Prof Nichola Raihani
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nicholaraihani.bsky.social
Prof Nichola Raihani
@nicholaraihani.bsky.social

Professor & Author
Auckland & UCL
Books: THE SOCIAL INSTINCT (2021) || THE THINKING ANIMAL (2027, ✍🏼)

Likes cycling.

Nichola Jayne Raihani is a British psychologist who is a Professor of Evolution and Behaviour at University College London. Her research considers the evolution of cooperation in nature. She was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology in 2019. Her first book, The Social Instinct, was released in 2021. .. more

Psychology 34%
Sociology 13%
Pinned
Life goal unlocked. Spotted in Gower st Waterstones. Thanks to my UCL spies for keeping tabs on things 🕵️
I appear to have spoken to a reporter who took seriously the gravity of NZ's science crisis

does anybody have a newsroom pro subscription so that I can learn what other choice phrases I used on the record?

newsroom.co.nz/2025/10/29/w...
Winner of top science prize blames ‘batshit’ Budget for brain drain
Dr Samuel Mehr says the Government values science, but their ‘idiotic’ approach to funding it will cost them their best and brightest.
newsroom.co.nz
Jane Goodall, Eminent Primatologist Who Chronicled the Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91. Gift link: nyti.ms/48FOuUn
nyti.ms

The first draft is DONE.
In general I think it's hard to combat scientific misinformation when some of the best research is locked behind an academic paywall, while lots of nonsense gets published free for everyone to read in predatory journals.

I wonder how things would be if the mining bosses and government officials had to raise *their* kids in these lead-poisoned environments.

It's hiring season at @iast.fr!

- 2y research postdoc contract
- Full autonomy, you are your own PI
- Awesome multidisciplinary environment
- All social and behavioral sciences welcome
- Seed funding for projects and workshops
- Gorgeous city in the south of France

www.iast.fr/research-fel...
At @ishe-society.bsky.social, we are looking for someone to review @mgurven.bsky.social new book, "Seven decades" for Human Ethology. It looks terribly interesting! DM/email for details (and to get a hard copy 😊)

@princetonupress.bsky.social

press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
Seven Decades
An anthropologist uncovers new evidence for the evolutionary origins of human longevity—and explains why growing old is an opportunity, not a burden
press.princeton.edu

Massive congrats Alice! Can’t wait to read it.

WTF - this is so random
UCDavis Psych is hiring an Assistant Professor in Human Cognition or Cognitive Neuroscience 🧠✨

Come join a vibrant, collaborative dept and live in a fun college town near Sacramento, San Francisco, Napa, and Lake Tahoe. Applications due Oct.21.

Please share widely!

recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07300
Assistant Professor of Psychology - Human Cognition or Cognitive Neuroscience
University of California, Davis is hiring. Apply now!
recruit.ucdavis.edu

Reposted by Nichola Raihani

So excited - Domination is number 3 in the Sunday Times bestseller list!
And it seems I can’t get away from medieval cities and monasteries on a rainy Sunday afternoon!

Reposted by Nichola Raihani

📖 Our letter of reply to 'pseudosocial' cognition is now out in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Led by the talented @srazavi.bsky.social + written with @vaughanbell.bsky.social, Peter Dayan, @nicholaraihani.bsky.social, Michael Moutoussis

#NeuroPsychSky

Our response to Corlett & co on what they call 'pseudo-social' paranoia is now online in TICS. We hope this clarifies some persistent misunderstandings of our work and approach. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Pseudo-approaches lead to pseudo-explanations: reply to Corlett et al.
www.sciencedirect.com

Reposted by Joanna Bryson

University of Auckland is hiring a lecturer in social psychology. smrtr.io/tfSY-

Please share with your networks.
Lecturer in Social Psychology - Faculty of Science
Company Description: Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of AucklandKo te whare Pūtaiao | The Faculty of Science at the University of Auckland is the largest and most highly ranke...
smrtr.io

Reposted by Nichola Raihani

Here it is, hope the gift article works.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/t...
A Teen Was Suicidal. ChatGPT Was the Friend He Confided In.
www.nytimes.com

So true. We’ve all heard from ‘that’ guy. (And yes, weirdly, it is always a guy)

Reposted by Nichola Raihani

🧠 What?! A meeting just on disgust?! Yes!!
📍 @iast.fr, France | 🗓 Dec 4–5, 2025
💥 Keynotes by Paul Rozin @upenn.edu, @cr-amo.bsky.social, Philip Powell @sheffielduni.bsky.social & Cindy Kam
🌍 From Psychology to Politics, Biology & beyond
🎓 Abstract submissions until Aug 31: forms.gle/QBmkUB3aLDjY...

An exciting event for Aucklanders in November; pls share

Talk: Inventing Ourselves: The Secret Life of the Teenage Brain 👩‍🎓 Prof Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
📍University of Auckland
📆 Tues 11/11/25| 1815
Free but ticketed.
www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/inventing-...

@sjblakemore.bsky.social
Inventing Ourselves: The Secret Life of the Teenage Brain
This is a public lecture hosted by Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore .
www.eventbrite.co.nz

Yes got a nice big section on brood parasites in another chapter (FAKE NEWS)

no but that is suitably nasty

ducks, dolphins, bedbugs (I assume we are talking about the same genre of nastiness)

they're already in there - in another chapter 😆

Reposted by David W. Lawson

Hive mind: I'm writing a book chapter called Utter Bastards – intended to showcase the ways in which animals (yes, incl. us) can be 'nasty'. I've got lots of the obvious candidates e.g. siblicide, infanticide, sexual coercion etc. anything *unusual* you think should be in there?

your gain, our loss big time!

😂
BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen has confirmed that the entire Al Jazeera team in Gaza City has been killed.

New data on friendship in baboons & infant survival upends a classic result. For years, we've thought that more social females had more surviving offspring, but this suggests that the result stemmed from reverse causality: females with infants become more social. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Re-evaluating the relationship between female social bonds and infant survival in wild baboons
Over the past few decades studies have provided strong evidence that the robust links between the social environment, health, and survival found in humans also extend to non-human social animals. A nu...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Director at Max Planck - a unique position! The Open Call for Expressions of Interest in Max Planck Directorships is open now and can be submitted by the 31st of October 2025. ➡️ mpg.de/directors - Please share the Open Call among potential candidates.