EurekAlert! News by Subject: Social & Behavior - News by Subject: Social & Behavior

Social & Behavior

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 9-Jul-2025 04:11 ET (9-Jul-2025 08:11 GMT/UTC)

New research reveals psychological ‘booster shots’ can strengthen resistance to misinformation over time

University of Oxford
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study has found that targeted psychological interventions can significantly enhance long-term resistance to misinformation. Dubbed “psychological booster shots,” these interventions improve memory retention and help individuals recognize and resist misleading information more effectively over time.

Journal: Nature Communications

Adults abused as children twice as likely to develop health and mental health conditions

University of Toronto
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study published this week in Child Maltreatment found that in comparison to those who had not been abused in childhood, adults who had experienced both childhood physical and sexual abuse had approximately double the odds of physical and mental health conditions, including angina, arthritis, asthma, COPD, heart attack, depression, and disability -- even after considering respondents’ age, race, income, and health behaviors, as well as obesity.

Journal: Child Maltreatment

Foraging footballers suggest how we come together to act as one

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Graduate University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Originally described in the context of particles drifting through liquid, Lévy walk has been found to accurately describe a very wide range of phenomena, from cold atom dynamics to swarming bacteria. And now, a new study published in Complexity has for the first time found Lévy walk in the movements of competing groups of organisms: football teams.

Journal: Complexity
Funder: Japan Science and Technology Agency

Extremists align in targeting LGBTQ+ communities

University of Adelaide
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Research has found that many terrorist groups with differing ideological motivations share common ground in targeting LGBTQ+ communities.

UC Study: Long sentences for juveniles make reentry into society more difficult

University of Cincinnati
Peer-Reviewed Publication

University of Cincinnati criminologist J.Z. Bennett has a new study that appears in the journal Criminology. The study, "Thicker Than Blood: Exploring the Importance of Carceral Bonds for Those Formerly Serving Juvenile Life Without Parole Sentences," examines the societal barriers to reentry for juveniles who served long prison sentences.

Journal: Criminology

UTA team wins prize for vital US magnet technology

University of Texas at Arlington
Grant and Award Announcement

University of Texas at Arlington physics Professor J. Ping Liu has won the 2025 Hill Prize in Physical Sciences for pioneering new ways to design magnets that power high-tech devices. Awarded by the Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science and Technology (TAMEST) and Lyda Hill Philanthropies, the prize recognizes groundbreaking innovations with the potential for real-world impact. Dr. Liu shares the award as co-principal investigator alongside James Chelikowsky, a professor of physics and chemical engineering at UT Austin.

Funder: Lyda Hill Philanthropies

Emotive marketing for sustainable consumption?

University of Göttingen
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Does triggering certain emotions increase willingness to pay for sustainably produced food? In social media, emotional messages are often used to influence users' consumer behaviour. An international research team including the University of Göttingen investigated the short- and medium-term effects of such content on consumers' willingness to pay for bars of chocolate. They found that in the short term, provoking certain emotions increases willingness to pay, but the effect weakens after a very short time. The results were published in the journal Q Open.

Journal: Q Open