Psychology news

• Turkish Authorities Launch Anti-LGBTQ Raids, Detaining Dozens

  14-09-2026 09:45 via socialpsychology.org
  Source:Al JazeeraTurkish police have detained at least 63 people after conducting nationwide raids targeting LGBTQ organizations. Police swooped on gay bars, offices, and homes in major cities on Sunday, escalating Turkey's decade-long hostility towards LGBTQ groups. Justice Minister said in a social media post Sunday that prosecutors were investigating 162 suspects, 9 associations, and 13 businesses to "protect children, the institution of the family, and...
  
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• People Are Using AI Bots to Fight Their Customer Service Battles

  25-09-2026 18:12 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Yahoo News - Top HeadlinesCustomer service representatives have gotten used to being asked by callers whether they are an artificial intelligence chatbot. But now, the people who provide customer service are finding themselves in an even stranger situation, because customers are increasingly using AI agents to call for help, sit on hold, and negotiate bills or cancel subscriptions, all while service representatives are left to wonder whether the caller is a human or a...
  
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• TikTok Settles Youth Safety Lawsuit for at Least $100 Million

  25-09-2026 18:10 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: CBS News - U.S. NewsTikTok will pay the state of Alabama at least $100 million and implement a slew of safety features for teens as part of a settlement agreement reached just before the case was set to go to trial. Alabama sued the social media company in 2025, claiming the platform had negative effects on the mental well-being of youths. In addition, the lawsuit argued that TikTok knew that its "addictive properties" were harmful to children.
  
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• Tech Leaders Warn United Nations of Risks to Humanity From AI

  25-09-2026 18:10 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Yahoo News - Top HeadlinesThe heads of major artificial intelligence firms pleaded with the United Nations on Wednesday to save the world or at least its people by regulating the fast-expanding technology that they have been building. "If managed poorly, I even believe AI could be a risk to humanity as a whole," said Dario Amodei, chief executive officer of Anthropic. And from his competitor Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, came this assessment: "We could lose control of the...
  
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• Plant-Based Meat Labels Make Food Seem Less Masculine, Study Finds

  25-09-2026 18:10 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: PsyPostCompared with meat from animals, plant-based meat alternatives are better for the environment and public health, but a new study finds that simply labeling a dish as a plant-based meat alternative leads meat-eaters to view it as less masculine and appealing. Moreover, resistance to plant-based alternatives tends to be strongest among people who hold hostile sexist beliefs. The study was published in Social Psychological and Personality Science.
  
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• A New Way to Expand the Youth Behavioral Health Workforce

  23-09-2026 10:08 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Association for Psychological ScienceIn spring 2026, students from the United States' first cohort of undergraduates majoring in child behavioral health walked across the stage to receive their diplomas from the University of Oregon. These students completed rigorous training as undergraduates that prepared them to enter the workforce in a new behavioral health role that is now eligible for a professional license in multiple states: Behavioral Health and Wellness Practitioner.
  
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• Iran's President Rules Out Surrender As Indirect Talks with U.S. Resume

  23-09-2026 09:10 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Yahoo News - Top HeadlinesIran and the United States remain far apart on how to end their war, but diplomacy must continue, a senior Iranian official told Reuters Wednesday, after Iran's president told the U.N. General Assembly that Tehran would never surrender to U.S. pressure. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, in his speech in ‌New York, condemned "signs of a bullying mentality" from U.S. President Donald Trump, who said on Tuesday that he could "annihilate" Iran.
  
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• Taylor Set to Repeal Climate Policies, Saying "Australia Has Done Its Bit"

  23-09-2026 09:05 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: The Guardian - Climate CrisisAngus Taylor has vowed to repeal a raft of Australian environmental protection policies, including several supported by past Coalition governments, within a month of being elected prime minister, prompting accusations he would "let climate change rip." On Wednesday, Taylor's energy spokesperson said a new bill would be introduced to parliament within 30 days of a Coalition election win to ensure affordable, reliable, and secure energy to...
  
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• "Scooby-Doo" Movie Portrays Velma As Member of LGBTQ+ Community

  23-09-2026 09:05 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: CBS News - U.S. NewsFor the first time, "Scooby-Doo's" Velma Dinkley is officially being portrayed as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. The iconic character—known for her witty intelligence and catchphrase "Jinkies!"—is shown crushing on another female character in a scene from the franchise's latest movie, "Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!" The new HBO Max Halloween-themed movie was released Tuesday and ends previous speculation about the character's sexual orientation.
  
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• Trump Renames AI "Super Intelligence" and Dismisses Safety Warnings

  23-09-2026 08:43 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Yahoo News - Top HeadlinesPresident Donald Trump said Tuesday at the United Nations that he is changing the term "artificial intelligence" to "super intelligence" because it's "more accurate," as he dismissed global concerns about the technology and its effects on humanity. Trump also said the people who are warning that AI is going to "kill us" are the same ones who warned about global warming—a real, human-driven phenomenon that that president has dismissed as a hoax.
  
