https://phys.org/science-news/social-sciences en-us The latest news on social sciences, history, political science, psychology and sociology Researchers led by Sophie Bavard at the University of Hamburg, Germany, found that people can infer hidden social preferences by observing how fast others make social decisions. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-behavioral-social-inferred-decision.html Social Sciences Thu, 20 Jun 2024 14:00:02 EDT news638094733 Family conditions—specifically, how similar one's social status and background is to one's parents' status—may play a bigger role in determining how easily an individual can shift into a wealthier socioeconomic class than gender inequality, according to a study of 153 countries published June 20, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Khanh Duong from Maynooth University, Ireland. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-family-conditions-impact-upward-social.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Thu, 20 Jun 2024 14:00:02 EDT news638093462 Direct reciprocity facilitates cooperation in repeated social interactions. Traditional models suggest that individuals learn to adopt conditionally cooperative strategies if they have multiple encounters with their partner. However, most existing models make rather strong assumptions about how individuals decide to keep or change their strategies. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-cooperation-evolve-limited-payoff-memory.html Mathematics Social Sciences Wed, 19 Jun 2024 10:33:15 EDT news638011991 Eye-contact has a significant impact on interpersonal evaluation, and online job interviews are no exception. In addition to the quality of a resume, the direction of the interviewee's gaze might help (or hinder) their chances of securing the job. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-camera-scores-simulated.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Tue, 18 Jun 2024 09:21:04 EDT news637921262 A new study sheds light on the crucial role of allies in social movements, showing how their participation can sway public opinion on protests. By positively influencing public perceptions and encouraging participation from both advantaged and disadvantaged groups, allies can play a significant role in addressing structural inequality. This research offers valuable insights for activists and policymakers aiming to foster positive change in society. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-role-allies-advancing-social-movements.html Social Sciences Political science Mon, 17 Jun 2024 11:14:02 EDT news637841641 Analysis of more than 1,500 natural conversations suggests that humans may have evolved more complex facial muscle movements to help us bond with each other. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-facially-people-likable-socially-successful.html Social Sciences Thu, 13 Jun 2024 11:16:18 EDT news637496175 Men tend to eat meat more frequently than women and the extent of the differences in meat consumption frequency between both genders tend to be greater within countries with higher levels of gender equality and social and economic development, according to a study published in Scientific Reports. The authors suggest that this could be due to individuals within these countries having greater opportunities to express food preferences. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-greater-gender-equality-men-meat.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Thu, 13 Jun 2024 11:00:01 EDT news637487881 A psychologist at CQUniversity, in Australia, has found that some fans of the long-running TV show "Neighbours" have been experiencing grief similar to the experience of losing a close friend. In his study, published on the open-access site PLOS ONE, Adam Gerace analyzed surveys taken by over 1,289 people. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-fans-tv-experienced-grief-similar.html Social Sciences Thu, 13 Jun 2024 10:00:01 EDT news637491302 Feeling ambivalent about a political issue might seem to be a recipe for indecision and even inaction. But a new study suggests, surprisingly, that ambivalence can actually lead some people—especially those with polarized views—to be more supportive of extreme actions, such as violence. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-ambivalence-polarized-views-political-violence.html Social Sciences Political science Wed, 12 Jun 2024 14:00:02 EDT news637401961 The ability to imagine is pivotal for human development, driving creativity and problem-solving. It may also influence our relationship with others, according to new research. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-psychology-collaborative-social.html Social Sciences Wed, 12 Jun 2024 10:54:30 EDT news637408465 Ever wondered how your friends shape your music taste? In a recent study, researchers at the Complexity Science Hub (CSH) demonstrated that social networks are a powerful predictor of a song's future popularity. By analyzing friendships and listening habits, they've boosted machine learning prediction precision by 50%. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-power-social-songs.html Mathematics Social Sciences Tue, 11 Jun 2024 10:26:03 EDT news637320362 A small team of sociologists from The University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas A&M University, and Florida State University has tested the supposition that men who are unhappy with the size of their penis are more apt to buy a gun—presumably as a way to make up for their perceived shortcomings. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-men-dissatisfied-penis-size-gun.html Social Sciences Tue, 11 Jun 2024 10:20:01 EDT news637318817 Efforts to tackle false information through fact-checking or media literacy initiatives increase the public's skepticism toward "fake news." However, they also breed distrust in genuine, fact-based news sources, shows a University of Zurich-led study using online survey experiments in the US, Poland and Hong Kong. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-interventions-misinformation-skepticism-reliable-sources.html Social Sciences Political science Mon, 10 Jun 2024 11:51:04 EDT news637239062 The platitude that failure leads to success may be both inaccurate and damaging to society, according to a paper published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, titled "The Exaggerated Benefits of Failure." https://phys.org/news/2024-06-success-failure.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Mon, 10 Jun 2024 09:00:01 EDT news637227854 A new study from The University of Western Australia and Edith Cowan University has found evidence of what's long been suspected—that men are more likely to be risk-takers than women. