About


The Science of People is an organization that takes the most interesting research about people–relationships, human behavior and personal development and puts it into easy to understand, accessible articles and workshops. We call this ‘bite-sized science.’ Far too often we hear people ask, ‘Is there any science to back this up?” or “I wonder if there has ever been a study done on that?” We answer those questions. Most importantly, there are hundreds of studies being done every day at the top universities and institutes around the world, but very few of their fascinating findings reach non-academics. In addition, even when we get access to studies, they are often so difficult to understand and loaded with academic jargon, they are impossible to decode or apply to real life.

The Science of People’s Mission:

Our goal is to take the most fascinating research from around the world, translate it into easy to understand, ‘bite-sized’ terms and give practical applications for every day use in real life.

About Vanessa Van Petten, Curator of Bite-Sized Science:

Vanessa Van Petten is the website’s curator. A curator is someone who collects, studies and interprets a collection of work. In the case of the Science of People, Vanessa translates the most interesting research on people for our audience–whether that is on the website or in our workshops. She has been featured extensively in the media, on CNN, in the Wall Street Journal, Fox News and many other outlets and is a high demand speaker. See her Science of People Workshops and media here. Vanessa does three keynotes on ‘bite size science’ in the following themes:

  • The Science of Relationships: Vanessa shares the latest research on love, relationships and personal connection.
  • The Science of the Workplace: In this research Vanessa synthesizes the most interesting studies on business behavior, leadership and, even, office politics!
  • The Science of Families: Parenting and family relationships are one of Vanessa’s specialties. In addition to these articles she actually has a website dedicated to science’s perspective is on parenting, children and teens.

In addition to the above themes, the Science of People also presents the latest studies in the following areas of development:

Relationship Research:

Did you know that the highest ‘break-up’ rate on Facebook is two weeks before Christmas? In these articles and workshops, the Science of People presents the latest findings on the science behind relationships–why we bond, why we break-up, why we love and what that does to our bodies and brains.

Research on Human Behavior:

There is an astounding amount of research on how we interact, behave, think and feel as humans. Yet, it is incredibly difficult to access most of the articles in scientific journals. In these articles and workshops, the Science of People presents the latest findings on the science behind human behavior and interactions.

Emotional Intelligence Research:

Emotional Intelligence is a growing body of research on how humans feel, identify, assess, and control the emotions of oneself, of others, and of groups. Emotional intelligence and mindsight, an attentiveness to our own inner belief systems, is an essential part of our day to day interactions and well-being. The Science of People will report on the latest research on emotion detection and what we call emosocial intelligence which is the combination of emotional intelligence research and social intelligence studies.

Social Intelligence Research:

Social Intelligence research involves learning how people communicate and use social skills, as well as discovering how to effectively and purposefully mediate interactions with family members, friends and colleagues in the school or business environment. We will also talk about the latest lie-detection research and learn what the science says about how to tell if someone is lying to you. Lastly, this area of the People of Science is about the science of being ‘people smart,’ or socially competent in people to people interactions.

This website is completely free. We hope from here you will subscribe to our monthly newsletter and enjoy the latest research!

 

Citations:

Gross, By Doug. “Facebook Knows When You’ll Break up – CNN.” Featured Articles from CNN. 02 Nov. 2010. Web. 31 Dec. 2010. <http://articles.cnn.com/2010-11-02/tech/facebook.breakups_1_facebook-designer-spring-fever?_s=PM:TECH>.

Mayer, J.D., Salovey, P. & Caruso, D.R. (2008). Emotional Intelligence: New ability or eclectic traits, American Psychologist, 63, 6, 503-517.

Goleman, Daniel. Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ (1996) Bantam Books.

Kluemper, D.H. (2008) Trait emotional intelligence: The impact of core-self evaluations and social desirability. Personality and Individual Differences, 44(6), 1402-1412.

Goleman, Daniel. Social Intelligence: the New Science of Human Relationships. New York: Bantam, 2006.