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Why Do We Do Things That Are Bad For Us?

Ella Al-Shamahi investigates why we so often seem to enjoy risky behaviour.

Ella Al-Shamahi is joined by psychologist Prof Laurence Steinberg and DJ / presenter Arielle Free to explore why we are drawn to do things that are bad for us. If our evolutionary purpose is to survive long enough to pass on genes, why do we knowingly put our lives at risk? Ella delves into a theory called costly signalling which may explain why we do risky things when there are others watching – is it just a way of showing off good genes? Dr Laurence Steinberg, Professor of Psychology at Temple University talks about dopamine sensitivity, brain imaging and our biological drive to take more risks during adolescence.

Available now

15 minutes

Last on

Sun 14 Apr 2024 19:45

Broadcasts

  • Fri 4 Nov 2022 14:45
  • Thu 11 Apr 2024 21:45
  • Sun 14 Apr 2024 19:45

Podcast