digest blog, which keeps hundreds of thousands of people abreast of the latest exciting findings in psychology, is seeking an additional writer. This is a paid staff position, initially on a six-month contract, for seven hours per week. Salary is £32,612 pro-rata, and benefits include paid holiday and access to the Society’s pension scheme.

Although based remotely, you’ll work closely with the Research Digest editor to produce six engaging reports on new psychology studies each month, in a style that entertains and educates. You will show readers how the findings are relevant to their lives, but without resorting to hype. Where appropriate, you should have the confidence and competence to criticise studies.  As one of our writers, you’ll have the satisfaction of seeing your work reach our large international audience and get picked up by the world’s biggest publications, from The Guardian to New York Magazine.

Ideally you will already have experience writing about psychology or related fields for the public. And we’ll also need to see documentation that demonstrates your right to work in the UK; further information can be found on the Job Vacancies page on the Society website.

To apply, please send a short email to christianjarrett@gmail.com with the subject line “Psychology Blogger”, explaining why you are the right person for this role. Include links or attachments representing three examples of your work.

The deadline is noon (GMT) 10 March.

It’s been a funny old year, but through it all we’ve kept on doing our thing and loved every minute of it: bringing you daily reports on the latest psychology research. Contributing writer Alex Fradera and I have covered the entire field, everything from the way infant memory works to research on the psychophysiology of post-sex pillow talk. We told you about failed replication attempts, including smiling apparently not having an effect on mood, and provided feature-length research roundups on topics like eye contact and psychology myths. We released four episodes of our PsychCrunch podcast, including an Olympic special on how to use psychology to be a stronger competitor. Roughly twice per month we also published brilliant guest contributions from psychologists and science writers, including posts on why so many people dislike the word moist and how teens are more likely to reject junk food when it’s framed as rebellion.

I like to think that our stories might have helped you make sense of topical events, nurtured your love of psychology, offered you hope, maybe even made you smile. It’s been a privilege to write for you and I hope you’ll join us again in 2017. Until then, here’s a list of the 10 research stories that – based on number of clicks – seemed to intrigue you the most this year. Happy Holidays! —Christian Jarrett, editor

Men who can tell a good story are seen as more attractive and higher status

By age 3, kids know when you owe them one

Why do so many people believe in psychic powers?

The police believe a lot of psychology myths related to their work

Students of today are more afraid of growing up than in previous generations

This is what eight weeks of mindfulness training does to your brain

Experienced meditators have brains that are physically 7 years younger than non-meditators

You hear a voice in your head when you’re reading, right?

Why is it so hard to persuade people with facts?

A daily cold shower seems to have some psychological benefits

Introducing the Research Digest App for iOS and Android

Today we’ve launched the free Research Digest app for Apple and Android smartphones and tablets, bringing you a new and convenient way to keep up-to-date with all our latest research reports.

The in-app help screens will show you how to customise the home page according to your preferred subject categories. You can also share our reports quickly and easily from within the app, as well as creating a scrapbook of your favourite items.

Search your app store for “Research Digest” or click to download now via Apple / Google Play / or Amazon.

Please let us know what you think via comments or by reviewing and rating the app in your store.

The new app joins our other outlets including the Research blog, our weekly email, and our frequently updated Twitter and Facebook accounts, all of which will continue as before.

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Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.

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This has been a record-breaking year for the British Psychological Society’s Research Digest blog – in terms of the amount of material we’ve published, and in the number of people reading our posts. In a tight contest, here are the 10 posts that received the most hits in 2015:

1. Weird things start to happen when you stare into someone’s eyes for 10 minutes
by Christian Jarrett
A psychologist based in Italy says he has found a simple way to induce in healthy people an altered state of consciousness – simply get two individuals to look into each other’s eyes for 10 minutes while they are sitting in a dimly lit room. Read more

2. Guilt-prone people are highly skilled at recognising other people’s emotions
by Christian Jarrett
It’s not pleasant to feel perpetually that you’re responsible for mishaps and screw-ups, but some people do. Psychologists recognise this as a distinct trait, which they call “guilt-proneness” and now they’ve discovered that it tends to go hand in hand with an enhanced ability to recognise other people’s emotions. Read more

3. Feeling like you’re an expert can make you closed-minded by Alex Fradera
What happens to us as we accrue knowledge and experience, as we become experts in a field? Competence follows. Effortlessness follows. But certain downsides can follow too. Read more

4. The “Backfire Effect”: Correcting false beliefs about vaccines can be surprisingly counterproductive by Simon Oxenham
Forty-three per cent of the US population believes wrongly that the flu vaccine can give you flu. In fact any adverse reaction to the vaccine, besides a temperature and aching muscles for a short time, is rare. It stands to reason that correcting this misconception would be a good move for public health, but debunking this false belief actually has a seriously counterproductive effect. Read more

5. 10 Hellish psychology studies you’ll be glad not to have participated in 
by Christian Jarrett
Many psychology studies involve nothing more challenging for participants than sitting down with a short paper questionnaire and ticking off agreement or not with a series of anodyne statements. This post is not about that kind of research. Here, we take a tour of some rather more arduous and quirky experiments from the psychology archives. Read more

6. The psychology of Facebook, digested
by Christian Jarrett
With over a billion users, Facebook is changing the social life of our species. Common topics for study are links between Facebook use and personality, and whether the network alleviates or fosters loneliness. The torrent of new data is overwhelming and much of it appears contradictory. To help, we’ve digested many of the most important studies. Read more

7. What kinds of actions do people think of as most stupid? by Christian Jarrett
To avoid people thinking you’re stupid, above all you need to refrain from undertaking risky tasks for which you lack suitable knowledge or skills. That’s according to this study, the first to systematically investigate the kinds of behaviours that people consider to be stupid or foolish.

