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Social & Behavior

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 2-May-2026 23:15 ET (3-May-2026 03:15 GMT/UTC)

New study shows why clothing take-back programs fail — and what truly moves consumers to act

Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Retailers don’t need big financial incentives to get consumers to return used clothing—but they do need the right message. A new peer-reviewed study in the INFORMS journal Manufacturing & Service Operations Management finds that simply telling consumers their returned items will be “kept out of landfills” significantly increases participation in take-back programs. But when retailers disclose that they may resell those items for profit, participation plummets.

Journal: Manufacturing & Service Operations Management

Many displaced girls in Uganda trapped in cycles of sexual, physical violence

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Bureau
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Displaced girls and young women in informal urban settlements in Kampala, Uganda, whose first sexual experience was nonconsensual often become trapped in cycles of sexual and physical violence, a study led by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign social work professor Moses Okumu found.

Journal: AIDS and Behavior
Funder: Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Canada Research Chairs, Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation

Concordia researchers model a sustainable, solar-powered 15-minute city

Concordia University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Concordia researchers proposed a solar-powered “15-minute city” model that blends renewable energy, urban farming, and EV transport to reduce emissions by 98%. Their scalable framework uses rooftop gardens, local markets, and solar-charged vehicles to build resilient, low-carbon neighbourhoods within walking distance.

Journal: Sustainability
Funder: Volt-Age, Seed funds, Smart Solar Community Living Lab London/Ontario

‘Breathing’ robots reveal how fear spreads through touch

Universiteit van Amsterdam
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Humans can “catch” fear from robots, new research has shown. The findings – by a team of psychologists from the University of Amsterdam and the University of British Columbia – shed new light on how emotions can spread through touch, with implications for human relationships, mental health, and future technologies such as virtual reality and wearable devices. The research was published in the journal Emotion.

Journal: Emotion

Study reveals how quiet political connections help corporations win contracts

Strategic Management Society
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A study published in Strategic Management Journal sheds light on the subtle yet significant role that unelected officials play in helping corporations secure successful contract bids.

The research, led by Dr. Tony L. He of Rutgers Business School in Newark, N.J., analyzed a dataset of 14,849 public procurement contracts across 28 European countries between 2011 and 2017.

Journal: Strategic Management Journal

The human costs of climate overshoot

PNAS Nexus
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The social and humanitarian impacts of overshooting the Paris Agreement’s aspirational goal of a 1.5 degrees Celsius rise in global mean temperature remain largely unknown, despite robust knowledge of physical climate impacts. Andrew Kruczkiewicz and colleagues outline five factors that policymakers and planners should take into account when considering the human impacts of climate overshoot.

Journal: PNAS Nexus

Thinking takes energy

Bielefeld University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Thinking requires energy: a new study shows how our brain metabolism sets the limits of thinking. Researchers explain why cognitive models remain incomplete without considering biological resources.

Journal: Behavioral and Brain Sciences