https://phys.org/science-news/political-science en-us The latest news on political science An interdisciplinary team of researchers led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst have published work in the journal Science calling into question the conclusions of a widely reported study—published in Science in 2023—finding the social platform's algorithms successfully filtered out untrustworthy news surrounding the 2020 election and were not major drivers of misinformation. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-team-debunks-facebook-news-algorithm.html Social Sciences Political science Thu, 26 Sep 2024 14:00:01 EDT news646565823 The US House of Representatives is more likely to vote on climate action when it is linked with certain other environmental issues, according to a study published September 25, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS Climate by Kayla Morton of the University of Washington, Seattle and colleagues. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-politicians-climate-action-linked-environmental.html Political science Wed, 25 Sep 2024 14:00:01 EDT news646474421 Election polls often tighten up remarkably as the election date draws near. "Leave" (the European Union) won the UK election of May 2016 with a majority of 51.9%, but earlier the polls weren't nearly as tight—in January 2011 "Remain" was up by about 20 percentage points. In the 2020 presidential election in Poland, Andrzej Duda won with 51.0% of the votes, whereas he was up by about 5 percentage points just eight weeks earlier. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-large-electorates-tend-evenly-results.html Mathematics Political science Mon, 23 Sep 2024 10:00:01 EDT news646304327 Homicide is a leading cause of death among people 19 and younger in the United States, and firearms are used in a large proportion of these crimes. Although the homicide rate for this population declined in the 1990s and 2000s, it has increased every year since 2013, with a large spike during the COVID-19 pandemic. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-family-members-common-perpetrators-infant.html Social Sciences Political science Mon, 23 Sep 2024 09:34:14 EDT news646302851 Conservative voters have slightly larger amygdalas than progressive voters—by about the size of a sesame seed. In a replication study published September 19 in the journal iScience, researchers revisited the idea that progressive and conservative voters have identifiable differences in brain morphology, but with a 10x larger and more diverse sample size than the original study. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-political-ideology-differences-brain-previously.html Political science Thu, 19 Sep 2024 11:00:01 EDT news645954721 People selectively underestimate how rich the world's richest people are, according to a study. Increasing income inequality in many countries is driven by steep gains among the top 1% of earners. In the United States, support for policies that would redistribute wealth has not increased since the 1970s, even as the share of incomes held by the top 1% of Americans jumped from 10% to 19%. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-people-underestimate-income.html Economics & Business Political science Tue, 17 Sep 2024 12:44:50 EDT news645795886 Have you ever tried to convince a conspiracy theorist that the moon landing wasn't staged? You likely didn't succeed, but ChatGPT might have better luck, according to research by MIT Sloan School of Management professor David Rand and American University professor of psychology Thomas Costello, who conducted the research during his postdoctoral position at MIT Sloan. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-conversations-ai-successfully-belief-conspiracy.html Social Sciences Political science Thu, 12 Sep 2024 14:00:02 EDT news645349861 Survey data collected from Chicago, Illinois at the time of the 2020 police shooting of Jacob Blake in nearby Wisconsin shows that trust in police plummeted among Black residents after the shooting. Jonathan Ben-Menachem and Gerard Torrats-Espinosa of Columbia University in New York, U.S., present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on September 11, 2024. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-police-declined-black-chicago-residents.html Social Sciences Political science Wed, 11 Sep 2024 14:00:02 EDT news645265922 Conservatives and liberals may be at odds in their views on environmental issues, but a new psychology study shows that framing the need to address climate change as patriotic and as necessary to preserve the American "way of life" can increase belief in climate change and support for pro-environmental policies among both groups. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-psychology-messaging-roadmap-attitudes-environmental.html Social Sciences Political science Mon, 09 Sep 2024 15:00:01 EDT news645090361 Do you trust fact-checkers? It might not matter. A new Nature Human Behaviour paper from MIT Sloan School of Management Ph.D. candidate Cameron Martel and professor David Rand reveals a surprising truth: fact-checker warning labels on social media can significantly reduce belief in and spread of misinformation, even among those who harbor doubts about the fact-checkers themselves. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-fact-checkers-dont.html Social Sciences Political science Tue, 03 Sep 2024 10:22:03 EDT news644577721 Gun-free zones have often been blamed for making schools, malls and other public areas more attractive to shooters; however, there have been no quantitative studies examining those claims. Now, in a first of its kind study published in The Lancet Regional Health - Americas, researchers at UC Davis Health and other institutions have shown that gun-free zones may, in fact, reduce the risk of mass shootings. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-gun-free-zones-mass.html Political science Mon, 02 Sep 2024 14:50:18 EDT news644507412 Despite being highly confident that they can understand the minds of people with opposing viewpoints, the assumptions humans make about others are often wrong, according to new research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London, in partnership with the University of Oxford. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-people-confidently-wrong-opposing-views.html Social Sciences Political science Wed, 28 Aug 2024 12:29:03 EDT news644066941 According to a new study, as of April 2021, US Congress members whose ancestors enslaved 16 or more people had a net worth that was five times higher than that of legislators whose ancestors did not have slaves. Neil Sehgal of the University of Pennsylvania, US, and Ashwini Sehgal of Case Western Reserve University, US present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on August 21, 2024. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-congress-members-wealth-statistically-linked.html Economics & Business Political science Wed, 21 Aug 2024 14:00:01 EDT news643450501 In many countries, scientists have experienced a loss of academic freedom in recent years. This trend has been criticized on the basis of fundamental principles. However, there has been no research to date on whether the degree of academic freedom also has an impact on a society's ability to produce innovations. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-academic-freedom.html Education Political science Wed, 21 Aug 2024 11:17:06 EDT news643457822 Legal documents are notoriously difficult to understand, even for lawyers. This raises the question: Why are these documents written in a style that makes them so impenetrable? https://phys.org/news/2024-08-laws-written-incomprehensible-style.html Social Sciences Political science Mon, 19 Aug 2024 15:00:02 EDT news643274641 Across rural America, the increased presence of loaded guns in homes and vehicles could lead to a spike in gun injuries and homicides at the start of every deer hunting season, a new study warns. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-gun-violence-rural-america-deer.html Social Sciences Political science Mon, 19 Aug 2024 13:03:03 EDT news643291381 Looks like Kamala Harris' campaign is getting it right when it comes to social media, according to a new study. As democrats are playing up their sunny outlook in their presidential campaign, a study published in Scientific Reports suggests that emphasizing in-party positive messaging is more effective for political communication on social media than promoting out-party hostility. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-online-reveals-party-positivity-engagement.html Social Sciences Political science Mon, 19 Aug 2024 11:57:31 EDT news643287447 While the U.S. federal government has clean energy targets, they are not binding. Most economically developed countries have mandatory policies designed to bolster renewable electricity production. Because the U.S. lacks an enforceable federal mandate for renewable electricity, individual states are left to develop their own regulations. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-renewable-energy-policies-benefits-state.html Economics & Business Political science Thu, 15 Aug 2024 12:49:03 EDT news642944941 In just a few months, voters across America will head to the polls to decide who will be the next U.S. president. A new study draws on mathematics to break down how humans make decisions like this one. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-biggest-biases-math.html Mathematics Political science Mon, 12 Aug 2024 11:05:40 EDT news642679532 Researchers at the University of Bath have identified signals in social media posts that can predict when someone posting on far-right forums is likely to go on to commit a terrorist act. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-potential-terrorists-social-media.html Social Sciences Political science Fri, 02 Aug 2024 10:02:29 EDT news641811733 Each year, hundreds of thousands of people are affected by armed conflict, both directly, through loss of life, or indirectly, through the loss of family members. Researchers from the MPIDR, CED and the University of Washington studied the extent and duration of bereavement among those who lost immediate family members in high-intensity conflicts. Their finding reveals that for every casualty, multiple loved ones carry the trauma for the rest of their lives. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-casualties-trauma-bereavement-armed-conflicts.html Social Sciences Political science Mon, 29 Jul 2024 09:43:28 EDT news641464997 The intuition to distill hard numbers like "90 percent" into words like "almost all" may help make science and statistics more accessible, but new research shows that isn't necessarily the best way to engage people online. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-communicating-boosts-climate-science.html Education Political science Fri, 26 Jul 2024 12:00:01 EDT news641213517 A majority of people in Afghanistan support human rights for Afghan women, and men are especially likely to support women's rights when primed to think about their eldest daughters, according to a study published July 17, 2024, in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, by Kristina Becvar and colleagues from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-afghans-women-rights-men-daughters.html Social Sciences Political science Wed, 17 Jul 2024 14:00:01 EDT news640426142 Rising water prices are forcing many households in the United States to choose between rationing water or risking shutoff by leaving bills unpaid. A study in Environmental Research Letters shows that government agencies and water utilities may be underestimating the true number of households at risk of losing affordable access to basic water service—and offers a solution. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-tools.html Economics & Business Political science Wed, 10 Jul 2024 16:08:14 EDT news639846491 A recent study, conducted in the midst of last year's widespread protests in Israel, has uncovered extreme polarization in public opinion regarding the judicial reform introduced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-rapid-polarization-israeli-judicial-reform.html Social Sciences Political science Fri, 05 Jul 2024 10:05:04 EDT news639392702 Although people lie a lot, they typically refrain from accusing others of lying because of social norms around making false accusations and being polite. But artificial intelligence (AI) could soon shake up the rules. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-ai-provoke-people-careless-accusations.html Social Sciences Political science Thu, 27 Jun 2024 11:00:01 EDT news638693533 Sharing false political information on social media by users may be associated with aspects of personality such as positive schizotypy, a set of traits including paranoia, suspicion and disrupted thinking patterns. It may also be linked to a motivation to increase awareness according to a study published June 26, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Tom Buchanan, University of Westminster, UK, and colleagues. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-false-political-social-media-positive.html Social Sciences Political science Wed, 26 Jun 2024 14:00:01 EDT news638603267 An LMU study reveals how Facebook and Instagram deliver political advertising. The algorithms seem to favor the contents of certain parties. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-meta-algorithm-election-advertising.html Political science Wed, 26 Jun 2024 10:23:10 EDT news638616126 Americans have a right to vote, and many view that right as a duty. But is that duty to ourselves—to ensure our individual voice is heard and our interests represented? Or is that duty to others—a duty to our families, our community, our country? https://phys.org/news/2024-06-reframing-voting-duty-key-engagement.html Political science Fri, 21 Jun 2024 10:25:04 EDT news638184302 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