8. The psychology of mindfulness, digested
by Christian Jarrett
Mindfulness is a hot topic in psychology and beyond. And yet, a dissenting voice in this chorus of enthusiasm, a new book out last month – The Buddha Pill: Can Meditation Change You? – warned that mindfulness is not harmless. Here we dive into the research literature to bring you up to speed in a jiffy. Read more

9. Expert philosophers are just as irrational as the rest of us
by Dan Jones
If you want to improve your tennis swing, learn how to repair your car, or master the piano, you’re likely to seek the help of an expert. Similarly, many people who want to sharpen their critical thinking skills turn to one of the many books written by philosophers. But what if philosophers are just as susceptible to bad thinking as the rest of us? Read more

10. What the textbooks don’t tell you about psychology’s most famous case study 
by Christian Jarrett
It’s a remarkable, mythical tale with lashings of gore – no wonder it’s a favourite of psychology students the world over. I’m talking about Phineas Gage, the 19th century railway worker who somehow survived the passing of a 3-foot long tamping iron through the front of his brain and out the top of his head. What happened to him next? Read more

I wonder what this list says about people’s interests and concerns in 2015? 
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Post compiled by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.

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1. Jailed criminals think they are kinder, more trustworthy and honest than the average member of the public

2. The ten most controversial psychology studies ever published

3. Happy people think they’re good at empathising with the pain of others. They’re wrong

4. What the textbooks don’t tell you – one of psychology’s most famous experiments was seriously flawed

5. A man’s fighting ability is written in his face

6. Ten of the most counterintuitive psychology findings ever published

7. Childhood amnesia kicks in around age seven

8. Students learn better when they think they’re going to have to teach the material

9. Why are extraverts happier?

10. Systematic evidence of fake crying by a baby

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Post compiled by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.

So it’s the morning after the night before, when I raised a glass to my departing friend and colleague Dr Christian Jarrett. As Editor of the Research Digest and Journalist on The Psychologist, Christian has given more than a decade of exemplary service to the British Psychological Society. Today we pause to pay tribute to him and to look ahead to an exciting new era for the Research Digest.

To me, a job well done is about a legacy left. I can pay no greater compliment to Christian than to echo two sentiments I have heard repeatedly since he announced his departure. Firstly, the Research Digest has been a genuine ‘game changer’ in the way psychology is taught, reported and perceived. Secondly, to a large extent Christian has become the Research Digest: ‘those are big shoes to fill’, many have commented. (My Dad was a clown: now those are big shoes to fill).

Over the past week or so, I have been sharing some of Christian’s greatest hits on Twitter using the hashtag #psychwriter. It’s some body of work: 259 issues of the fortnightly e-mail, well over 1500 journal articles digested, and numerous excellent features in his Psychologist journalist role. Some of my personal favourites: a host of special features on the Digest blog, including ‘sin week’, ‘psychology to the rescue’ and ‘one nagging thing you still don’t understand about yourself’; some phenomenally successful individual Digest posts; and features for The Psychologist on topics as diverse as holidays, horror, homelessness, space, impostor syndrome, virtual reality, pain, architecture, non-conscious influence, competition, humour, cyborgs, the maternal brain, sin, the default mode network, when therapy causes harm, psychology’s myths, the journey to undergraduate psychology, and the psychology of stuff and things.

That’s quite a back catalogue by anyone’s standards, and Christian leaves the Research Digest in rude health: 364,000 page views on the blog in the last month, 32,000 subscribers to the e-mail, 39,000 followers on Twitter. But this isn’t just about numbers. We know the Research Digest has had a growing influence in teaching and the media: that is important to us, and it is largely due to the consistency and quality of Christian’s work. We thank him warmly, and look forward to his new adventures.

So what next for us?

As you may have seen, the recruitment process is underway. We are thrilled that the Society’s leadership have approved the appointment of not one but two full-time posts: a new Research Digest Editor, and a Journalist for The Psychologist. You can find details on the Society’s website. These are exciting roles for those with a passion for psychology and science communication. But be quick: the closing date for both roles is 31 March.

This extra resource should allow us to look ambitiously to the future: more regular postings, the integration of our Occupational Digest editor Dr Alex Fradera, and the possibility of multimedia developments such as a regular podcast. Christian and I have already worked on a new HTML version of the Digest e-mail, and on The Psychologist side a new website is on the horizon.

All expansion and development on the Research Digest will remain true to the simple, central aim: research, digested. We want to cement and build upon a reputation as the authoritative source of reports on the latest empirical research in psychology.

Interviews for the posts will take place on 1 and 2 May, so we are hopeful of having a new Digest Editor in position around the start of July. In the meantime, we will get by with a little help from our friends. I have sought out some top bloggers in psychology, people who have perhaps influenced or been influenced by the Research Digest, and from the start of April we will have a series of posts from ‘guest hosts’: Mind Hacks, the Guardian science blog network, Neuroskeptic, Advances in the History of Psychology, Dr Petra, Melanie Tannenbaum and more. We are grateful to them for helping us avoid ‘cyber tumbleweed’ and we look forward to their contributions.

With the best will in the world, however, it may be a good few months before anything approaching ‘normal service’ is resumed. We hope you will bear with us during this period of transition: you make the Research Digest what it is, and we need you on the next leg of our continuing journey.

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Post written by Dr Jon Sutton, Managing Editor of The Psychologist, for the BPS Research Digest.

The creator of the Research Digest blog is moving on …

We had a habit, my wife and I, of walking on Saturday afternoons along the pretty narrowboat canal between Slaithwaite and Marsden, in West Yorkshire. We’d buy The Guardian when we got there, find a cosy cafe, and I’d flick through the jobs section with tea and a scone. Nearing the end of my PhD, I was in a quandary over what I’d do next. I knew I couldn’t spend the rest of my life studying eye movements, discovering more and more about less and less.

But can you really earn a living out of a fascination with psychology and a love for writing, as I hoped to do? I’d managed to find a few freelance opportunities, but not enough to form the foundation of a career. The weekends rolled by and I was beginning to think my dream job didn’t really exist.

Then one day in 2003, around the time that millions marched on London against the Iraq war, I saw it. The British Psychological Society were seeking a part-time Editor/Writer for their new “e” Research Digest (the ad put the quaint “e” in inverted commas just like that, in reference to the Digest being an email newsletter). I couldn’t believe my eyes.

“The role involves researching journal papers in psychology, and editing and re-writing these into a brief accurate and user-friendly format …” it said. 

Well, here we are, eleven years on. I’ve written and edited 259 Research Digest fortnightly emails in that time, not missing a single issue. This means I’ve digested well over 1,500 journal articles! The fact is, my dream job quickly became a passion. The distinction between work and pleasure was blurred. The email subscriber counts took off, heart-warming feedback began to filter through, from teachers, journalists, lecturers, clinicians and students.

With this reception, I felt it wasn’t enough to restrict the Digest to a fortnightly email. In 2005, I created the Research Digest blog, allowing the freedom for images, more interaction with readers, and the chance to reach new audiences. The blog started to break the US and the rest of world – Digest posts were getting picked up by The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Freakonomics, and many, many more. In 2010, the Digest won Best Psychology Blog in the inaugural Research Blogging Awards.

My aim throughout has been to strike a delicate balance – to showcase the science of psychology, to share my enthusiasm for the subject, but to also include a healthy dose of scepticism. I’ve strived to cover every corner of the discipline, from sighing rats to crying therapists, from hiding toddlers to neuroscience power failures.

I’ve added more features: Extras posts to list all those eye-catching studies I didn’t have time to report on; Special Issue Spotter posts to keep readers up to speed; annual retrospectives; advertisements, so that by last year the Digest was virtually self-financing; I helped launch the Occupational Digest; and in more recent years, introduced Feast posts summarising the best psychology resources and articles from the previous week. And I’ve invited others to the party. For example, in 2009, I had great fun asking psychologists to reveal “one nagging thing they still don’t understand about themselves” (see all the guest features). The evolution continues. I’m pleased to say that a new, colourful html version of the Digest email is just around the corner.

Back in 2003 I could never have imagined how the Digest would take off (over 8.5 million blog page views since 2007, including 364,000 during the last month. We now have over 32,000 subscribers to the email, and over 38,000 followers on Twitter), nor where it would take me. Among other invites, I’ve given a talk in a pub basement in Manchester on “lessons for life from the Research Digest”, and twice chatted on Radio 4 about items from the Digest.

But all good things must come to an end. While it’s time for me to move on to new challenges, I’m delighted to announce that the British Psychological Society have agreed to replace my half-time editor position with a new full-time editor, maximising the chance to build on the Digest success so far. Adverts for the job are on the BPS website. Maybe today you will be walking along your equivalent of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, wondering what next to do with your career. If so, and if this opportunity is for you – good luck! (By the way, I’m also leaving my other half-time role as journalist on The Psychologist – adverts for this position, also being expanded to full-time, are here).

I want to thank sincerely all you Digest readers, everyone who has contributed to or commented on the blog, everyone who has supported the Digest, my manager and colleague Jon Sutton, and all those of you who have sent me such generous feedback. It really has been a pleasure. Please do stay in touch. I’m on Twitter @Psych_Writer, and other ways to reach me are on my website.

Goodbye, and thanks for the ride!
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Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.