Articles tagged with Behavioral Psychology
A recent study covering 46 countries found that smokers are largely unaware of the cardiovascular risks associated with smoking and second-hand smoke. This knowledge gap is particularly concerning given the high number of cardiovascular deaths worldwide linked to tobacco use.
A new study found that moderate self-disclosure in online dating profiles creates a more favorable impression and leads to greater romantic interest. The 'Goldilocks principle' suggests that not too little or too much information is ideal, striking the right balance between openness and curiosity.
A new study found that negotiation is a routine part of daily life, with over 30% of social interactions involving some form of negotiation. The most common process was agreement-seeking and joint decision-making, not the zero-sum exchange typically associated with negotiation.
A pilot study by Bayes Business School found that shoppers using digital screens on their supermarket trolleys spent up to 32% more than those without. The study recorded significant spikes in spending and consumption among 'superusers' who engaged with the technology most.
Researchers found that individuals who prefer sweet tastes are less willing to tolerate uncertainty, leading them to choose smaller immediate rewards. This suggests a different mechanism underlying impulsivity than previously thought.
A study suggests that overconfidence persists not due to its costs but because of them, serving as a reliable signal for ability. Only the most capable individuals can afford to sustain high self-belief without severe consequences.
A new FIU study reveals that stressed-out parents are more likely to rely on screens for kids' entertainment, while fewer enforce consistent limits. Researchers recommend focusing on media quality and personalizing technology guidelines to create healthy screen habits.
Teaching children emotional regulation and healthy friendships can provide a crucial buffer against social media's risks to mental health and self-worth. Strong childhood friendships are better equipped to navigate digital spaces, reducing the likelihood of online validation-based identity and self-worth issues.
Researchers from Stanford University found that using AI companions can exacerbate feelings of loneliness and isolation in vulnerable individuals. Participants who engaged with chatbots for emotional support reported lower well-being despite initial perceptions of improvement.
A study published in Scientific Reports found that watching comedy videos can help improve recognition of subtle positive facial expressions, particularly when inducing a positive mood. Individual differences in empathy and depressive symptoms also play a role in this improvement.
A U of T Scarborough study explains why extra time seems to slip away. Researchers found that when people gain time unexpectedly, they tend to spend more time on activities and choose tasks that take longer.
Researchers found that problematic Internet usage is associated with worse mood, more stress, and longer internet use times. The study suggests that temptation is the main driver for continued internet use, with feelings of pleasure and relief emerging as reinforcing factors.
A new pan-European study identified the psychological and contextual factors that shape decision-making among healthcare professionals. The findings provide important insights into how behaviour change frameworks could support the uptake of new treatments, with the strongest lever being to shift intention to prescribe.
A new US national study by Tulane University's Newcomb Institute found that Americans are reporting experiences of sexual harassment at far higher rates than they did before the #MeToo movement. The share of U.S. adults reporting sexual harassment increased from 10.7% in 2018 to 24.3% in 2024.
A study of almost 2800 Australians over four years found no evidence that personal environmental actions like recycling and using public transport hinder support for broader climate action. Everyday behaviours are expressions of existing values rather than catalysts or obstacles for political engagement.
A new study by Aston University researchers suggests that positive crowd reactions like applause and laughter can make controversial political messages more acceptable to viewers. The research found that mixed laughter and booing were particularly damaging to the message, reducing ratings compared to other conditions.
A new study found that nostalgia and family traditions are major barriers to adopting plant-based diets, with personal experiences and cultural identities playing a significant role. Researchers suggest recreating nostalgic or culturally significant dishes using vegan ingredients can make dietary change feel more accessible.
A recent study by Annabelle Roberts found that consumers tend to distrust others after a negative experience, and this distrust can be difficult to overcome. The researchers conducted 21 studies involving nearly 12,000 people and discovered that people learn attitudes from a single trust interaction, whether positive or negative.
A new study reveals that cooperation does not require close family ties or reputation, but rather opponent-specific responses, leading to the emergence of cooperative behavior. This finding challenges conventional evolutionary theory and has implications for the design of more collaborative artificial intelligence systems.
A new neuroimaging study has identified specific MRI biomarkers that track along with changes in an individual's brain health trajectory over time. These findings demonstrate a holistic, multidimensional index of human performance correlating with physical, measurable changes in brain architecture.
