Feature Channels: Behavioral Science

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People over the millennia have reported having deeply moving religious experiences either spontaneously or while under the influence of psychedelic substances such as psilocybin-containing mushrooms or the Amazonian brew ayahuasca, and a portion of those experiences have been encounters with what the person regards as “God” or “ultimate reality.” In a survey of thousands of people who reported having experienced personal encounters with God, Johns Hopkins researchers report that more than two-thirds of self-identified atheists shed that label after their encounter, regardless of whether it was spontaneous or while taking a psychedelic.

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Words can hurt or help a person’s psychological well-being, according to a new study from the University of California, Irvine. Researchers found that the effects of negative and positive political rhetoric about immigration – particularly by people from Mexico – elicited a range of corresponding emotions associated with lower or higher levels of stress and overall health in Mexican Americans.

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Research suggests that having a happy spouse leads to a longer marriage, and now study results show that it's associated with a longer life, too.

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Researchers had attendees at the 2016 Hash Bash (a marijuana decriminalization event in Ann Arbor, Michigan, complete surveys on food choices while they are high. Survey takers then got to choose an orange or chips as their reward.

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Researchers often tweak the number of response options in the traditional five-point Likert Scale with little empirical justification. Now a UB psychologist says it's time to settle on six options. "If you’re going to deviate from what this paper suggests then that decision should first be tested," says Leonard Simms.

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Mount Sinai study may help explain some of the excess risks for inflammatory diseases in first born children

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What will shape voter attitudes heading into the 2020 election? New research finds rurality, education and race -- not the economic downturn -- significantly predicted the change from Democrat to Republican in 2016.

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In a small study of patients referred to the Johns Hopkins Early Psychosis Intervention Clinic (EPIC), Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report that about half the people referred to the clinic with a schizophrenia diagnosis didn’t actually have schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe and disabling disorder marked by disordered thinking, feelings and behavior. People who reported hearing voices or having anxiety were the ones more likely to be misdiagnosed.

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Even when feeling empathy for others isn’t financially costly or emotionally draining, people will still avoid it because they think empathy requires too much mental effort, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.

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There are a few things that will result in poor customer reviews of a restaurant: bad service, bad food – and bad weather. Customers left more negative remarks on restaurant comment cards on days when it was raining than on days when it was dry.

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Debates over gun regulations make headlines across the world, but there’s an underground operation for weapons that has drawn very little attention – until now. Researchers from Michigan State University crept into the dark web to investigate how firearms are anonymously bought and sold around the world.

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A leading clinical and research psychologist at the University of Chicago Medicine has been awarded a $3.8 million grant from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) — a division of the National Institutes of Health — to understand alcohol responses in individuals who have problems controlling their drinking.

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Morristown Medical Center Team Finds Listening to Teens May Help Them Better Control Type 1 Diabetes

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Florida State University researcher Samantha Paustian-Underdahl found pregnant women experienced decreased encouragement in the workplace to return to their jobs after pregnancy.

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Just like adults, children by the age of 5 make rapid and consistent character judgements of others based on facial features, such as the tilt of the mouth or the distance between the eyes. Those facial features also shape how children behave toward others, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.

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But what if coffee aficionados could get the same effects from their morning latte by simply responding to cues that make them think of coffee - including the smells, sights and sounds?

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Irvine, Calif., April 17, 2019 — Repeated exposure to media coverage of collective traumas, such as mass shootings or natural disasters, can fuel a cycle of distress, according to a University of California, Irvine study. Researchers found that individuals can become more emotionally responsive to news reports of subsequent incidents, resulting in heightened anxiety and worry about future occurrences.

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Screen time above a two-hour threshold at five years of age is associated with an increased risk of clinically relevant externalizing problems such as inattention, according to a study published April 17 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Piush Mandhane of the University of Alberta, and colleagues.

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The 2014 OCHS study included 10,802 children and youth aged four to 17 in 6,537 families. It replicated and expanded on the landmark 1983 Ontario Child Health Study of 3,290 children in 1,869 families

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Star Trek's Spock would not be surprised: People are "illogical." New research exploring American liberals and conservatives shows that regardless of political affiliation

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Exercising and eating right are certainly primary components of wellness. But don’t underestimate the importance of keeping stress down. High stress really can interfere with your healthy eating and workout routines.

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La Trobe University researchers have found the heaviest drinking 10 per cent of Australians drink over half the alcohol consumed in Australia, downing an average of six standard drinks per day.

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A traumatic brain injury happens in an instant. But the effects can last a lifetime – and can leave the survivor dependent on daily care from their loved ones for decades. Now, a new tool seeks to give a voice to those caregivers, who spend countless hours tending to the daily needs of family members whose moods, thinking and abilities seemed to change overnight.

