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

Social & Behavior

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 20-Dec-2025 22:11 ET (21-Dec-2025 03:11 GMT/UTC)

Americans want stronger safety net for older adults

Cornell University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Social Security remains broadly popular, and as the U.S. population ages, more Americans think the government should do more to help families care for older adults, according to Cornell University-led research investigating shifting attitudes about aging policy.

Journal: Journal of Aging & Social Policy

Social steps to mitigate mental illness

PNAS Nexus
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Adam Skinner and colleagues used dynamic Bayesian network analysis to infer the complex causal networks that link social determinants to mental health in a nationally representative sample, consisting of around 25,000 participants in the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey.

Journal: PNAS Nexus

Gender-fair job titles don’t shift teen career aspirations in healthcare, study finds

De Gruyter
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study published in Open Psychology finds that changing how healthcare professions are labeled — whether through gender-fair pair forms (e.g., “female and male nurses”), the traditional masculine generic, or omitting the title entirely — does not significantly influence adolescents’ reported career interest or their anticipated sense of belonging in these roles.

Journal: Open Psychology
Funder: Swiss National Science Foundation

Some people could sound angrier when complaining, new study finds

Frontiers
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Whether it’s about the weather, delays on public transport, or people backing out of plans – we complain daily. Now, researchers investigated if these complaints sound different depending on which culture we grew up in. Investigating two French-speaking cultures, they found that complaints were delivered differently and that Québécois sounded angrier whereas the French sounded sadder. While there may be an universal complaining tone of voice, cultural variations could show learned social conventions, embedded into us by the culture we grew up in, the researchers said.

Journal: Frontiers in Communication

Teacher-focused reforms vital for improving multicultural education, Japan case study finds

Hiroshima University

As Japanese society increasingly gets global, a new study finds that its education system has not kept pace. Students with foreign roots face cultural and linguistic hurdles in schools that still operate on assumptions of homogeneity. Findings suggest a lack of teacher training on multiculturalism is contributing to isolation and missed learning opportunities for these students.

Journal: Asian Studies
Funder: Javna Agencija za Raziskovalno Dejavnost RS, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

Igniting our response to wildfires: The power of metaphors

University of California - Merced

Metaphorical language helps people grasp -- and respond to -- the size, power and danger of wildfires. Two University of California, Merced research focused on two types of common metaphors: fire as a relentless, hungry beast and as a warlike enemy.

Optimists are alike, every pessimist has their own way

Kobe University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

When thinking about future events, optimists’ brains work similarly, while pessimists’ brains show a much larger degree of individuality. The Kobe University finding offers an explanation why optimists are seen as more sociable — they may share a common vision of the future.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Funder: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Japan Science and Technology Agency