Psychology news

• Week-Long Social Media Breaks Linked to Improved Mental Health

  27-11-2025 16:02 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: United Press International - Health NewsResearchers tracked 295 adults ages 18 to 24 who agreed to limit their social media use for seven days. Each participant was paid $150 to be in the study. For the study, these young adults shrunk their average screen time from just under two hours a day on social platforms down to about 30 minutes a day. The study, published Monday in JAMA Network Open, showed the biggest improvement in people who initially had more serious depression symptoms.
  
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• Gunmen in Australia Kill at Least 11 in Attack at Hanukkah Celebration

  14-12-2025 07:23 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: CBS News - World NewsAt least eleven people were killed Sunday when gunmen targeted Jewish attendees of a Hanukkah holiday celebration that drew more than 1,000 people on Australia's popular Bondi Beach. Another 29 people were hospitalized with injuries, including a child and two officers, according to police, who are calling the tragedy an antisemitic terrorist attack. One suspected gunman was also killed—Naveed Akram, 24, a Pakistani national based in Sydney.
  
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• Trump Signs Executive Order Limiting States' Ability to Regulate AI

  14-12-2025 06:55 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: United Press International - Health NewsPresident Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that limits states' ability to regulate artificial intelligence companies. The order is designed to "enhance the United States' global AI dominance through a minimally burdensome national policy framework," according to a release by the White House. The order marks a victory for tech companies like Google and OpenAI, which have as much as $100 million to spend on next year's midterm...
  
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• Review Challenges Idea That Highly Intelligent People Are Hyper-Empathic

  14-12-2025 06:55 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: PsyPostA new review challenges the assumption that highly intelligent people possess a heightened capacity for feeling the emotions of others. The analysis suggests that individuals high in intelligence often use a type of empathy that relies heavily on cognitive processing rather than emotional reactions. Published in the journal Intelligence, the paper proposes that these individuals may intellectualize feelings to maintain composure in difficult...
  
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• Kids' Anxiety and Depression Dropped Fast After COVID School Reopenings

  14-12-2025 06:55 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Science Daily - Top SocietyResearchers discovered that children who went back to school during COVID experienced far fewer mental health diagnoses than those who stayed remote. The study found that anxiety, depression, and ADHD all declined as in-person learning resumed, and that girls showed the largest improvements. Healthcare spending tied to these conditions also dropped. The report was published on December 8, 2025, in the journal Epidemiology.
  
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• Even Moderate Drinking Carries a Bigger Cancer Risk Than You Think

  14-12-2025 06:55 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Science Daily - Top HealthResearchers found that both how often and how much someone drinks significantly shape their cancer risk, even at moderate levels. Vulnerability varies across groups, with genetics, socioeconomic status, obesity, and lifestyle behaviors amplifying harm. The review, base on 62 studies, also uncovered gender differences, beverage-specific risks, and biological pathways that intensify cancer development. The findings appear in the journal Cancer...
  
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• AI May Help Amputees Connect With Their Bionic Hands

  14-12-2025 06:55 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: NPRResearchers have built a prosthetic hand that, with the help of artificial intelligence, can act more like a natural one. The key is to have the hand recognize when the user wants to do something, and then share control of the motions needed to complete the task. The approach, which combines AI with special sensors, helped people missing a hand simulate drinking from a cup, says the lead author of the study, published in the journal Nature...
  
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• U.S. State Department Reinstates Previous Font in Typeface About-Face

  13-12-2025 16:45 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: NPRThe U.S. State Department has reversed a Biden-era font change intended to make its paperwork more accessible to readers with disabilities. Secretary of State Marco Rubio directed diplomats around the world to switch from Calibri to Times New Roman 14-point font in all official documents, the State Department told NPR. Rubio said that the 2023 change by Biden's Secretary of State was part of misguided diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
  
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• Trump's DOJ Pressed Lawyers to Find Evidence UCLA Tolerated Antisemitism

  13-12-2025 13:28 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: ProPublicaA new investigation based on previously unreported documents and interviews with dozens of people reveals the extent to which the government violated legal and procedural norms to make a case that UCLA tolerated antisemitism. It also showed how the University of California system's dependence on federal money inhibited its willingness to resist the shakedown—a vulnerability the Trump administration's tactics brought into sharp focus.
  
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• Scientists Reveal a Tiny Brain Chip That Streams Thoughts in Real Time

  10-12-2025 10:58 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Science Daily - Top HealthBISC is an ultra-thin neural implant that creates a high-bandwidth wireless link between the brain and computers. Its tiny single-chip design packs tens of thousands of electrodes and supports advanced AI models for decoding movement, perception, and intent. Initial clinical work shows it can be inserted through a small opening in the skull and capture detailed neural activity. The technology could reshape treatments for epilepsy, paralysis, and...
  