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Researchers have identified a pattern of brain activity that reflects anger experienced during dreaming according to a new study carried out on healthy adults

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The neuropeptide oxytocin blocks enhanced drinking in alcohol-dependent rats, according to a study published April 16 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology led by Drs. Tunstall, Koob and Vendruscolo of the National Institutes of Health

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One negative behavior such as substance abuse or heavy alcohol drinking can lead college students toward a vicious cycle of poor lifestyle choices, lack of sleep, mental distress and low grades, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.

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Contracted private agencies provide approximately 33 percent of foster care placement services and 59 percent of family preservation services. State child welfare agencies are increasingly turning to them for a range of services. While turnover and burnout among child welfare case managers is well-understood, little is known about the challenges private agency therapists experience working in child welfare systems.

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A paper published by Darcia Narvaez and her colleagues at the Notre Dame Family Life Project in Sage Open highlights how taking a snapshot of a young child’s experience over a week, as reported by a parent, is predictive of child outcomes.

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A simple and brief intervention can provide lasting protection for adolescents against these harmful effects of food marketing. Reframing how students view food-marketing campaigns can spur adolescents, particularly boys, to make healthier daily dietary choices for an extended period of time. The method works in part by tapping into teens’ natural desire to rebel against authority.

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In a recent study, Dr. Daniel Bowen proved that arts education positively impacts student outcomes by increasing writing achievement, decreasing disciplinary infractions and increasing compassion.

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For time-crunched medical students, taking a two-hour introductory class on mindfulness may be just as beneficial for reducing stress and depression as taking an eight-week meditation course, a Rutgers study finds.

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When heterosexuals have casual sex, previous research indicates it is typically the woman who sets the boundaries. If she's not interested, usually nothing will happen.

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A University of Delaware study found that those who identify with the party of the president are more likely to think conditions of the economy and the world are improving; those who identify with the opposition to think things are getting worse.

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People are increasingly turning to commercial settings as outlets for their emotions, confronting problems, grief and feelings.

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Learning how to tie a shoe or shoot a basketball isn’t easy, but the brain somehow integrates sensory signals that are critical to coordinating movements so you can get it right. Now, Rutgers scientists have discovered that sensory signals in the brain’s cerebral cortex, which plays a key role in controlling movement and other functions, have a different pattern of connections between nerve cells and different effects on behavior than motor signals. The motor area of the cortex sends signals to stimulate muscles.

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Texas State’s Zhijie Sasha Dong, assistant professor, Ingram School of Engineering and graduate student Lingyu Meng look to close the gap between public bike systems and bike sharing systems in big cities like Nanjing, the capital of China’s Jiangsu Province.

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Drinking too much too quickly can have many harmful consequences, including alcohol-induced blackouts – where the individual continues to function and make decisions, but later has little or no memory of the events. Blackout drinking is associated with accidents and risky behaviors, may have long-term effects on brain development and function, and is linked to increased risk for alcohol misuse and alcohol use disorder (AUD) symptoms in the future. College students ─ who report higher levels of alcohol use than the general population ─ are at particular risk of experiencing alcohol-induced blackouts and their damaging consequences. This calls for a simple, cost-effective intervention to reduce blackout drinking in this group.

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People who believe in oneness – the idea that everything in the world is connected and interdependent -- appear to have greater life satisfaction than those who don’t, regardless of whether they belong to a religion or don’t, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.

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A unique approach that provides an ecosystem of trauma-informed care for children and their families who are critically injured or exposed to violence on the South Side of Chicago is getting a big boost, thanks to a $9.1 million gift to the University of Chicago Medicine by the Ellen & Ronald Block Family Foundation and the Hassenfeld Family Foundation.

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Using virtual reality (VR) technology and a custom-built computer program, Kennesaw State University professor Chao Mei is developing an innovative method of therapy for children with autism and attention deficit disorder.

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Dr. Laura Gunn, an associate professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences, and colleagues found that while violent attacks cause interest in gun control to spike, the rise in gun control debate may lead to increases in searches related to purchasing a gun more than the violent attacks themselves.

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After earlier research into anger, a Washington University in St. Louis faculty member and two former students found people feigning anger in negotiation wound up facing more costs — guilt, atonement and actual higher financial costs

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A new study shows that mindfulness training—a practice rooted in ancient meditative traditions—disrupts the development of conditioned behaviors. Based on the results, the study’s authors suggest that mindfulness training may protect individuals from developing the conditioned behaviors that sustain unhealthy habits.

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A researcher from Michigan State University found that online sexual experiences can predict whether teens become victims of sexual assault.

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Researchers have provided a crucial first step towards understanding how computing technology could be used to help people with depression remember happy memories.

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Researchers have identified for the first time an imbalance in a key neural pathway that explains how some people reactivate negative emotional memories. The finding could help scientists unlock new ways to treat psychiatric disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

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The middle school transition can be a pivotal time in the lives of children identified as "anxious solitary."