Nature & Nurture

Steve Rathjay is a Psychologist and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Social Identity and Morality Lab of New York University. He is an expert in the psychology of social media use and one of the leaders of the Global Social Media Experiment, an international collaboration examining the causal impact of social media usage in 76 countries around the world. Learn more about his work at https://stevenrathje.com/

Dr. Rathje received his PhD from the University of Cambridge as a Gates Cambridge Scholar, and completed his undergraduate education in Psychology and Symbolic Systems at Stanford University. He has received numerous grants and awards for his research, and runs the science communication channel @stevepsychology with more than 1 million followers on TikTok.

00:07 Exploring the Psychology of Social Media and Political Polarization
00:47 The Impact of Social Media on Intergroup Dynamics and Polarization
02:26 Outgroup Animosity and Virality on Social Media
05:27 The Paradox of Virality: Understanding Social Media Behavior
11:04 Evolutionary Perspectives on Social Media Engagement
15:44 The Creator's Dilemma: Navigating Virality and Content Creation on TikTok
43:02 The Psychology Behind 'Oddly Satisfying' and 'Dissatisfying' Content
44:01 The Rise of Podcasts and the Evolutionary Need for Social Connection
48:45 The Psychology of Political Extremism and the Negativity Bias
54:14 Social Media's Role in Shaping Perceptions and Polarization
57:07 The Complex Dynamics of Virtue Signaling and Social Media
01:17:11 Understanding Cultural Evolution and Globalization Through Social Media
01:28:38 Navigating the Challenges of Social Media Regulation and Research