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• Erdogan Targets "Gender Neutrality" at U.N. After Sweeping LGBTQ+ Raids

  23-09-2026 08:43 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Google News - HealthTurkish President Erdogan used his address to the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday to attack what he described as a global campaign promoting "gender neutrality." The speech came after Turkish authorities launched an operation known as "My Family Is Safe" targeting LGBTQ+ rights organizations, groups supporting people with HIV, and businesses across Turkey. Thus far, judicial proceedings have been opened against 162 people, 9 associations, and 13...
  
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• You'll Do Anything for Your Baby, and an Algorithm Knows How to Exploit It

  23-09-2026 08:42 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Yahoo News - Top HeadlinesBringing home a bundle of joy in America today unleashes a digital onslaught of advertisements pushing products, services, and apps that target mothers most fiercely, with a clear promise: They will solve parenting puzzles. These days, the $60 billion baby product market has found its stride. Parents are made to believe that if they have the right things—the things close friends are buying—their babies will sleep. They will eat. They will be...
  
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• Trump Tells U.N. He Could "Annihilate" Iran's Regime But Predicts a Deal

  23-09-2026 08:41 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Yahoo News - Top HeadlinesPresident Trump defended his handling of conflicts around the world in a speech before the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, saying he could "annihilate" Iran while predicting that its leaders would make a deal to end the war after the U.S. midterm elections. He framed his approach to foreign policy as deploying American power to solve "decades of intractable challenges" that previous U.S. leaders have failed to address.
  
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• U.S. Military Had Close Call After Using AI to Create Intelligence Report

  22-09-2026 07:30 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Yahoo News - Top HeadlinesThe intelligence report, circulated across the U.S. military this spring during the war with Iran, set off alarm bells: A Chinese ship in the Middle East was transporting components of a nuclear weapons program. The U.S. military swung into action with plans to intercept the vessel—and military planes were airborne—when it was discovered that the report had been generated with the help of AI and that a chatbot had misidentified the ship's cargo.
  
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• UN-Backed Experts Cite Possible U.S. War Crimes in Iran Strikes

  22-09-2026 07:30 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Yahoo News - Top HeadlinesExperts commissioned by the United Nations' top human rights body say they have found "reasonable grounds" to believe the United States committed war crimes in two strikes in Iran, including on a school in the southern city of Minab. They also accuse Iran's theocratic government of carrying out crimes against humanity against its own people, in a report published Thursday. The report, while not binding, adds to evidence of crimes in the war in...
  
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• Ozempic Can Change Your Body, But Can It Change Your Well-Being?

  22-09-2026 07:30 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Science Daily - Top NewsGLP-1 medications such as Ozempic have reshaped treatment for Type 2 diabetes. These drugs can help patients manage blood sugar, lower cardiovascular risk, and, in many cases, lose a large amount of weight. Yet a new study finds little evidence that they improve mental health, employment, marriage, or overall well-being. Thus, the drugs' broader life effects may be subtler than their dramatic physical health benefits.
  
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• Scientists Discover the Human Brain May Actually Be Two Organs

  21-09-2026 11:18 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Google News - HealthScientists have long treated the brain as a single organ with a shared developmental origin. New research suggests, however, that what we call the brain is actually built from two distinct systems which arose separately over hundreds of millions of years of evolution. The discovery has allowed researchers to grow human hindbrain neurons in the lab, opening new possibilities for studying ALS, spinal muscular atrophy, and other brainstem diseases.
  
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• Bill Gates Likens Artificial Intelligence to an "Evolutionary Event"

  21-09-2026 11:18 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: CBS News - U.S. NewsBill Gates told CBS Mornings that many Americans—including President Trump—have a societal blind spot that suggests they're unaware of how quickly AI could transform the world. At first, people think, "Isn't this just like the technologies of the past?" said Mr. Gates, but he added that comparisons to prior technological leaps are unhelpful given AI's potential for surpassing human intelligence. Instead, he likened AI to an "evolutionary event."
  
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• Nvidia CEO Calls for AI to Be Developed "As Fast As We Can"

  21-09-2026 11:15 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: CBS News - U.S. NewsThe CEO of the world's largest chipmaker told CBS News in an interview that tech companies should push forward with the development of artificial intelligence despite recent warnings from worried industry leaders that unregulated AI could lead to the extinction of humanity. "We should go as fast as we can irrespective of anybody else," said Jensen Huang, founder of Nvidia, which is now valued at more than $5 trillion.
  
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• Self-Reports Outdo Implicit Bias Tests in Predicting Behavior, Study Finds

  21-09-2026 11:14 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: PsyPostCan implicit bias tests predict how people actually behave? A new adversarial collaboration finds that while indirect tests capture a tiny fraction of hidden bias, traditional self-report surveys are vastly superior at predicting race-related decisions.
  
