Author Archives: Laura Akers, Ph.D.

Unknown's avatar

About Laura Akers, Ph.D.

I'm a research psychologist at Oregon Research Institute, and I'm writing a book about meta-narratives, the powerful collective stories we share about who we are and where we're headed. My interests include beliefs and worldviews, ethics, motivation, and relationships, both among humans and between humans and the natural world.

Three relationships with our collective stories: Authority, democracy, and the big yawn

Posted on 21 August 2020 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

Last week, I showed that giving people the facts not only won’t make them listen, it all too often makes them double-down and get even more entrenched in their beliefs. Understandably, this is frustrating! This week I’m going to share … Continue reading →

Posted in narrative science | 7 Comments

A farewell to facts

Posted on 12 August 2020 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

A childhood friend, who is now a retired journalist and journalism professor, posted this cartoon on Facebook recently: (Original source) A few hours earlier, another childhood friend had posted something to Facebook – something political – with so many factual … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

A species caught up in stories

Posted on 11 August 2020 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

Science fiction novelist Becky Chambers described my book topic very well, in her most recent Wayfarers novel, Record of a Spaceborn Few. The characters are humans, many generations after a greatly damaged Earth had been left behind. Here, an archivist … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

In a League of her own

Posted on 30 July 2020 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

A few weeks ago, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced a “small quarantine accomplishment”: She’s made it to rank Silver III in League of Legends. Predictably, the lively congresswoman’s tweet met with a scornful backlash – she should give back her salary or … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, US politics | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Stories-About-Us: How They Work

Posted on 10 July 2020 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

In my last few blog posts, I’ve been focusing on our “stories about us” (“metanarratives”) – the topic of the book I’m writing. I hope the book will reach a broad audience, because it’s vital information we all need to … Continue reading →

Posted in narrative science | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mother of Two Englands

Posted on 25 June 2020 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

British historian Lucy Worsley has a new TV series, and as I watched the first episode this week, I was delighted to find her talking about exactly the type of stories-of-us that I’m writing about in my book. Thanks to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

More Slogan Science: Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

Posted on 23 June 2020 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

In my last blog post, I took a close look at Trump’s campaign messaging, both for 2016 and 2020. Now it’s Joe Biden’s turn. What stories-about-us is he using to support his campaign and energize the voting public? Before we … Continue reading →

Posted in US politics | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The Science of Slogans, with Donald J. Trump

Posted on 3 June 2020 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

In 2016, Donald Trump masterfully wielded campaign slogans from at least four different emotional “genres,” each telling or implying a different story about who we are and where we’re headed. Can he repeat this performance in 2020? Will a sizeable … Continue reading →

Posted in US politics | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

The Warren Paradox

Posted on 22 April 2020 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

Elizabeth Warren’s March 5 announcement that she was suspending her presidential campaign was certainly sensible, however disappointing it may have been to many in my own demographic, “highly educated middle-aged white women.” Throughout her campaign, she was usually labeled a … Continue reading →

Posted in US politics | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

“The only thing we have to fear…”

Posted on 29 November 2015 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

International terrorists are trying to ratchet up our fear. They’re devoting their lives to getting us to invest a lot of energy into making ourselves far more secure (in one specific dimension or another) than rationally called for. They’re working … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment