The Psychology of Scamming: Why Are People So Susceptible?

In the latest episode of The Science of Personality, Ryne and Blake are joined by Douglas Kenrick, PhD, professor of psychology at Arizona State University, to talk about evolutionary psychology. What are its primary concepts? What implications does it have? And why is it such a controversial topic to so many people? Dr. Kenrick has spent decades researching and lecturing on this topic and is viewed by his peers as one of the leading experts in this area. 

In the latest episode of The Science of Personality, Ryne and Blake discuss a topic that everyone has at least been subjected to, if not been a victim of, and that is scammers. Whether by phone, email, or other means, scammers use a variety of methods to access sensitive data or to make a quick buck. So, the question is: why do people fall for these schemes? What makes us so vulnerable to these vultures who seem to seek us out on an almost daily basis? 

In the latest episode of The Science of Personality, Ryne and Blake are joined by world-renowned personality psychologist and good friend of the podcast, Adrian Furnham, PhD, to talk about a recent paper he authored on the personality characteristics of people who prefer to work from home. So many people across the globe found themselves working from home once the Covid pandemic shook the world of work, and many continue to do so five years later due to the popularity of it. But why was it so popular? Why did so many people cling to it long after most of the world returned to normal? Well, a lot of it could be explained by personality and that’s what we’re going to talk about today.

In the latest episode of The Science of Personality, Ryne and Blake are joined by Allan Church, PhD, cofounder and managing partner at Maestro Consulting and former SVP of global talent management at PepsiCo, to talk about the impact of personality on careers. A legend in the field of I-O Psychology, Allan has seen the impact of personality on literally thousands of workers throughout his prestigious career.

In the latest episode of The Science of Personality, Ryne and Blake continue their annual, end-of-year tradition by breaking down the top derailers of the year. Who made the list in 2024? Give it a listen to find out.

In the latest episode of The Science of Personality, Ryne and Blake are joined by Krista Pederson, Hogan's managing director of Asia Pacific, to talk about the recent launch of Hogan’s Global Leadership Effectiveness Study, a groundbreaking research study aimed at identifying the characteristics shared among effective leaders. Are these characteristics the same regardless of geographic or cultural differences? Are any of the characteristics shared among emergent leaders? We  explore all of that and so much more in this episode.Learn more about Hogan's Global Leadership Effectiveness Study here: https://hubs.ly/Q02-ySm30

In the latest episode of The Science of Personality, Ryne and Blake talk about social influence and why people change their behaviors because of social interactions. We’ve all been guilty at some point in our lives of allowing others to influence our decisions, whether consciously or subconsciously. But what underlying psychological factors are at play? Why do we allow these external forces to change the way we think, feel, and behave? 

In the latest episode of The Science of Personality, Ryne and Blake are joined by Ty Wiggins, PhD, the lead of Russell Reynolds Associates’ CEO & Transitions Practice, to talk about CEO transitions and his latest book, The New CEO. Although there might be numerous people out there who might consider themselves experts on this topic, Ty is one of only a handful of people globally who actually has a PhD in senior leadership transitions. So, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone with more knowledge and expertise on this particular subject.Order The New CEO here: https://www.russellreynolds.com/en/microsite/the-new-ceo/order

In the latest episode of The Science of Personality, Ryne and Blake are joined by Larry Martinez, PhD, associate professor of psychology and the A. Dale Thompson Endowed Chair of Leadership at the University of Texas at Arlington, to talk about the psychology behind the Salem Witch Trials. For those in the US and beyond, this is probably something you’re somewhat aware of, but did you know that it’s highly likely that those accused of and executed for crimes of witchcraft in early American history actually weren’t witches at all? So, what happened? What was going on in the psyche of early-day American settlers that led them to believe the “offenders” were witches? We cover this and so much more in the second and final spooky season episode of 2024.

In the latest episode of The Science of Personality, Ryne and Blake are joined by Zlatan Krizan, PhD, professor of psychology at Iowa State University, to talk about the psychology of nightmares. If you’re a loyal listener of the podcast, you know that each October we like to change things up a bit and produce episodes that are fitting for the spooky season. Well, we’re back at it again this year and we hope you enjoy this year's first spooky season episode. Cheers, everybody!