https://phys.org/science-news/social-sciences en-us The latest news on social sciences, history, political science, psychology and sociology 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 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 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 Speech consists of a continuous stream of acoustic signals, yet humans can segment words from each other with astonishing precision and speed. To find out how this is possible, a team of linguists has analyzed durations of consonants at different positions in words and utterances across a diverse sample of languages. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-word-consonants-systematically-lengthened-diverse.html Social Sciences Tue, 24 Sep 2024 05:00:01 EDT news646321981 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 When given the choice, people prefer to collaborate on work projects with higher-paid colleagues, but they want to hire subordinates with a lower pay history than theirs, according to research published in the journal American Psychologist. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-high-pay.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Mon, 23 Sep 2024 09:00:01 EDT news646300021 Overall, Matthew Burnett's medical school experience has been wonderful. But the fourth-year medical student at A.T. Still University Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine understands his experience does not represent all medical students. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-mindset-key-medical-students-alarming.html Social Sciences Education Thu, 19 Sep 2024 12:07:20 EDT news645966436 As income inequality widens, debates around redistribution policies are heating up. New research from the Universities of Zurich, Lille and Copenhagen reveals that support for these policies stems not only from individuals' financial situations but also from an inherent aversion to inequality. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-aversion-inequality-redistribution-policies.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Thu, 19 Sep 2024 10:17:03 EDT news645959822 When making economic decisions, humans can be driven by various factors, including their goals and emotions. Past studies have hypothesized that emotions play a crucial role in economic decisions, particularly those that involve risk or trade-offs between immediate and future benefits. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-relationship-emotions-economic-decision-differ.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Thu, 19 Sep 2024 09:49:38 EDT news645958172 Income and wealth inequality in the U.S. remain near all-time highs. Analysts say this disparity is a "major issue of our time." Experts have spotlighted deep policy failures fueling the problem and helpful economic fixes to alleviate the suffering. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-toddlers-bias-wealth.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Wed, 18 Sep 2024 17:05:04 EDT news645897901 Sharing stories over a cup of coffee; dancing in a group; cheering a football game in a crowd: these everyday rituals are among many different types of shared experiences that help humans develop social cohesion. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-synchronous-movements-social-bonds.html Social Sciences Wed, 18 Sep 2024 15:10:18 EDT news645891015 Think about the terms you use and why you started using them. Do you describe circular traffic patterns as "roundabouts," "traffic circles" or "rotaries?" Is your beverage preference called "pop," "soda" or "coke?" Do you wear "sneakers," "tennis shoes," or "gym shoes?" https://phys.org/news/2024-09-social-local-identities-language-areas.html Social Sciences Fri, 13 Sep 2024 12:14:04 EDT news645448442 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 Land was once set aside as Native American reservations because it was undesirable and low in resources, but now interested Native Americans may have economic leverage in the growing industry of clean energy. A team of researchers led by UW–Madison professors Dominic Parker and Sarah Johnston quantified the economic potential of wind and solar energy projects on these lands and discussed the regulatory barriers for tribes wishing to tap into it. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-energy-native-american-reservations-alleviate.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Tue, 10 Sep 2024 17:30:03 EDT news645208201 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 Opportunity hoarding has gained attention over the last several years, particularly after the 2019 Varsity Blues Scandal in which wealthy, well-known parents used their money, status and privilege to illegally get their children into university. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-privileged-parents-economic-upward-mobility.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Wed, 04 Sep 2024 12:50:28 EDT news644673024 New findings provide quantitative criteria for classifying social organizations in human history, together with potential explanatory variables that can be empirically measured for anthropology, history and archaeology, according to a study published September 3, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS Complex Systems by Kenji Itao and Kunihiko Kaneko from the University of Tokyo, Japan and Copenhagen University, Denmark (Kaneko) and the RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Japan (Itao). https://phys.org/news/2024-09-simulation-explores-gift-social.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Tue, 03 Sep 2024 14:00:01 EDT news644572622 The more centrally connected someone is within their social media network, the more likely that new words they use will become adopted into mainstream language, according to a new study published in PLOS Complex Systems by Louise Tarrade of École Normale Supérieure, France, and colleagues. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-words-social-media.html Social Sciences Tue, 03 Sep 2024 14:00:01 EDT news644570881 Babies who have more diverse social contacts in the first years of their life can get over their prejudices more easily by the age of 17. That's according to research published in npj Science of Learning by neuroscientist Saskia Koch of Radboud University. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-early-exposure-diverse-babies-prejudices.html Social Sciences Tue, 03 Sep 2024 13:12:06 EDT news644587923 Conventionally, decision-making is portrayed as a rational process: individuals calculate potential risks and aim to maximize benefits. Yet, our brains do not always endorse rational action, particularly when an immediate response is required. Sometimes, individuals mistakenly choose objectively worse options because of how these options are perceived in a given context. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-wrong-context-human-rationality-decisions.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Tue, 03 Sep 2024 13:11:07 EDT news644587864 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 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 Since the end of the last Ice Age, growth of the human population has been far from uniform, marked instead by periods of rapid expansion followed by sharp declines. The reasons behind these fluctuations remain only partially understood. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-links-conflict-population-neolithic-europe.html Archaeology Social Sciences Wed, 28 Aug 2024 01:10:02 EDT news643992122 Millions of women who work in the fisheries industry are being left behind as technologies develop to counter the effects of climate change and economic pressures. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-women-global-fisheries-industry-falling.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Tue, 27 Aug 2024 05:00:02 EDT news643895641 What makes someone seem wise? People view wisdom through the lens of applying knowledge and thinking logically as well as considering others' feelings and perceptions, finds a new study led by University of Waterloo researchers who looked at perceptions of wisdom across 12 countries and five continents. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-people-wise-key-characteristics-global.html Social Sciences Thu, 22 Aug 2024 13:04:03 EDT news643550642 ChatGPT, the generative artificial intelligence technology developed by OpenAI, could help humans with daily, creative tasks—even those typically thought to require the human ability to "read between the lines," according to new research by the University of Houston and Rice University. Its capability has proven to be superior compared to traditional Google search or even human brainstorming without any technical assistance, the study authors argue. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-chatgpt-people-creativity-everyday-tasks.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Wed, 21 Aug 2024 11:17:16 EDT news643457831 A team of mental health, human behavior and economic specialists affiliated with several institutions in Japan has found that under the right conditions, playing video games may be good for mental health. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-video-game-playing-mental-health.html Social Sciences Tue, 20 Aug 2024 09:50:02 EDT news643364002