News by Subject Social & Behavior

Despite being a male-dominated field, a recent study found no evidence for gender bias against women in philosophy, in terms of securing tenure-track positions as college professors. So why are there less women in philosophy overall? Some studies show that less women are choosing to major in philosophy at the undergraduate level, and so other factors may be turning them off the discipline at an early stage.

As people grow older, those who are securely attached to God are more likely to have a sense of well-being -- and the more frequently they pray, the greater that feeling, according to a Baylor University study. But those who feel more distant from God do not receive the same benefit.

Mind-body interventions (MBIs) such as meditation, yoga and Tai Chi don't simply relax us; they can 'reverse' the molecular reactions in our DNA which cause ill-health and depression, according to a study by the universities of Coventry and Radboud.

Religious and non-religious people regret casual sex about equally. They also regret missing an opportunity for casual sex to about the same degree.

Women are underrepresented in philosophy journals, even when compared to their already low rate of representation among faculty, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.

'Religious Devotion and Extrinsic Religiosity Affect In-group Altruism and Out-group Hostility Oppositely in Rural Jamaica,' suggests that a sincere belief in God -- religious devotion -- is unrelated to feelings of prejudice. Rather, Lynch's research finds that those whose religious beliefs are extrinsic -- who use religion as a way to achieve non-religious goals such as attaining status or joining a social group -- and who regularly attend religious services are more likely to hold hostile attitudes toward outsiders.

Though it has gained popularity in the West as medically and psychologically beneficial, meditation can produce a much wider variety of outcomes, not all of them calm and relaxing, according to a new study that analyzes meditation-related challenges.

The Pope's 2015 encyclical on climate change did not directly influence people's beliefs about the seriousness of climate change or its effect on the poor, a study in Cognition has found. The papal message did, however, indirectly influence people's beliefs about climate change by raising the Pope's credibility on that issue, most strongly among liberals.

Researchers examined the photographic news coverage of a visit Pope Francis made to Cuba to determine how major media outlets from different countries covered the international event. They found that the cultural values of the photojournalists' home countries affected the ways in which the pope's visit was framed by each media outlet.

The question about why more intelligent people tend to be atheistic dates back to the times of Romans and Ancient Greeks. The link between intelligence and religion can be explained if religion is considered an instinct, and intelligence the ability to rise above one's instincts. This is the suggestion by Edward Dutton of the Ulster Institute for Social Research in the UK, and Dimitri Van der Linden of the Rotterdam University in the Netherlands, in an article in Springer's journal Evolutionary Psychological Science.