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

Social & Behavior

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 9-Jan-2026 12:11 ET (9-Jan-2026 17:11 GMT/UTC)

Dragon-slaying saints performed green-fingered medieval miracles, new study reveals

University of Cambridge
Book Announcement

The Vatican’s eco-friendly farm, recently inaugurated by the first ever Augustinian pope, echoes his order’s forgotten early history, new research argues. Dr Krisztina Ilko challenges major assumptions about the medieval Catholic Church and early Renaissance.

Body image issues in adolescence linked to depression in adulthood

University College London
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Teenagers who are unhappy with their bodies are more likely to develop symptoms of eating disorders and depression in early adulthood, according to a new study led by University College London (UCL) researchers.

Journal: The Lancet Psychiatry
Funder: Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council

Online discussions: Whose voices are heard?

Max Planck Institute for Human Development
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Online discussions are often dominated by a small group of active users, while the majority remain silent. This imbalance can distort perceptions of public opinion and fuel polarization. In a group-based field experiment on Reddit, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, TU Dresden, and Stanford University have investigated why some people remain silent readers (“lurkers”) while others are particularly active (“power users”)—and which measures might encourage people to join the discussion.

Journal: Science Advances

Spending less can deliver more climate-friendly nutrition

Tufts University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Eating healthy can save money and also cause less greenhouse gas emissions than most people’s current food choices, according to a new global study that examined food costs, nutrition, and climate impact around the world.

Journal: Nature Food

Girlbosses in the media: from boom to bust, the parable of an icon

Università di Bologna

How gender narratives have constructed and dismantled the cultural phenomenon of the 'girlboss', shaping social expectations of women entrepreneurs: a study by the University of Bologna and the Canadian Ivey Business School

Journal: Journal of Business Venturing

How emotions spread online following celebrity suicide news

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Reshare cascades on X (formerly Twitter) show how different expressed emotions unfold in the aftermath of celebrity suicides, according to a study published December 10, 2025, in the open-access journal PLOS One by Ehsan Nouri of the University of Virginia, U.S., and colleagues.

Journal: PLOS One

Researchers uncover clues to mysterious origin of famous Hjortspring boat

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new analysis of the Hjortspring boat, an ancient wooden plank boat now on display in the National Museum of Denmark, has yielded clues to its potential origin — which has long been considered a mystery, according to a study published December 10, 2025 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Mikael Fauvelle from Lund University, Sweden, and colleagues.

Journal: PLOS One

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