Communicating about climate change: What’s politics got to do with it?

In the United States, climate change is controversial, which makes communicating about the subject a tricky proposition. A recent study by Portland State researchers Brianne Suldovsky, assistant professor of communication, and Daniel Taylor-Rodriguez, assistant professor of statistics, explored how liberals…

How corporate managers try to fix workplace injustices by giving employees secret perks

A new study co-authored by the UBC Sauder School of Business has found that when senior managers mistreat workers, middle managers often attempt to quietly smooth things over. Robin Hood was known for stealing from the rich and giving to…

Mosquito-resistant clothing prevents bites in trials

North Carolina State University researchers have created insecticide-free, mosquito-resistant clothing using textile materials they confirmed to be bite-proof in experiments with live mosquitoes. They developed the materials using a computational model of their own design, which describes the biting behavior…

How experiencing diverse emotions impacts students

Experiencing a variety of positive emotions–or emodiversity–may benefit high school students, according to a study published in the British Journal of Educational Psychology . Positive emodiversity was associated with greater engagement (which has cognitive, behavioral, and emotional components) and academic…

When bosses are abusive, how employees interpret their motives makes a difference: study

A new UBC Sauder School of Business study shows that depending on how employees understand their boss’ motivation, employees can feel anger or guilt, and consequently, react differently to abusive supervision. Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs was a famously harsh…

Increased organizational support for employees’ adoption efforts yields positive benefits

WACO, Texas (June 23, 2021) – When an organization supports its employees who choose to adopt children, the employees, their families, the adopted children and the organization itself experience positive benefits and outcomes, according to new research from Baylor University.…

Partisanship guided Americans’ personal safety decisions early in the pandemic

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — What motivated Americans to wear masks and stay socially distanced (or not) at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic? More often than not, it was partisanship, rather than perceived or actual health risk, that drove…

Study: A quarter of adults don’t want children — and they’re still happy

Parenting is one of life’s greatest joys, right? Not for everyone. New research from Michigan State University psychologists examines characteristics and satisfaction of adults who don’t want children. As more people acknowledge they simply don’t want to have kids, Jennifer…

Analysis: Chile’s transition to democracy slow, incomplete, fueled by social movements

A new article analyzes Chile’s transition in 1990 from dictatorship to democracy, the nature of democracy between 1990 and 2019, and the appearance of several social movements geared to expanding this democracy. The article, by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University…

Researchers to investigate ‘flexible furlough’ and employers’ attitudes to part-time work

A research project by Cranfield School of Management will seek to determine to what extent so-called ‘flexible furlough’ during the coronavirus pandemic has increased employer openness to part-time working. Over 18 months, academics will investigate to what degree the ‘survival…

New research shows link between politics, boredom and breaking public-health rules

People who are more prone to boredom and who are socially conservative are more likely to break public-health rules, according to new psychology research. While previous research demonstrated a connection between being highly prone to boredom and breaking social-distancing rules,…

Study shows how rudeness leads to anchoring, including in medical diagnoses

Have you ever been cut off in traffic by another driver, leaving you still seething miles later? Or been interrupted by a colleague in a meeting, and found yourself replaying the event in your head even after you’ve left work…

How different beliefs and attitudes affect college students’ career aspirations

A study published in Career Development Quarterly has looked at whether beliefs and attitudes influence career aspirations of college students with different genders and sexual orientations. Among 1,129 college students at a midwestern urban university, stronger self-efficacy beliefs–or perceptions about…

Cultural, belief system data can inform gray wolf recovery efforts in US

Humans regularly exert a powerful influence on the survival and persistence of species, yet social-science information is used only sporadically in conservation decisions. Researchers at Colorado State University and The Ohio State University have created an index depicting the mix…

Autistic people find it harder to identify anger in facial expressions — new study

Autistic people’s ability to accurately identify facial expressions is affected by the speed at which the expression is produced and its intensity, according to new research at the University of Birmingham. In particular, autistic people tend to be less able…