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• Republican Donors Say Trump AI Comments Miss the Mark With Voters

  21-09-2026 07:43 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Yahoo News - Top HeadlinesPresident Donald Trump dismissed calls for regulating artificial intelligence, calling tech leader warnings about AI's existential risk to humanity a "hoax" and saying that regulations are "for losers." In response, some Republican donors are now saying Mr. Trump's comments about AI show are the latest example of a president who seems out of touch with voter anxieties, likening the AI comments to Mr. Trump's glibness about the rising cost of...
  
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• New Blood Thinners May Help Alzheimer’s Patients, Study Finds

  21-09-2026 07:43 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Science Daily - Top NewsNewer blood thinners may do more than prevent strokes in people with Alzheimer's disease and atrial fibrillation. Researchers found that patients taking the blood thinners—known as non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants—showed a slower decline in cognitive function than those using warfarin or no blood thinners. The effect was modest each year but could be meaningful at the population level, according to the report, which appears in European...
  
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• Trump Vows to Form "AI Force," Saying He Won't Slow Down AI

  19-09-2026 13:28 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: CBS News - U.S. NewsPresident Trump announced Saturday that he is appointing an "AI Czar" and forming an "AI Force," rejecting public concerns about AI data centers and tech leaders' warnings that the rapid development of artificial intelligence could render humanity extinct by the end of the decade. In a Truth Social post, Mr. Trump called such fears a hoax and said the government could handle AI risks "very easily, with our already existing Criminal and Civil...
  
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• Google Says Gemini Hacked Real Systems, Mistaking Them for a Test

  19-09-2026 13:28 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Yahoo News - Top HeadlinesGoogle on Friday disclosed the first known instance of its artificial intelligence software, Gemini, carrying out an undirected computer hack weeks after AI firms Anthropic and OpenAI reported their AI models went beyond the instructions of their human creators. Google said that in May its AI model gained access to three outside systems during a test by either guessing login information or using login credentials it found in a public repository.
  
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• Why Relying on University Students Skews Global Psychological Research

  19-09-2026 08:48 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: PsyPostPsychological research often relies heavily on participants from Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic societies. Yet a large analysis of global survey data has found that highly educated individuals tend to be culturally similar to people from the Anglosphere and Western Europe. The study, published in Nature Communications, did not find a link between education level and cultural similarities to China, Russia, or India.
  
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• Detainee Says He Spent 15 Hours in Tiny ICE Cage in Florida

  19-09-2026 08:48 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Yahoo News - Top HeadlinesFor around 15 hours, immigration detention officers kept Raúl Suárez Herrero confined in a cage slightly larger than a phone booth, where he feared snakes and endured mosquitoes in the middle of Florida swampland, the former detainee alleged. Suárez, 59, said in an interview that he was forced into the cage after praying out loud for an ill young man at "Alligator Alcatraz," an ICE detention site. "I feel like I was in hell," Suárez l
  
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• Polls Show Most Americans Agree on One Thing: Opposition to AI

  18-09-2026 09:37 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Yahoo News - Top HeadlinesThere's not much the American people agree on these days. From Trump Steaks to plastic straws, from vaccines to Teslas, it's hard to pinpoint a topic that hasn't been polarized by politics. But a series of new surveys suggest Americans may have finally found an area of agreement: opposition to artificial intelligence. In fact, nearly two out of three Americans now say there is at least a moderate risk that AI will destroy humanity.
  
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• OpenAI Discloses New "Concerning" Behavior

  18-09-2026 09:37 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: DW- top storiesOpenAI revealed new incidents Wednesday in which its artificial intelligence has behaved in "unexpected or concerning" ways, including models attempting to "cheat." In one case, a model tried to upload files to the internet that it had created itself, only to cite them later and present them as reliable sources. In another case, a model, after failing to find the requested information, fabricated it and attempted to conceal that it had done so.
  
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• Why Top AI Researchers Are Warning About Human Extinction

  16-09-2026 16:36 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: DW- top storiesWarnings about the existential risks to humanity posed by artificial intelligence are nothing new. Back in the 1940s, author Isaac Asimov explored the risks of intelligent machines. In 1991, Hollywood blockbuster "Terminator 2" imagined a dystopian 2029 in which an out-of-control military AI directs killer robots in a war against humanity. If the warnings of several AI experts are to be believed, a similar scenario could become reality—even...
  
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• Tech CEOs Call for AI Regulation, But President Trump Not Keen to Act

  16-09-2026 16:36 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: PBS News HourThe technology industry's increasingly urgent warnings about the risks of artificial intelligence are slamming into political obstacles, offering a test of the U.S. government's willingness to confront what may become a defining issue of the era. President Donald Trump is leading the opposition to recent calls by tech leaders seeking regulatory oversight and safeguards, including Anthropic's Dario Amodei, OpenAI's Sam Altman, and xAI's Elon Musk.
  
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