Research reveals that job characteristics, including schedule flexibility and indispensability, influence how couples balance work and family responsibilities. The study found that women were more likely to make adjustments to support family needs, but this effect was attributed to differences in job characteristics rather than gender.
A University of Stirling study found that most people in the UK don't fully understand dog laws and often believe stronger protections exist than actually do. Dog owners were consistently more confident but not more accurate in their knowledge, raising concerns about improving legal understanding.
Researchers outline a future vision for VR research that prioritizes open science practices and technological accessibility. The Openverse protocol addresses interoperability, procedural standardization, and data sharing to improve VR study quality and address the reproducibility crisis.
New research highlights that modern slavery is often a result of business decisions prioritizing cost and efficiency over labor conditions. Companies must invest in understanding their supply chains to tackle exploitation and shift focus from reporting to knowledge.
A recent study published in Obesity Reviews found that knowledge about genetic risk alone is not sufficient to change behavior and reduce excess weight. Long-term, personalised support is crucial for effective behavioural change.
Research shows men and women exhibit similar performance in multitasking ability, except for conversational tasks where men ignore conversation more often. This difference influences how others perceive their performance, contributing to the persistence of the stereotype.
A new project developed by the University of Birmingham and Mind in Camden aims to improve understanding and response to people who hear voices, particularly when linked to suicidal thoughts. The resources encourage listening, curiosity, and collaboration to help individuals make sense of their experiences and feel more supported.
Researchers at Tokyo University of Science found that revealing visual elements sequentially and matching each element with the speaker's narration improves attention and learning. Participants in a cumulative presentation format showed higher test scores compared to whole-slide presentations.
Researchers discovered that random sounds played during sleep can disrupt the consolidation of new memories by altering the composition of sleep stages. Participants who heard randomly played sounds spent less time in deep sleep and experienced poorer memory performance.
A new book identifies nine types of procrastinators, from worriers to thrill seekers, and offers strategies for overcoming the problem. Procrastination causes serious harm to finances, health, relationships, and careers, but can be overcome with the right approach.
The Center for BrainHealth has partnered with Dr. Krystal Sexton to expand its workplace-focused strategy, providing science-based tools to optimize workforce performance and resilience. The partnership aims to equip organizations with scalable solutions to enhance adaptability, innovation, and long-term performance.
Research suggests alcohol interacts with Alzheimer's-related brain circuits in distinct ways, depending on the type of pathological change. Alcohol reduced communication in amyloid-beta models but increased it in tau models, highlighting an important principle in biology.
A new PNAS special feature showcases the critical role of behavioral and decision sciences in U.S. governance, highlighting how psychological and economic research protect public health, consumer rights, and finances across federal agencies. The research demonstrates how 'invisible' scientific frameworks streamline medical drug reviews...
A groundbreaking new study introduces the concept of Time-Extension Self-Efficacy (TESE), which predicts an employee's willingness to go the extra mile at work. The research found that organizations can influence these beliefs through simple recall exercises, boosting TESE and encouraging greater collaboration and flexibility.
Researchers used LLMs to analyze verbal reports of decision-making processes and found that people's own insights are a valuable source of data. The framework also showed that reasons people rely on shift systematically with the structure of the decision problem.
A study published in Nature Human Behaviour has identified genetic differences affecting toddler activity levels, which also overlap with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The research found that 10% of the variation in toddler activity levels can be explained by common genetic differences discovered by the researchers.
A study found that discussing from a third-person perspective in virtual environments improves consensus agreement, accuracy in understanding others' opinions, and reduces intragroup conflict. However, it also decreases emotional connection among participants.
Researchers analyzed 11.6 million marketplace interactions and experiments involving job candidates and service providers to find that faster responders were viewed more positively than delayed responders. Employers preferred speed as a signal of future responsiveness, but authenticity also mattered.
A study reveals that the rhythmic structure of laughter has remained constant in all living great apes, including humans, for at least 15 million years. This finding offers unexpected clues to the evolution of human speech, suggesting that sophisticated vocal control is a fundamental building block.
A recent study found that exposure to their own reflection in 4-month-old infants enhanced neural processing of others' facial actions but did not increase facial mimicry. The results suggest that simple experiences like seeing one's own reflection can shape the social brain from an early age.
