Feature Channels: Behavioral Science

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Millions of how-to videos on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram have given people unprecedented access to the skilled performances of experts. Nevertheless, learning a new skill by watching a video on social media can also lead people to become overconfident in their own abilities, according to new research from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

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Stopping exercise can result in increased depressive symptoms, according to new mental health research from the University of Adelaide.

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Online gift-giving is spreading in social networks and causing people to give more gifts – online and in person – according to a new study led by René Kizilcec, Cornell University assistant professor of information science. About half of these gifts were unlikely to have occurred offline or via another online channel.

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A University of Vermont mathematician has developed a new tool to identify gerrymandered voting districts. The research shows Pennsylvania, Ohio and North Carolina strongly gerrymandered for Republicans, while Maryland’s and California’s voting districts have been strongly tipped in favor of Democrats. The new tool could be important in the wake of two Supreme Court cases now being considered that might outlaw certain partisan gerrymanders.

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A new CU Boulder study found that two-thirds of Twitter users are unaware their data can be used for science. Many think this would be against their terms of service agreement. It's not.

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While Americans debate the rising cost of health care, a new study of 30 countries over 27 years found that medical expansion has improved overall health – with one major exception. Researchers found that increased spending on health care and increases in specialized care were both associated with longer life expectancy and less mortality in the countries studied. But pharmaceutical industry expansion was linked to negative health effects.

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The University of Arkansas at Little Rock is among the very few universities in the country with a team and projects dedicated to researching blogs. Blogtrackers, a tool designed to track and analyze blogs and gain insights from the blogosphere, is being developed for public use.

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A new book analyzes how online communities and social media can provide stress relief for families and individuals with an autism spectrum disorder.

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In a striking new finding, researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute found that typically-developing children gain more neurons in a region of the brain that governs social and emotional behavior, the amygdala, as they become adults. This phenomenon does not happen in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Instead, children with ASD have too many neurons early on and then appear to lose those neurons as they become adults. The findings were published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

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Moral philosophers are in agreement that shame is a natural and valuable emotion that occurs most often when someone does not live up to their ideals or standards.

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Eating disorders affect individuals worldwide, can be lethal, and represent an enormous cost in healthcare treatment and lost productivity. Scientists are beginning to understand how the gut microbiome—the bacteria that reside in the gastrointestinal tract—play a role in the development and treatment of eating disorders. The 2018 International Conference on Eating Disorders (ICED), hosted by the Academy for Eating Disorders April 19-21, 2018, at the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile, will address this important issue.

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Jonathon Schuldt, assistant professor of communication at Cornell University, says it is possible to make faraway climate impacts feel closer. But that doesn’t automatically inspire the American public to express greater support for policies that address it. The paper appeared in the Journal of Environmental Psychology.

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Our faces broadcast our feelings in living color—even when we don’t move a muscle. That’s the conclusion of a groundbreaking study into human expressions of emotion, which found that people are able to correctly identify other people’s feelings up to 75 percent of the time—based solely on subtle shifts in blood flow color around the nose, eyebrows, cheeks or chin.

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Reproductive hormones that develop during puberty are not responsible for changes in social behavior that occur during adolescence, according to the results of a newly published study by a University at Buffalo researcher. “Changes in social behavior during adolescence appear to be independent of pubertal hormones. They are not triggered by puberty, so we can’t blame the hormones,” says Matthew Paul, an assistant professor in UB’s Department of Psychology.

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If Americans fulfilled their java urges the same way they carefully shopped for groceries, they would visit five to seven various chain coffee shops regularly — for a blend of different categories. In fact, it turns out that grocery categories such as dessert toppings, motor oil, candles and refrigerated ethnic foods were some of the leading products that lure customers to separate stores.

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Increased letter spacing helps individuals read faster, but not due to visual processing, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University at New York.

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Children with obesity may be more impulsive than those with normal weight, but during family-based behavioral treatment (FBT), the more impulsive of children with obesity may lose more weight, a new study suggests. The results of the study will be presented in a poster on Sunday, March 18, at ENDO 2018, the 100th annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in Chicago, Ill.

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When most people walk into a grocery store, the shelves are stocked year-round with all the food they want, so they might not consider the origins of their food. Jack Payne, University of Florida senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources, said it’s critical to know the origins of our food supply, and not just the sake of being aware.

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Opioid addicts and others battling compulsion around drugs or alcohol are using a new high-tech, low-risk method to practice saying no—through virtual reality.

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As children hit the “tween” stage, parents may struggle balancing the need for independence with appropriate supervision – and social media has changed the ground rules.

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Giving one year of estrogen replacement to female athletes with exercise-induced menstrual irregularities improves drive for thinness, body dissatisfaction and uncontrolled eating, a new study finds. The research results will be presented Saturday, March 17, at ENDO 2018, the annual scientific meeting of the Endocrine Society, in Chicago, Ill.

