Findings surprise social psychologists
Older adults living in counties with greater age bias had better health outcomes than those living in areas with less age bias, according to University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers, who were surprised at the findings.
“Quite the opposite of what we expected emerged,” says Allecia Reid, associate professor of social psychology and senior author of the paper published in the journal Social Science & Medicine. “Rather than dying earlier in counties with more negative attitudes toward older adults, we found in fact that older adults were living longer in counties with more negative attitudes towards older adults.”
The Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences (PBS) has launched a new program Linking Employment to Academic Development (LEAD) to provide real-world psychology training for UMass students. Students in the program will spend a semester at the Mount Ida Campus of UMass Amherst working at inspiring locations in the Newton and Metro-west Boston area as interns and complete courses relevant to the psychology major. 
The PBS Research Assistant Mentoring Program (RAMP) aims to introduce Psychology majors, especially those from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in our field (e.g., first generation college students and students of color), to laboratory research early in their college careers.
