Celebrity worship — why do people do it?

I gave an interview to a journalist this week about why people worship celebrities. I said that, from a psychological point of view, humans worship specific celebrities for the same reason they worship or idolize certain gods, their own nation, and specific sports...

The psychological folly of employee ranking systems

When I worked for a different university I received a surprise late on a Friday afternoon. The head of psychology distributed a list ranking each faculty member separately on research, teaching, and service achievements for the year. He then quickly left the building....