Identity

New research finds that fused identity apparently produces a predisposition toward authoritarianism and support for punitive punishments.

• By Tom Jacobs

Political science professors are increasingly being forced to choose which form of inclusivity to prioritize. That decision will have a large impact on the face of higher education for decades to come.

• By Seth Masket

The landmark legislation gives citizens the right to choose their gender identity and to have it recognized on official documents such as passports.

• By Rebecca Worby

The Canadian Senate passed a bill on Wednesday that alters the English-language version of O Canada to become gender neutral.

• By Candace Butera

A new study shows imagining future success can help with facing everyday challenges for low-income college students.

• By Candace Butera

New data suggests the future of America is one of inclusivity. That doesn't mean we won't encounter speed bumps getting there.

• By Jared Keller

For anyone who isn't a straight man, sexual education and the media can get sexuality wrong. Fan fiction is helping change that.

• By Christina Tesoro

After 50 years of a mononymous life, the eldest son of civil rights legend Dick Gregory is ready to make a change.

• By Molly McCluskey

Research on neurodegenerative diseases suggests that, more than anything else, moral traits like kindness and integrity define who we are.

• By Nathan Collins

Adele Barker brought Noah home from Paraguay in 1987. Now, 28 years later, she’s not sure whose story is accurate. Can we ever really know?

• By Adele Barker

Republicans talk about ideology and Democrats talk about groups—but they may be talking about the same thing.

• By Seth Masket

Physically co-present with the sociologist Nathan Jurgenson during a break from his battle to dismantle the artificial barrier we’ve raised between life online and in the outside world.

• By Kyle Chayka

After I moved to Wisconsin to pursue an education, other people’s racial perceptions began to pursue me.

• By Princess Ojiaku

By choice or by circumstance, exiting sport is inevitable. What happens after is less certain.

• By Sam Riches

To cheer for a team, or a sport, is to become part of a larger social phenomenon. Food is another—important—part of that shared identity.

• By Sam Riches

Hybrid configurations of masculinity enable young, straight, white men to distance themselves from what they might perceive as something akin to the stigma of privilege.

• By D'Lane Compton & Tristan Bridges

One writer proposes a simple solution that shouldn't offend anyone.

• By Lisa Wade

We are almost never reluctant to share a drink with strangers, but sharing meals tends to be reserved for those to whom we wish to signal intimacy.

• By Teja Pristavec

The European “right to be forgotten” could help protect U.S. citizens against blanket data surveillance.

• By Kyle Chayka

New research suggests the simple question “Are you a professional artist?” yields confusing, sometimes contradictory answers.

• By Tom Jacobs

What does identifying as an independent tell us about how somebody will vote? As it turns out, not much. Research suggests this is a (surprisingly large) group that’s focused more on image than policy.

• By Eric Horowitz

The ongoing debates about gentrification boil down to nothing more than one big turf war.

• By Jim Russell

We’re entering a new era of identity verification, in which the Internet builds itself off of knowing exactly who you are rather than preserving your anonymity behind a goofy username.

• By Kyle Chayka

Amanda Bynes was once a young and promising comedic actress. Now she looks and talks like the characters she was always cast against.

• By Ayesha A. Siddiqi