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Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) Chief Scientific Officer Peter Jones, Ph.D., D.Sc., will be awarded an honorary doctorate from South Africa’s Stellenbosch University (SU) in recognition of a lifetime of scientific achievement and dedication to improving cancer treatment.

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Aldon Morris, the Leon Forrest Professor of Sociology and African American Studies in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University, is the winner of the 2018 John D. McCarthy Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Scholarship of Social Movements and Collective Behavior.

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Extreme political views might be driving some people away from churches, but the actual number of departing parishioners is not that large and those who do leave the pews are mostly marginally involved with the institution, according to a new study co-authored by a University at Buffalo political scientist. “All we’re really seeing here is a little churn,” says Jacob Neiheisel, an assistant professor in UB’s Department of Political. “We don’t see people ensconced within the institutional framework leaving. These are people at the periphery so we don’t see religious sorting where people on the left are disproportionally becoming anti-religious while people on the right are doubling-down on religion.” The findings provide new evidence that the limited turnover is not contributing significantly to political polarization.

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The Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund has awarded $2.6 million to The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) for a technology-supported program for patients with unmet post-Harvey behavioral health needs.

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Research investigates how social connectedness influences charitable giving, which could help philanthropies target donors more effectively

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A study from UT Southwestern's Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute demonstrates that a bird's song can be altered -- to the syllable -- by activating and deactivating a neuronal pathway responsible for helping the brain determine whether a vocalization is performed correctly.

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This week, thousands of graduating medical students around the country will find out where they’ll head next, to start their residency training. But a new study gives the first objective evidence of the heavy toll that the first year of residency can take on their sleep, physical activity and mood.

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TSRI scientists investigate a phenomenon that may guard against disease as we age.

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New research from Case Western Reserve University has experts re-thinking what was previously believed about the patterns of serial rapists—that they don’t stick with the same modus operandi.

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Individuals with lower-pitched voices are more likely to win elected office because they are believed to be superior leaders. But is voice pitch a reliable signal of leadership quality? And is the bias in favor of selecting leaders with lower voices good or bad for democracy? A novel study is the first to address these questions.

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Two former New Mexico State University biology graduate students are currently publishing their dissertation research investigating how the selection of mates may have contributed to the development of sophisticated cognitive abilities in birds.

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Kate Sheehan, a licensed clinical social worker and managing director of the UCLA Center for Child Anxiety Resilience Education and Support, has some survival tips for navigating the wait.

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The factors that may lead to a student's decision to leave school are complex, but a new study from the University of Georgia sheds light on how two behaviors-aggression and weak study skills-contribute to the problem.

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Husbands, are you helping your spouse with chores around the house? If your wife doesn’t think so that may result in a less satisfying sex life, according to new research by Florida State University. FSU Sociology Professor Anne Barrett and her former student Alexandra Raphael found that when wives reported an unfair arrangement in the amount of housework they were doing, they were also significantly more likely to report lower sexual satisfaction.

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Caroline Beer has spent her career researching comparative data between Latin American countries and the United States that often debunks false stereotypes. Her latest study showing Mexico as more progressive than the U.S. when it comes to LGBT rights, especially in the recognition of same-sex relationships, is no exception.

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A Texas Tech University psychologist says Trump’s ideals counted more than his party affiliation for those who supported him.

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Doctoral student Jonathan Adams offers tips to identify and address bullying based on psychology research.

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Tarana Burke’s simple statement two decades ago – “Me, too” – became a rallying cry last year, launching a global movement to hold sexual abusers and harassers accountable and give a voice to the survivors. Now, that movement is coming to Iowa State University.

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As social networking companies feel the heat to create a more socially responsible and positive experience for their millions of users, new research out of Binghamton University, State University of New York explores how the interaction of personality traits can impact the likelihood of developing an addiction to social networking.

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High-altitude areas—particularly the US intermountain states—have increased rates of suicide and depression, suggests a review of research evidence in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

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Expressive autobiographical writing is similar to journaling, but isn’t necessarily a long-term endeavor. It helps organize thoughts, aids in the search for meaning and can place events within a life’s context – and there are documented health benefits that can accompany how this contributes to a writer’s psychological well-being. But the practice isn’t always constructive and a University at Buffalo researcher has published a new study in the journal Personality and Individual Differences that looks closely at the factors that might influence the benefits of expressive writing.

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Exposure to psychological stress in the form of social conflict alters gut bacteria in Syrian hamsters, according to a new study by Georgia State University.

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Research has linked childhood abuse to many adverse health outcomes in adulthood, including premature mortality, but according to new Northwestern University research, supportive relationships in midlife can partly compensate for the mortality risks linked to childhood abuse.

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A game that encourages good behavior, positive reinforcement and self-regulation can keep children on task and out of trouble, according to researchers at the University of Georgia and Pennsylvania State University.

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Unlike previous elections, fear and worry played a heavy hand in both the 2016 Donald Trump and “Brexit” elections, changing the script on how personality shapes political behavior, according to an international psychological study on voting behavior.