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• South Korea to Require Advertisers to Label AI-Generated Ads

  10-12-2025 10:57 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: PBS News HourSouth Korea will require advertisers to label their ads made with artificial intelligence starting next year as it seeks to curb deceptive ads featuring fabricated experts or deep-faked celebrities endorsing products on social media. Following a policy meeting chaired by Prime Minister Kim Min-seok on Wednesday, officials said they will ramp up screening and removal of problematic AI-generated ads and impose punitive fines, citing growing risks...
  
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• Denmark to Compensate Indigenous Women for Forced Contraception

  10-12-2025 10:57 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: PBS News HourDenmark has agreed to compensate thousands of Indigenous women and girls in Greenland over cases of forcible contraception carried out by health authorities over decades starting in the 1960s. The Danish health ministry said Wednesday that women who were given contraception against their knowledge or consent between 1960 and 1991 can apply for individual payouts of about $46,000 starting in April. An estimated 4,500 women could be entitled to...
  
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• Millions of Americans Have Reported Domestic Violence in Past 5 Years

  09-12-2025 14:40 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: CBS News - U.S. NewsAlmost 5.4 million Americans have reported being victims of domestic violence over the last five years, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The majority, nearly 80%, were women. And according to the FBI, domestic homicides more than doubled between 2019 and 2024, increasing from 1,065 to 2,339. Indeed, a CBS News analysis of FBI data found that 24% of all reported violent crime is now domestic in nature. The latest data have experts...
  
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• Most Americans Say Political Rhetoric Has Gone Too Far, Poll Finds

  07-12-2025 06:54 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: United Press International - Health NewsA Gallup poll published Wednesday shows that majorities of both political parties in the United States think that inflammatory criticism and cruel political rhetoric have gone too far. Although Americans on each side of the political divide tend to believe that the opposite party has gone more overboard, there is broad agreement that political rhetoric is out of hand and that political violence is being driven by growing hostility.
  
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• Humans and AI Both Rate Deliberate Thinkers Smarter Than Intuitive Ones

  07-12-2025 06:54 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: PsyPostA new series of experiments suggests that people consistently view slow, deliberative thinking as a sign of higher intelligence and reliability compared to fast, intuitive thinking, even when both approaches yield accurate results. The findings also indicate that large language models like ChatGPT share this bias against intuition in complex reasoning contexts. This research was published in Communications Psychology.
  
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• DOJ Orders Prison Inspectors to Stop Considering LGBTQ Safety Standards

  07-12-2025 06:54 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: NPRThe U.S. Department of Justice has instructed inspectors to stop evaluating prisons and jails using standards designed to protect transgender, intersex, and gender-nonconforming people from sexual violence, according to an internal memo obtained by NPR. This population is uniquely vulnerable to attacks while incarcerated, data show, and advocates say the change will put such people in even more danger.
  
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• AI Children's Toy Can Chat About Sexual Fetishes, Warns Report

  07-12-2025 06:54 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Canadian Broadcasting Company - Top Stories NewsThis Christmas, kids might find something new under the tree: toys with built-in AI chatbots that can hold conversations. But a recent consumer report found at least one of these AI toys—a teddy bear called Kumma—could discuss sexually explicit topics. "If you asked it, 'What is kink?' it would give you a list of sexual fetishes," said R.J. Cross, who worked on the report from the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, a nonprofit that monit
  
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• U.S. Senators Accuse Russia of Genocide, Citing Child Abductions

  03-12-2025 16:23 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: United Press International - Health NewsRussia is engaged in genocide by abducting Ukrainian children and forcing them to adopt Russian names and culture, several U.S. senators claimed in a hearing Wednesday. The hearing was convened to evaluate evidence and allegations that Russia has taken tens of thousands of children since invading Ukraine in early 2022. To date, British officials have helped find more than 600 Ukrainian children who were abducted and taken to Russia, according to...
  
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• Scientists Discover First Gene Shown to Directly Cause Mental Illness

  03-12-2025 16:23 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Science Daily - Top HealthScientists have discovered that a single gene, GRIN2A, can directly cause mental illness—something previously thought to stem only from many genes acting together. People with certain variants of this gene often develop psychiatric symptoms much earlier than expected, sometimes in childhood instead of adulthood. Even more surprising, some individuals show only mental health symptoms, without the seizures or learning problems usually linked to...
  
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• Brief Social Media Break Linked to Better Mental Health

  03-12-2025 16:23 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: NPRIf you've ever skipped social media for a week or two because you sensed it was feeding your anxiety or dampening your mood, you might have been right. A new study in JAMA Network Open found that cutting down on social media use even for a week was associated with improved mental health in young adults. Likewise, a recently published meta-analysis concluded that limiting social media was related to a significant boost in "subjective well-being."
  