A study found that people tend to focus on their personal outcome instead of comparing themselves to others when making status decisions involving health. In non-health situations, participants preferred to come out ahead of others, but this changed once health information was introduced, shifting them towards choosing what was best fo...
Researchers have developed the 'Youniversalism' scale to measure people's belief in subjective and experiential truths. The scale reveals that individuals who view themselves as 'spiritual' tend to score higher on Youniversalism and lower on trust in science.
New research by Muhammad Jawad finds that matching review formats to shopping stages improves outcomes. Participants who saw text for choice reduction and video for choice selection showed better results compared to those with mismatched formats.
Aberystwyth University experts Dr Kate Parsons and Dr Simon Payne will lead sessions on boosting vaccine uptake at the upcoming international meeting in Colombia. The workshop aims to bridge the gap between laboratory research and real-world impact by applying behavioural science principles to improve vaccine acceptance and delivery.
A survey of over 5,700 Chinese adolescents found significant associations between screen time, body weight, and mental health with sleep quality. Rural adolescents and girls fared worse overall, highlighting the need to address these factors to improve sleep.
Researchers at USC are conducting a clinical trial to determine whether mindfulness meditation training can augment the potential benefits of psilocybin therapy for mental well-being and cognitive function. The study will evaluate the effects of psilocybin within an eight-week mindfulness meditation training program.
A team studied 173 multiplex families from the Azores and Madeira islands, finding a single broken gene that travels through three generations and causes different illnesses. The CHD2 mutation is rare and affects schizophrenia, mood disorder, and autism in different family members.
A study published in Clinical Nutrition found that participants on an intermittent fasting diet lost around seven kilograms in six months, compared to two kilograms lost by those on the standard diet. The researchers suggest that this diet may drive weight loss through different psychological and behavioural pathways.
A new study examines how political context influences supply chain decision-making, finding that ideological cues can alter perceptions of both the decision and the decision-maker. Researchers found that even neutral presentations of politically charged issues can activate bias, influencing how recommendations are received.
A new study suggests that lower baseline dopamine may drive teenage risk-taking behavior, such as substance experimentation, which tends to decrease with age. The research found that adolescents with lower dopamine levels were more likely to try substances, but their use declined after the college years.
A study by University College London found that physical punishment is associated with detrimental outcomes for children's development and wellbeing. Children who experienced physical punishment were more likely to engage in risky behaviors and have poorer educational attainment.
A new study published in Frontiers in Psychology reveals that proactive brain training can strengthen the human mind before mental health challenges take root. The research found that a five-minute daily training program delivered digitally can lower stress, lift mental health metrics, and improve cognitive clarity among adults with an...
Researchers found that analysts from countries with a strong emphasis on long-term planning are better at predicting long-term earnings and making more profitable stock picks. These analysts also prompted managers to disclose more long-term information during earnings calls, providing a valuable perspective for investors.
Researchers found that asking people to take multiple looks at unfamiliar faces improved identification accuracy by around 8%. This simple approach, which combines decisions made by the same person, outperforms gains from specialist training programs.
Researchers found coordinated brain activity linked to social behavior begins seconds before movement starts in zebrafish. The pallium plays a key role in generating social drive, with stronger neural signatures predicting more socially engaged individuals.
A new book by a Cambridge child psychotherapist argues that treating parents alongside children is crucial for addressing the youth mental health crisis. The author highlights the importance of considering an 'ecological system', including families, communities, and environment, in understanding young people's wellbeing.
A new study led by Professor Dr. Anne Burmeister found that individuals seeking advice are more likely to reach out when they learn about the benefits for both parties involved, resulting in a 40% increase in contacts and high-quality advice received.
A large survey of US adults found that support for political violence remained stable from mid-2024 to mid-2025, with most Americans rejecting violence across all political affiliations. The study's findings suggest that prevention efforts can benefit from recognizing both areas of concern and resilience.
Research from University of East Anglia finds that TikTok content glamorizes illicit vaping, attracting young people and exchanging tips on bypassing age restrictions. The study suggests that legislation alone may not be enough to combat the issue, highlighting the need for platforms to take action.
Researchers found a clear divide in how gay and mainstream dating apps shape behavior and body image among Australian men. Gay dating apps encourage users to focus heavily on their bodies, leading to overwhelming pressure and negative self-talk.