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

Social & Behavior

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 16-Jan-2026 14:11 ET (16-Jan-2026 19:11 GMT/UTC)

Research suggests nationwide racial bias in media reporting on gun violence

University of California - Davis
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Mass shootings in white-majority neighborhoods received roughly twice the news coverage of mass shootings in neighborhoods where a majority of residents were people of color, while coverage of police-involved shootings was disproportionately high in majority-minority communities, according to new research.

This study by researchers at the University of California, Davis, Northwestern University and the University of Washington is thought to be the first to systematically document bias on gun-violence reporting in a large-scale, nationally representative sample of news media coverage, researchers said.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Public views about opioid overdose and people with opioid use disorder

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About The Study: In this 2025 survey study, U.S. adults viewed opioid overdose as a serious problem. Different views on the degree to which individuals who use opioids, pharmaceutical companies, and governments are responsible for reducing overdose suggest that preferences for future actions to address overdose may vary among conservatives, moderates, and liberals.

Journal: JAMA Network Open

Where are the biomarkers in psychiatry? Psychiatrists take first steps towards establishing a structure for objective mental health diagnosis

European College of Neuropsychopharmacology
Grant and Award Announcement

Psychiatrists and neuroscientists are taking a major step toward objective mental health diagnosis by launching a central reference database for the classification and communication of mental health biomarker research.

Funder: Wellcome Trust

Ambitious model fails to explain near-death experiences, experts say

University of Virginia Health System
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An ambitious effort to create a paradigm explaning near-death experiences has failed to capture many fascinating and often perplexing aspects of people’s brushes with death, top University of Virginia experts argue.

Journal: Psychology of Consciousness Theory Research and Practice

Multifaceted effects of inward foreign direct investment on new venture creation

Waseda University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Existing studies have examined the impact of inward foreign direct investment (IFDI) on venture creation mainly at the country level. Now, an international team, including a researcher from Waseda University, has explored the multifaceted effects of IFDI on new venture creation at the industry-regional level, proposing an inverted U-shaped effect driven by learning opportunities and competitive threats. These insights can help local governments calibrate IFDI inflows to maintain a productivity-enhancing balance.

Journal: Journal of Business Venturing

Experts provide policy roadmap to reduce dementia risk

Queen Mary University of London
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A national panel of experts has issued the strongest call yet for the Department of Health and Social Care to overhaul how it approaches dementia prevention, pointing to vital evidence that dementia risk can be reduced and providing a framework for the development of new government policy that could improve brain health for millions. The Nottingham Consensus sets out 56 recommendations including some for individuals looking to reduce their own risk.

Journal: Nature Reviews Neurology
Funder: NIHR Policy Research Unit in Dementia and Neurodegeneration

HKU Geography Research Reveals the “Warming Paradox” of Urban Greenery

The University of Hong Kong
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A research team led by Professor Yuyu Zhou from the Department of Geography at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) has unveiled a critical “warming paradox” in global urban greening strategies, challenging the universal assumption that vegetation always cools cities and providing a new roadmap for “smart greening” to combat urban heat islands effectively. By analysing high-resolution satellite and climate data from over 700 megacities, the study also demonstrates that in arid regions, urban greenery can actually increase surface temperatures.

Journal: Science Advances

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