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• Field Experiment Reveals Psychology Behind "Batman Effect"

  03-12-2025 16:07 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: PsyPostA recent experiment conducted in the Milan subway system has found that the presence of a costumed superhero can significantly increase the willingness of commuters to help a stranger. The findings suggest that unexpected visual stimuli in public spaces may disrupt the psychological "autopilot" that governs daily routines, making individuals more aware of their surroundings and the needs of others. The research was published in npj Mental Health...
  
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• Asthma More Common Among Kids Whose Moms Have Eating Disorders

  03-12-2025 16:07 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: United Press International - Health NewsWomen with an eating disorder are 26% more likely to have children who suffer from asthma, a new study has found. The findings, published Tuesday in the journal Thorax, were based on pooled data from seven earlier European studies involving nearly 131,500 mother-child pairs. The research team speculated that eating disorders and the associated stress might affect the lung development of a gestating fetus.
  
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• U.S. Government No Longer Commemorating World AIDS Day

  03-12-2025 11:40 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Google News - HealthThe United States is not commemorating World AIDS Day this year—an event marked every December 1 since 1988. The day is meant to raise awareness of efforts to fight the deadly disease and remember those died from it. Globally, nearly 40 million people are living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, including about 1.2 million people in the United States. In the U.S., about 13% of people who have HIV don't know it—a driver of the virus'...
  
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• Scientists Uncover Five Stages in Human Brain Development

  01-12-2025 16:52 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Science Daily - Top HealthA study of nearly 4,000 brain scans from newborns to 90-year-olds suggest that our neural wiring evolves through five major stages from birth to late old age. These phases are separated by turning points that mark big shifts in how the brain is organized. The most surprising discovery is that adolescent-style development lasts into our early thirties. The study, by a research team at the University of Cambridge, appears in the journal Nature...
  
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• Northwestern Agrees to Pay Trump Administration $75M to Regain Funding

  01-12-2025 16:52 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: NPRNorthwestern University has agreed to a $75 million payout to the Trump administration to settle a discrimination investigation into the school and to restore federal funding that had been frozen, the Justice Department announced on Friday. "Today's settlement marks another victory in the Trump Administration's fight to ensure that American educational institutions protect Jewish students and put merit first," Attorney General Pam Bondi said in...
  
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• If toxic humility is a thing, I definitely have it. But perhaps there’s another way | Emma Beddington

  30-11-2025 15:00
  We’re taught that modesty is good and pride is bad. This ignores the fact that telling ourselves we’re OK is actually beneficial What’s your favourite thing about yourself? Stylist’s Love Yourself campaign asked over 400 women that, and published eight pages of their answers. People mostly picked low-key, quite specific stuff – “I can cook something out of nothing”; “I’m really strong”; “I can talk to anyone”; “I&rsquo
  
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• How can we navigate difficult conversations these holidays? Buddhism offers some guidance | Making sense of it

  30-11-2025 15:00
  Choosing to bring intentionality to our speech challenges our tendency to abandon and disconnect from those we do not agree withMaking sense of it is a column about spirituality and how it can be used to navigate everyday lifeWhen it comes to difficult conversations, I have a way to go. I often swing between hyper-assertiveness and retreating entirely, but both avoid vulnerability. I often tell myself silence is “skilful”, though it can easily turn into passive aggression. And avoida
  
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• Does ‘laziness’ start in the brain?

  30-11-2025 13:00
  Understanding the surprising mechanism behind apathy can help unlock scientific ways to boost your motivationWe all know people with very different levels of motivation. Some will go the extra mile in any endeavour. Others just can’t be bothered to put the effort in. We might think of them as lazy – happiest on the sofa, rather than planning their latest project. What’s behind this variation? Most of us would probably attribute it to a mixture of temperament, circumstances, upb
  
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• ChatGPT-5 offers dangerous advice to mentally ill people, psychologists warn

  30-11-2025 13:00
  Research finds OpenAI’s free chatbot fails to identify risky behaviour or challenge delusional beliefsChatGPT-5 is offering dangerous and unhelpful advice to people experiencing mental health crises, some of the UK’s leading psychologists have warned.Research conducted by King’s College London (KCL) and the Association of Clinical Psychologists UK (ACP) in partnership with the Guardian suggested that the AI chatbotfailed to identify risky behaviour when communicating with menta
  
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• ‘Desire in one of its rawest forms’: what do we know about limerence?

  29-11-2025 20:00
  For everything from pop music to poetry, overwhelming infatuation offersinspiration and storylines. But when might this tip over into something a little less healthy?For months after her relationship ended, Anna* couldn’t stop thinking about him.Each morning she’d wake with a jolt of grief; an intense, almost physical feeling that morphed into thoughts of him that consumed nearly every waking hour. Continue reading...
  
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