The Open University

A trans review of 2017: the year of transgender moral panic

3 January 2018

Three years ago, 2014 was hailed as “the transgender tipping point” – a year when trans people became more visible and better understood. Sadly, looking back on 2017, it seems it was the year of a transgender moral panic. In the first half of the year, every few weeks seemed to bring another news story […]

Harvey Weinstein, Sexual Harassment and 21st Century Living

25 October 2017

Senior lecturer in psychology Lisa Lazard writes about sexual harassment and today’s society: Over the last year, the topic of sexual harassment seems rarely out of the news. The case of Harvey Weinstein is the most recent in a series of high profile sexual harassment cases that have been brought to public attention in 2017. In reverse […]

Five vital things you can’t do properly when you’re on your phone

12 October 2017

In a recent RAC survey, 26% of UK 1,700 motorists reported using a handheld mobile phone while driving, despite it being illegal. In response, road safety charity Brake, argued that society’s phone “addiction” can have very serious consequences. A quick online search throws up many articles suggesting that people are “glued” to their smartphones and […]

Seven fails by drivers on hands-free mobiles

9 October 2017

Using hand-held mobile phones in cars is illegal for drivers, and many people have turned to using hands-free mobiles as a safe option – but there’s mounting evidence this is just as dangerous, with drivers using their phones four times more likely to crash. Psychology expert Dr Gemma Briggs has been studying the distraction of […]

Lesbian, gay and bisexual teenagers at much greater risk of depression

30 August 2017

Adolescence can be tough for young people, but it can be especially hard for teenagers who aren’t straight. Our latest study reveals that lesbian, gay and bisexual young people (LGB or “sexual minority youth”) have about three times the risk of being depressed compared with their heterosexual peers. Our results are based on a meta-analysis […]

The real reason you can’t quit Facebook? Maybe it’s because you can judge your friends

12 July 2017

Facebook recently announced that it now has over 2 billion monthly users. This makes its “population” larger than that of China, the US, Mexico and Japan combined. Its popularity, and with it the influence it has in society, is beyond dispute. But for many the experience of actually using the site fluctuates somewhere between the […]

Selfie culture isn’t the root of all evil

12 April 2017

The idea that selfies are somehow damaging our mental health is spreading. There is concern that there may be a link between an apparent recent rise in mental health concerns in millennials and taking, editing and posting selfies online. The Open University’s Lisa Lazard and Rose Capdevila investigate if their popularity isn’t completely negative in […]

OU research highlights impact of early lectures on college and university students

11 April 2017

Research by the OU and the University of Nevada has discovered that productivity in students is much greater between the hours of 11:00am and 9:30pm than at other times of day. The study of 190 undergraduate students, which was published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, analysed individual study patterns to determine when cognitive […]

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International Women’s Day: yes, we still need to protest this sh*t

8 March 2017

“I can’t believe we still have to protest this shit,” proclaimed a multitude of signs at a protest in London on January 21 2017. These signs, and others, were photographed, filtered, edited and uploaded to social media, linking protesters around the globe. The protests, which spread from the initial Women’s March on Washington, spurred by […]

How to avoid breaking New Year’s Resolutions – don’t make them in first place?

17 January 2017

Research has shown that the majority of British adults will break their New Year’s resolution by the second week of January. What is it about the time of year that makes us more susceptible to breaking those promises to ourselves? Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Dr Meg-John Barker, explores why we set ourselves these goals, and […]

OU News

Category: Psychology