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-evolutionary-basis-male-behaviors.html Social Sciences Fri, 07 Jun 2024 13:10:57 EDT news636984652 A study by researchers from the University of Adelaide has found that when using cashless methods of payment, individuals tend to spend more when purchasing. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-cashless-payments.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Thu, 06 Jun 2024 13:10:01 EDT news636898029 The formation of relationships within violent US Islamist extremist groups is highly driven by mutual contacts and the tendency for people to bond with others similar to themselves, according to new research. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-islamist-extremist-groups-driven-mutual.html Social Sciences Political science Wed, 05 Jun 2024 14:00:01 EDT news636796441 When Twitter banned more than 70,000 traffickers of false information from its platform in the wake of the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the impact went beyond the silencing of those users. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-false-traffickers-online-discourse.html Social Sciences Political science Wed, 05 Jun 2024 11:43:03 EDT news636806581 An international research team led by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has uncovered in a recent research project that people's beliefs in science and religion are primarily shaped by the words of others, rather than their personal experiences. The study could help enhance public understanding of people's belief formation in important scientific issues, such as climate change and vaccination. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-words-firsthand-scientific-religious-belief.html Social Sciences Political science Tue, 04 Jun 2024 13:13:10 EDT news636725588 How can disaster response teams benefit from understanding how people most efficiently pick strawberries together, or how they choose the perfect ice cream shop with friends? https://phys.org/news/2024-06-good-decisions-videogame.html Mathematics Social Sciences Tue, 04 Jun 2024 12:19:34 EDT news636722369 How do people successfully interact with those who are completely different from them? And can these differences create social barriers? Social scientists are struggling with these questions because the mental processes underlying social interactions are not well understood. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-empathy-people-similar-simple.html Social Sciences Tue, 04 Jun 2024 12:10:20 EDT news636721808 Black drivers in Chicago are significantly more likely than white drivers to be stopped by police regardless of where the drivers live or are going, according to a new study led by a Cornell city planning expert that maps the racial composition of roads by using mobile phone GPS data. The study confirms a racial bias in traffic stops that the researchers say is replacing stop and frisk as a new tactic for discrimination. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-racial-bias-traffic-chicago-police.html Social Sciences Political science Tue, 04 Jun 2024 10:51:04 EDT news636717062 In times of crisis, effective humanitarian aid depends largely on the fast and efficient allocation of resources and personnel. Accurate data about the locations and movements of affected people in these situations is essential for this. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-scientists-aim-humanitarian-displaced-populations.html Mathematics Social Sciences Mon, 03 Jun 2024 10:23:47 EDT news636629022 Since the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine in 2021, fake news on social media has been widely blamed for low vaccine uptake in the United States—but research by MIT Sloan School of Management Ph.D. candidate Jennifer Allen and Professor David Rand finds that the blame lies elsewhere. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-covid-headlines-mainstream-sources-facebook.html Social Sciences Thu, 30 May 2024 14:00:01 EDT news636294366 Using experiments with COVID-19 related queries, Cornell sociology and information science researchers found that in a public health emergency, most people pick out and click on accurate information. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-people-accurate-results-stakes-high.html Social Sciences Thu, 30 May 2024 11:19:03 EDT news636286741 What is the best way for a group of individuals to cooperate? This is a longstanding question with roots in game theory, a branch of science which uses mathematical models of how individuals should best strategize for the optimal result. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-result-group-optimal-path-cooperation.html Mathematics Social Sciences Thu, 30 May 2024 10:10:01 EDT news636281737 New simulations provide mathematical support for the theory that the spread of political ideas across international borders may have a big impact on election outcomes, and that small actions boosting a minority idea can gradually lead to global-scale political change. Jose Segovia-Martin and Óscar Rivero present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on May 29. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-simulations-ideas-international-borders-powerful.html Social Sciences Political science Wed, 29 May 2024 14:00:01 EDT news636194461 Post-war peace processes are a dangerous period for women. Many are forced to live close to men who committed serious abuse during the war or are expected to testify in various types of truth commissions, which can be both retraumatizing and stigmatizing. These are the findings of a new study by peace researchers at Uppsala University, published in the journal PLOS ONE. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-women-vulnerable-war-peace.html Social Sciences Political science Wed, 29 May 2024 14:00:01 EDT news636193321 Spend any time scrolling through social media or news sites and it feels like America is a nation in constant argument. Off-hand remarks often spark fierce screaming matches. Partisanship is up, Gallup tells us, while trust in institutions is down. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-political-debates-antagonistic.html Social Sciences Political science Wed, 29 May 2024 11:58:04 EDT news636202681 Some of human history's greatest atrocities—genocide, slavery, ethnic cleanings—are rooted in our ability to dehumanize people from other social, political, or cultural groups. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-otherness-dehumanize-political-opponents.html Social Sciences Political science Wed, 29 May 2024 11:57:03 EDT news636202621