https://phys.org/science-news/social-sciences en-us The latest news on social sciences, history, political science, psychology and sociology Millennial Black women feel they have autonomy and flexibility in navigating beauty standards in their personal lives, according to a new qualitative study. But at work, they feel compelled to adapt to a more restrictive beauty standard. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-millennial-black-women-style.html Social Sciences Thu, 26 Sep 2024 15:41:03 EDT news646584061 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 Conflict in families can negatively affect individuals' well-being and relationships. But what exactly do families today fight about, and is conflict in the home generally more severe between couples or between parents and children? https://phys.org/news/2024-09-explores-families-communication-moods-chores.html Social Sciences Thu, 26 Sep 2024 12:30:01 EDT news646572406 One of the most daunting tasks for new leaders is making decisions that impact others. Although the average person makes thousands of conscious decisions each day—some estimates suggest as many as 35,000—when it comes to making decisions in the workplace, many hesitate. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-struggling-decisions-confidence.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Thu, 26 Sep 2024 12:19:14 EDT news646571946 Technology is often seen as a threat to democracy, with the surge in AI capabilities the latest big concern. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-social-media-platform-good-democracy.html Social Sciences Political science Thu, 26 Sep 2024 10:50:01 EDT news646566115 The theory of indirect reciprocity holds that people who earn a good reputation by helping others are more likely to be rewarded by third parties, but widespread cooperation depends on agreement about reputations. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-method-sustain-social-cooperation.html Mathematics Social Sciences Thu, 26 Sep 2024 10:28:04 EDT news646565282 People around the globe often depend on informal financial arrangements, borrowing and lending money through social networks. Understanding this sheds light on local economies and helps fight poverty. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-social-people-money.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Thu, 26 Sep 2024 10:22:05 EDT news646564922 As a physicist and data scientist with a keen interest in gender inequality, Fariba Karimi was amazed to discover that the gender gap in physics has remained almost unchanged since 1900. As the citation and coauthorship networks in physics expand, women still make up a small proportion—and the gaps between male and female are getting larger in terms of absolute numbers. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-gender-gap-physics-stable-century.html Social Sciences Thu, 26 Sep 2024 09:43:04 EDT news646562582 A new report reveals the challenges mothers face trying to maintain a relationship with their children while in prison, and recommends additional support. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-specialist-mothers-prison.html Social Sciences Political science Wed, 25 Sep 2024 16:10:07 EDT news646497854 A new research report released by Western Sydney University and Save the Children has revealed more than 6 in 10 children with access to the internet interact with "unknown others" daily despite concerns about online grooming, highlighting children's demands for better online protection. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-thirds-children-interact-daily-online.html Social Sciences Wed, 25 Sep 2024 16:00:01 EDT news646497762 Social media posts, speeches, advertising slogans and leaflets... Why do some of them inspire us to act while we pass others by with indifference? How can we motivate others? What signals, at the linguistic level, can persuade us to take action? How can we learn to identify these subtle methods of persuasion? Researchers from SWPS University investigated this issue. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-power-verbs-intuitive-texts.html Social Sciences Wed, 25 Sep 2024 15:27:15 EDT news646496830 A new study reveals that sex differences in academic strengths are found throughout the world and girls' relative advantage in reading and boys' in science is largest in gender-equal countries. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-gender-equity-paradox-sex-differences.html Social Sciences Education Wed, 25 Sep 2024 15:04:03 EDT news646495441 Turn-taking dynamics of social interactions are important for speech and gesture synchronization, enabling conversations to proceed efficiently, according to a study published September 25, 2024, in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Tifenn Fauviaux from the University of Montpellier, France, and colleagues. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-synchronization-social-interactions-conversations-cues.html Social Sciences Wed, 25 Sep 2024 14:00:01 EDT news646472265 Neuroticism is one of the Big Five personality traits, characterized by a tendency to experience negative emotions like anxiety, fear, and frustration. Individuals with high levels of neuroticism are often more sensitive to stress and more likely to react negatively to challenges. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-sales-jobs-people-neurotic-employers.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Wed, 25 Sep 2024 13:40:01 EDT news646486942 There is little doubt that historical racism has influenced the content and composition of several famous figurative paintings. In March 2024, this could be seen in the debate around the exhibition of the Rex Whistler mural, The Expedition in Pursuit of Rare Meats (1927), at the Tate Britain. Critics asked whether such artworks should remain on public display. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-historical-racism-negatively-affects-black.html Social Sciences Wed, 25 Sep 2024 13:13:05 EDT news646488783 Prestigious Victorian golf club 13th Beach Golf Links, famed for award-winning courses and hosting the Victorian Open, has found itself in the middle of a controversy. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-golf-australia-struggling-women-girls.html Social Sciences Wed, 25 Sep 2024 12:43:03 EDT news646486981 From contraception access to safe abortion, there is growing awareness about reproductive health and rights. