Linda J. Skitka | Lightnews

Linda Skitka

@lindaskitka.bsky.social

6.6K followers 2.1K following 800 posts

Emerita Distinguished Professor, U of Illinois Chicago | Michigan & Cal-Berkeley Grad | Social, Political, and Moral Psychologist | Endlessly Curious | https://sites.google.com/view/lindaskitka

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Linda J. Skitka is a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Skitka's research bridges a number of areas of inquiry including social, political, and moral psychology. .. more

Psychology 26%

Political science 22%

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Linda Skitka @lindaskitka.bsky.social · 1d

Holiday baking!

Reposted by Colin F. Camerer, Linda J. Skitka, Rosemary A. Joyce , and 7 more Colin F. Camerer, Linda J. Skitka, Rosemary A. Joyce, Juan Cole, David S. Cohen, Aaron Sojourner, Adrian Daub, Brian Keegan, Brooke Harrington, Manisha Sinha

John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 2d

These declines are MASSIVE.

And the comparative silence in media coverage is absolutely DAMNING.

“Why are ppl always so afraid of crime?”

THIS is why. When crime goes up, media trips over itself to report it.

Falls to pre-war (!!) levels? Just CRICKETS.

Jeff Asher @jeffasher.bsky.social · 2d

I count 10 cities in 2025 that are on track to have the fewest murders since at least 1970. Newark is on pace to have the fewest murders since 1956 (though only have data through Oct this year) and San Francisco is on pace to have the fewest murders since 1942.

Linda Skitka @lindaskitka.bsky.social · 2d

Too late, now. That name is sticking, and it’s been earned.

Reposted by Linda J. Skitka, David S. Cohen, Aaron Sojourner , and 4 more Linda J. Skitka, David S. Cohen, Aaron Sojourner, Stephen J. Ware, Michael Jones‐Correa, Mark Rice, Nathan Richardson

Jeff Asher @jeffasher.bsky.social · 2d

Reposted by Christopher D. Manning, Geraint Rees, Linda J. Skitka

Linda Skitka @lindaskitka.bsky.social · 5d

In what has been a seemingly constant negative landscape, it’s so heartening to see something like this. Let’s all try to do what we can to be like this where we can— (h/t @neillewisjr.bsky.social )—>

Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 5d

It’s the “season of love and giving”…but this year, doesn’t it seem more like a “season of fear and taking”? Like many of you, I’ve been saddened by the human impact of draconian government budget cuts and how angry many housed Americans are at unhoused Americans.

🧵 1 of 9

Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 5d

John Holbein @johnholbein1.bsky.social · 5d

Clear evidence that at universities conservatives don't face higher obstacles than liberals to establish student groups + invite outside speakers.

"These results fail to offer support for the view that conservative students encounter more difficulty in efforts to access campus resources."

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller, Linda J. Skitka, Rafael H. M. Pereira , and 8 more Jan W. Mueller, Linda J. Skitka, Rafael H. M. Pereira, Jonathan M. Gilligan, Dustin Mulvaney, Brian Keegan, Erin O’Donnell, Meredith Farkas, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Matthias Schmelzer, Dan Immergluck

Adam Bonica @adambonica.bsky.social · 5d

The Abundance movement often points to environmental groups as the obstacles to building. But who actually files the lawsuits blocking projects? It’s not environmental groups. It’s been lawyered-up HOAs protecting property values all along. Regulation by litigation is the problem.

Bar chart titled “Who’s Really Blocking California Development?” showing the share of CEQA lawsuits by plaintiff type. HOAs and NIMBY groups account for the majority at 54%. Business and commercial plaintiffs file 20% of cases, government entities 13%, environmental groups 8%, tribal or cultural groups 4%, and labor unions 2%. The chart notes the analysis is based on 1,234 CEQA court opinions from 1973–2025 using CourtListener data, with HOAs/NIMBYs defined as homeowner associations, neighborhood groups, and ad hoc project-opposition groups.

Linda Skitka @lindaskitka.bsky.social · 7d

Exactly.

