After receiving the 12th Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Social Sciences, Shelley Taylor reflects in this interview on how cognitive and social processes influence risk perception and decision-making in individual and collective contexts. Drawing on her work in social psychology, she analyzes how expectations, identity, and cultural frameworks shape the way we interpret reality and respond to personal or social changes. Her perspective offers a profound understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying human behavior in complex situations.
The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Social Sciences has gone in this twelfth edition to psychologists Susan Fiske and Shelley Taylor for their “outstanding contributions” in social cognition, a field which examines the “social mind,” i.e. the cognitive processes individuals use to understand other people and themselve
After receiving the 12th Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Social Sciences, Shelley Taylor reflects in this interview on how cognitive and social processes influence risk perception and decision-making in individual and collective contexts. Drawing on her work in social psychology, she analyzes how expectations, identity, and cultural frameworks shape the way we interpret reality and respond to personal or social changes. Her perspective offers a profound understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying human behavior in complex situations.
The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Social Sciences has gone in this twelfth edition to psychologists Susan Fiske and Shelley Taylor for their “outstanding contributions” in social cognition, a field which examines the “social mind,” i.e. the cognitive processes individuals use to understand other people and themselves. The committee reached its decision through a remote assessment process due to the extraordinary measures imposed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
00:00 Introduction
00:05 You and Professor Fiske founded the field of social cognition. Could you explain what it is?
00:27 Why do we use cognitive shortcuts to construct our perception of reality, and in which situations do we rely on them most?
01:06 What are positive illusions, and how can they be helpful from a medical perspective?
01:38 You are also one of the founders of another field, health psychology. How did you manage to establish a connection between mental state and physical health?
02:20 How may the restrictions and social changes resulting from the lockdown experienced during the coronavirus pandemic have affected the judgments we make about reality?