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-reproductive-coercion-gender-based-violence.html Social Sciences Wed, 25 Sep 2024 12:39:24 EDT news646486758 In Australia and most countries, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Because of this, keeping someone in detention before trial comes with serious legal, practical and human-rights consequences, not just for the person accused but also for their family and for society. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-people-breach-bail-theyre-committing.html Social Sciences Wed, 25 Sep 2024 12:32:03 EDT news646486321 As the occurrence of weather extremes continues to escalate, the climate change movement now grapples with a new challenge, "climate burnout." https://phys.org/news/2024-09-climate-burnout-people.html Social Sciences Wed, 25 Sep 2024 12:30:01 EDT news646485926 Given that 77 percent of people in Canada and 57 percent of people in the United Kingdom watch a sports team regularly—compared to the 60 percent of people who turn out to vote in Canada and the U.K.—it's clear sports have an important and persistent influence on people's lives. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-professional-sports-leagues-embrace-social.html Social Sciences Political science Wed, 25 Sep 2024 12:27:04 EDT news646486022 More than half of the detainees in Police Watch Houses are there because they have violated their bail conditions. A first of its kind study by Edith Cowan University (ECU) has provided insights into the key reasons for those breaches. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-revealing-people-breach-bail-conditions.html Social Sciences Wed, 25 Sep 2024 12:25:14 EDT news646485910 Parents with any kind of disability are much more likely to have some type of interaction with the child welfare system than other parents. This means they are more likely than other parents to be reported for child abuse and neglect and more likely to have abuse or neglect substantiated by child welfare workers. They are also more likely to have their children placed in foster care and more likely to permanently lose their parental rights. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-child-welfare-parents-disabilities.html Social Sciences Political science Tue, 24 Sep 2024 16:24:27 EDT news646413858 War has become a regular part of life for many children. Millions are victims and witnesses to the horrors of war. Recent estimates by researchers at the Peace Research Institute Oslo show that one in six children globally lives in a conflict zone, and Africa has the highest number of conflict-affected children. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-war-affects-girls-boys-differently.html Social Sciences Tue, 24 Sep 2024 16:19:40 EDT news646413575 Linguists have long known that sign languages are as grammatically and logically sophisticated as spoken languages—and also make greater use of "iconicity," the property by which some words refer to things by resembling them. For instance, the sound of an English "bang" iconically resembles a sharp noise, and a meow resembles the crying sound of a cat. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-language-visual-advantage.html Other Social Sciences Tue, 24 Sep 2024 16:08:59 EDT news646412929 Modern crowdfunding has grown from relatively modest beginnings in the late 1990s to a multi-billion-dollar financing market for all kinds of early-stage innovations. The platform Kickstarter alone went from $276 million pledged in 2012 to $7.8 billion in 2024. There are even professional project designers to help craft that winning proposal. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-sweet-machine-reveals-factors-successful.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Tue, 24 Sep 2024 15:40:04 EDT news646411201 "Stranger churches"—Protestant congregations that welcomed speakers of certain languages other than English—in early modern London had "eyes everywhere" to hear, spread and dispel gossip in multiple languages, according to new research. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-churches-multilingual-gossip-elizabethan-london.html Other Social Sciences Tue, 24 Sep 2024 15:32:03 EDT news646410721 Ellsworth Avenue in Silver Spring, Md., sizzles on a summer evening: Residents stroll along its tree-lined sidewalks under the neon glow of upscale chain restaurants, retailers and a Whole Foods Market. Beyond the din of downtown is a different kind of sizzle: the intoxicating aroma of sliced meat frying in butter, garlic and onion—called tibs—wafting from one of many Ethiopian restaurants just outside the city center. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-suburbia-exposes-banishment-washington-suburbs.html Social Sciences Political science Tue, 24 Sep 2024 14:22:50 EDT news646406566 LGBTQ+ Americans experience widespread discrimination that impacts their physical and mental health—of the over 8% of U.S. adults who are members of the LGBTQ+ community, one in three report experiencing discrimination in the past year. Individuals who identify as transgender and nonbinary are exposed to more discrimination than their sexual minority counterparts, which is associated with worse health outcomes. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-lgbtq-policies-significantly-discrimination-transgender.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Tue, 24 Sep 2024 14:21:53 EDT news646406510 Following Barack Obama's reelection as U.S. president in 2012, the mental health of college-educated Black men improved significantly, while those who didn't attend college reported worse mental health, according to new research from Rice University sociologists. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-obama-reelection-mental-health-black.html Social Sciences Political science Tue, 24 Sep 2024 12:53:20 EDT news646401194 As nature connection researchers, we're aware of the innumerable benefits of spending time outside in nature. We're also aware that, like so many other interactions, immersing oneself in nature is an experience that is now available virtually. In fact, virtual reality (VR) companies now promote VR nature as tools for corporate wellness. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-virtual-reality-nature-wellness-benefits.html Social Sciences Tue, 24 Sep 2024 12:37:44 EDT news646400259