Gordon Hodson
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gordonhodsonphd.bsky.social
Gordon Hodson
@gordonhodsonphd.bsky.social

BIAS Lab director studying prejudice, discrimination, dehumanization, speciesism, intergroup contact, generalized prejudice. Confirmed Boffin. #PrejudiceResearch #WhyWeLoveAndExploitAnimals (does not online-bicker).

Gordon Hodson is a psychology professor at Brock University, where he directs the Brock Lab of Intergroup Processes. He is known for his research on political ideology and its relationship to prejudice, intelligence, and climate change denial. .. more

Psychology 38%
Political science 22%
Pinned
In this commentary, I argue that student-based teaching evaluations are problematic bc

✳️ systematic biases (e.g., racism, sexism)
✳️ poor construct validity
✳️ undermine standards and learning

We should evaluate teaching as seriously as we do research. Or don't do teaching evaluations.
It is time to abandon student evaluations of teaching

Comment by Gordon Hodson (@gordonhodsonphd.bsky.social)

Web: go.nature.com/4jfAzXo
PDF: rdcu.be/ef9y5

#AcademicSky

Well, this one caught me off guard.

I'd have put money on Dunning-Kruger effects in political knowledge.

But then it gets all meta, as kids say, bc now I'm not confident in my political psychology knowledge 😁

Reposted by Gordon Hodson

Study finds little evidence of the Dunning-Kruger effect in political knowledge
Study finds little evidence of the Dunning-Kruger effect in political knowledge
Research suggests the gap between actual and perceived political knowledge is smaller than thought. Most people know they don't know much.
www.psypost.org

And here's a barometer of cultural racism in US

Here's the factor (for you fellow nerds out there)

#AcademicSky

New #PrejudiceResearch paper.

Latent factor tapping cultural racism from various correlated indicators

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#AcademicSky

The hardest thing for academics, me included (me especially?) to keep in mind as we try to prioritize exercise:

It's NOT a waste of time.

It's an EXCELLENT use of time.

Better health, clearer thinking.

Put it this way: you advise *others* to make time for it, right?

All that time in Canada, I presume?

Reposted by Roos Vonk

All you need to know about why the world is so messed up

#AcademicSky

It's so rewarding watching students progress as scientists.

In particular, watching their growing ability to see patterns in data that they couldn't previously see (or even think to observe)

Thanks!

I also just read this paper of yours... it's very good & accessible

Kay Montoya, A. (2024). Combining statistical and causal mediation analysis. doi.org/10.1017/9781...
Combining Statistical and Causal Mediation Analysis (Chapter 25) - Handbook of Research Methods in Social and Personality Psychology
Handbook of Research Methods in Social and Personality Psychology - December 2024
doi.org

Good question

They're a bit vague, but this from appendix

Reposted by Efrén O. Pérez

#AcademicSky #SocialPsychology

I'm not a fan of Taylor Swift.

But wait! Sexists dislike Taylor??

But I dislike sexists!

Now (about-face in action)... I'm a Swiftie!

Social psychologists, show us a fun ** Balance Theory** example relevant to you.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

#AcademicSky

Dear Predatory Journals:

Please put more energy into making your journal legitimate

(and less energy into conning researchers into legitimizing your "journal").

Yours,

Science

Add to that another form of "who you know" -- the Gatsby Effect (highly cited researchers pass on their high-citedness to their mentees)

doi.org/10.1098/rsif...
The academic Great Gatsby Curve
Abstract. The Great Gatsby Curve measures the relationship between income inequality and intergenerational income persistence. By using genealogical data o
doi.org

Reposted by Gordon Hodson

Florida upside down kind of looks like the Grinch.

Who knew the 27th state, consisting of mostly geologically young, low-lying plains, had such strong feelings about Christmas?

#AcademicSky

Setting aside my class needs....

It often seems that measurement of mediation models are biased...

... but that the alternatives often don't formally test an indirect effect.

Two different problems.

Thoughts?

Also, should psychologists simply abandon mediation tests?
#AcademicSky #PsychSciSky

In intro grad class, I still (yes) have students read Baron & Kenny(1986)

Make sure all get mediation vs moderation

But it's awfully dated, especially statistically. (Sobels; tested in sep regressions)

Recommendation for new Masters students to read & discuss in class?

How has the Netherlands avoided it?

Don't bite my head off if you hate mediation analysis.

I feel that students need to understand how the field thinks about, and tests, mediation, in order to be able to critique them for themselves and when they read the work of others.

#AcademicSky #PsychSciSky

In intro grad class, I still (yes) have students read Baron & Kenny(1986)

Make sure all get mediation vs moderation

But it's awfully dated, especially statistically. (Sobels; tested in sep regressions)

Recommendation for new Masters students to read & discuss in class?

Sorry, "peek".

Guess I only earned A+++ on that one.

#AcademicSky

A sneak peak at education in 2026:

"Hey Prof, how come I only got an A++++ on my paper?"

#AcademicSky

@georgemonbiot.bsky.social does a nice job highlighting the ridiculous nature, and highly politicized and lobby-driven nature, of food labels.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

(no one fusses that there's no butter in peanut butter, or milk in coconut milk, after all)
When is a sausage not really a sausage? Ask the meat lobby | George Monbiot
European legislators may ban plant-based products from using the name to prevent ‘confusion’. Just don’t mention beef tomatoes or buffalo wings, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com

I suppose another alternative is that the paper IS in the editor's wheelhouse, maybe "too much".

Maybe an editor wants the feedback to be more hands off, so they're not accused of, or seen to be, biased.

But again, I share your frustration. I think we're overusing reviewers, and we're delaying science unduly.

Having said that, I've been an editor or associate editor at different types of journals: more generalist social psych (JESP, ERSP) and more specialized (GPIR).

For the former, the paper isn't always (enough) in your wheelhouse, so you'd prefer an expert to weigh in on revision

Or a stats pro.

I see it, but I don't know if I see it more than 10 years ago.

But, like you, I find it exasperating.

Especially given that editors struggle so much to find reviewers.

We shouldn't tie reviewers up in the revisions stage so much (or change the defaults on this).

#AcademicSky

Well I'm sure he gets to publish at PNAS, where he gets to select his own reviewers.

Influencer:

"I actually don’t believe that gravity is true. Maybe that just makes me crazy and that’s totally OK.”

Gulp.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...
‘She was like a deer in headlights’: how unskilled radical birthkeepers took hold in Canada
In holistic communities and midwifery deserts, women are turning to the Free Birth Society for information and unlicensed providers
www.theguardian.com