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social behavior

·September 2, 2019·4 min read

Anxiety and depression: why doctors are prescribing gardening rather than drugs

Exposure to nature has been shown to help improve depression and anxiety symptoms. Many mental health professionals are recommending patients spend time gardening as a therapy. The main treatment benefits may be seen when a person enters a community gardening project, which helps develop social and cooperative skills, as well as providing support for those with mental health conditions.

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·September 1, 2019·4 min read

Adolescents’ fun seeking predicts both risk taking and prosocial behavior

A positive correlation has been identified between prosocial and rebellious behaviors in teens. The more risk taking behaviors a teen exhibited, the more likely they were to act prosocially. The findings suggest the same developmental processes are at work for both types of behaviors. Also noted was faster brain development in the medial prefrontal cortex predicted a decrease in rebellious behavior.

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·August 25, 2019·5 min read

The unbeatable lightness of being

Finding humor in life can help to improve happiness and reduce stress.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·August 21, 2019·4 min read

Why we remember our youth as one big hedonistic party

Were we as hedonistic as we remember as teens? Most likely not. Researchers look at how we recall memories of our past years and how our youthful experiences helped us form our current identities.

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·August 16, 2019·3 min read

Political campaigns may influence acceptance of violence against women

Study links acceptance of violent attitudes toward women and more tolerance to 'rape culture' with a person's presidential candidate support in the 2016 election.

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Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·August 15, 2019·3 min read

Testosterone has a complicated relationship with moral reasoning

Contrary to popular belief, a new study reveals higher levels of testosterone may make people more sensitive to moral norms.

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·August 13, 2019·4 min read

Glial cells are critical players in brain’s response to social stress

The behavior of oligodendrocytes plays a critical role in determining whether we tolerate or succumb to stress.

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·August 4, 2019·3 min read

Understanding ’radicalizing environments’ key to tackling extremism

Vulnerability to extremism isn't just a matter of being psychologically susceptible to moral influence. It is also a matter of being susceptible to sustained exposure to settings that enable extremist socialization. A new study sets five categories of determinants which generate, or suppress, the risk of individuals acquiring extremist beliefs and engaging in extremist behaviors. The study proposes a framework for tackling lone-actor terrorist risks and the emergence of radicalizing environments.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·August 2, 2019·4 min read

Change the bias, change the behavior? Maybe not

A meta-analysis of papers about implicit bias finds little evidence that changing a person's biased beliefs alters their behavior.

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·August 1, 2019·5 min read

Cheater, cheater: Cheating may be an innate trait

People tend to cheat for personal gain as a result of an innate propensity to cheat rather than due to external factors. Researchers say scarcity had no significant impact on cheating behaviors when the beneficiaries are the subjects themselves.

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·July 31, 2019·4 min read

‘Love hormone’ has stomach-turning effect in starfish

Oxytocin, a hormone commonly associated with love and bonding in humans, causes starfish to turn their stomachs inside-out to feed. The findings provide vital new evidence for the evolutionary role of oxytocin and vasopressin neuropeptides as regulators of feeding in animals.