Linda Skitka
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lindaskitka.bsky.social
Linda Skitka
@lindaskitka.bsky.social

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

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%

Reposted by Linda J. Skitka

Holiday baking!

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.
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.

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

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 )—>
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.

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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
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."
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.

Exactly.

Reposted by Efrén O. Pérez

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.

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

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

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.
“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
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!

Congratulations, Calvin!

Worth reading—>
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.
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.

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
Rubio Stages Font Coup: Times New Roman Ousts Calibri
The secretary of state called it a "wasteful" diversity move, according to an internal department cable seen by Reuters.
www.huffpost.com

Best holiday dinner dessert?