Reposted by Efrén O. Pérez

Linda Skitka @lindaskitka.bsky.social · 7d

But job candidates: Please never under-estimate the role of internal politics, which are usually a) impossible for outsiders to understand, b) irrational, and c) more powerful than anything else.

Linda Skitka @lindaskitka.bsky.social · 7d

Lack of feedback in the U.S. is a consequence of how litigious our society has become— we’re pretty strongly advised not to discuss anything because anything we say could become the basis for being sued.

Reposted by Linda J. Skitka

Princess Vimentin PhD | Cancer Biologist @princess-vimentin.bsky.social · 7d

SCIMaP: Imposed Trump #NIH changes to research infrastructure support would lead to a reduction of ~ $6B in federally funds, $16B reduction in economic activity & a projected loss of approximately 70k jobs in communities in the U.S.

This was in Project 2025.
🧪 www.statnews.com/2025/12/18/n...

What I’ve learned by mapping the impacts of NIH cuts

The co-founder of SCIMaP looks at the year of NIH cuts — and what they say about the future of American research.

www.statnews.com

Reposted by Linda J. Skitka

Reposted by Hyun Song Shin, Linda J. Skitka, Nigel Warburton

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Linda J. Skitka, David R. Miller , and 1 more Brendan Nyhan, Linda J. Skitka, David R. Miller, David Darmofal

Tom Clark @tomsclark.bsky.social · 10d

Pretty wild thing to say a week after you went to SCOTUS to argue against independent agencies on the grounds that al federal employees must respond in a knee-jerk way to the president's personal preferences, and no one else's.

Pam Herd @pamherd.bsky.social · 10d

“The president doesn’t know and never will,” she told me. “He doesn’t know the details of these smallish agencies.”

-Susie Wiles on the destruction of USAID, which has led to 600,000 deaths, including ~400,000 children, in the last year alone.
www.vanityfair.com/news/story/t...

Susie Wiles Talks About The First Year of Trump’s Second Term (Part 1 of 2)

In the first half of ‘Vanity Fair’’s interview with Susie Wiles, the chief of staff discusses Elon Musk’s DOGE disaster, the FBI’s “incredible job” investigating January 6, and how Trump once berated ...

www.vanityfair.com

Josh Goldstein @joshisimmigration.bsky.social · 10d

One of the biggest moments of my career:
USCIS canceled my client’s naturalization oath ceremony. We filed a lawsuit, went to trial, and the judge swore him in right there in the courtroom!

Linda Skitka @lindaskitka.bsky.social · 14d

Congratulations, Calvin!

Linda Skitka @lindaskitka.bsky.social · 14d

Worth reading—>

Jorge Liboreiro @jorgeliboreiro.bsky.social · 15d

The European Union has triggered Article 122 to indefinitely immobilise the assets of the Russian Central Bank, worth a whopping €210 billion.

I explain what just happened and why this is such a big deal for Europeans.

🧵 Long thread.

Reposted by Kori Schake, Linda J. Skitka, Patrick A. Jansen , and 7 more Kori Schake, Linda J. Skitka, Patrick A. Jansen, Steve Peers, Kai Arzheimer, Anders Nilsson, José Antonio Noguera, Federica Genovese, Christina Pagel, Nicolai von Ondarza

Jorge Liboreiro @jorgeliboreiro.bsky.social · 15d

Reposted by Kori Schake, Will Jennings, Brendan Nyhan , and 26 more Kori Schake, Will Jennings, Brendan Nyhan, Linda J. Skitka, Scott L. Greer, Steve Peers, Robert W. Wallace, Mary Feeney, Rosemary A. Joyce, Charles West, Christian E. Weller, Cathy N. Davidson, David S. Cohen, Trevon D. Logan, Alan Richardson, David R. Miller, Caroline T. Schroeder, Alessandro Nai, Mark Priestley, Nelson Flores, Steven S. Taylor, Cullen S. Hendrix, Olivier Mannoni, David S. Tanenhaus, Charles T. Mathewes, Aviel Roshwald, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Élisabeth Vallet

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 16d

Marco Rubio ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor's decision to adopt Calibri a “wasteful” diversity move