2019 PsycShorts Video Contest Winners

Jose Lutao
Valenzuela (Philippines)

"With the rise of the “death by overwork” problem in Japan, many companies are starting to realize the impact of intense, overtime work on the psychological health of their employees. People all over the world are in dire need of solutions to combat mental stress. Shinrin-yoku is one of them."

Victor Azmanov and Lachlan Peel
New College Oxford (United Kingdom)

“For decades, economists have modeled human decision-making using the assumption that humans are rational and selfish. But if psychology can teach us anything, it is that humans are anything but rational, and not always selfish. Behavioural economics tries to remedy this oversight on the part of the economists.”

Shawn Jones and Riana Anderson 
Virginia Commonwealth University and University of Michigan (United States)

"Stress is a common experience for all of us, but we knew that not everyone has non-jargon language for understanding it. Therefore, we wanted to explain stress using a simple and fun analogy, and voilà, the stress pizza was created!"

*Audience Prize Winner

Gail Golden
Private practice - Chicago, Illinois (United States) 
Co-creators: Nate Hartmann and Simon Golden

"As a management psychologist, I am always searching for research to help my business clients bring out peak performance in themselves and others. Barbara Fredrickson’s work on the broaden and build theory links psychological research and evolutionary theory, providing insights with real-life applications for my clients."

Caroline Antler
Illinois Institute of Technology (United States)
Co-creator: Michael Young

"In the U.S., despite the well-established efficacy of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) in treating depression, almost half of individuals struggling with depression never seek out treatment. Of those that do, over half receive inadequate care. Given the effectiveness of direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of pharmaceuticals, this video was created for a randomized controlled trial evaluating the utility of DTCA of CBT for depression."

Josh Vlessing and Danna Martinez
Pine Crest High School – Fort Lauderdale, Florida (United States)

"The concept of flow theory interested us because as high school students, there is always work and “stuff” to do that might not seem interesting or enjoyable. However, if you find a way to fully immerse yourself in it, the work will be less like a chore and more like a captivating activity."

Raunak Pillai
Vanderbilt University (United States)

"I have long been interested in the various factors that influence the strength, accuracy, and malleability of our memories. The hypercorrection effect, a topic I first learned about while working in the lab of Lisa Fazio, PhD, as an undergraduate at Vanderbilt University, was therefore a natural choice for this video."

Marley Jarvis
Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington
(United States)

"I’m fascinated by the meaning behind behavior. Why do people act the way that they do? We often link behavior to something hard-wired and permanent, as part of personality. But research shows that even very simple things like swinging together in unison can alter your behavior and likelihood to cooperate."

Olivia Kang, Kirsten Morehouse, Evan Younger and Mahzarin Banaji
Outsmarting Human Minds, Harvard University (United States)

"Expressions like “mind over matter” communicate how powerfully our minds can influence our actions. What is impressive about research on self-fulfilling prophecies is the idea that one person’s mind can also influence how another person behaves, without either party being aware it’s happening. Expectations are powerful. They can sculpt behavior."

Yap Hou Huai (Gary)
MY Psychology, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)
Co-creators: Hew Chong Shen (Jason), Chong Tin Fung, Lau Yin Huan, Chan Ken Len, Koo Yong Boon (Franky), Hor Mu Yi (Tommy), Bong Ying Hao, and Tee Yeh Yhin

"We assume city living is cold. People mind their own business and seldom extend their helping hands. But is this true? Inspired by the story of Kitty Genovese, who it is said was stabbed to death while witnesses watched and did nothing, we wanted to explore what circumstances make one a passive bystander."