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

Social & Behavior

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 13-Nov-2025 06:11 ET (13-Nov-2025 11:11 GMT/UTC)

The “Mississippi Bubble” and the complex history of Haiti

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Book Announcement

MIT historian Malick Ghachem’s new book examines the pre-revolutionary changes that set Haiti’s long-term economic structure in place.

DNA from extinct hominin may have helped ancient peoples survive in the Americas

University of Colorado at Boulder
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists know little about Denisovans, a relative of humans that went extinct tens of thousands of years ago. But new research from University of Colorado Boulder anthropologist Fernando Villanea suggests that DNA borrowed from these hominins may have helped ancient humans adapt to the new ecosystems of North and South America.

Journal: Science

Going viral: how ideas, beliefs, and innovations spread in the digital age

Santa Fe Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study published in Physical Review Letters offers a fresh explanation about what causes some ideas to die out while others take over the internet.

Journal: Physical Review Letters
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. National Science Foundation, Science Foundation Ireland

Education gap linked to differences in biological aging

University of Southern California
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study by USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology researchers shows that Americans with less education are aging faster than their peers with more schooling, and the gap has grown over the last 30 years.

The study examined “biological aging,” which goes deeper than simply counting birthdays. Biological aging measures how the body is changing over time, including how well organs and systems are working.

Journal: Demography
Funder: NIH/National Institute on Aging

Study links rising temperatures and declining moods

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A study of social media posts in 157 countries finds extreme temperatures of 95 degrees Fahrenheit or more lowers daily sentiment by around 25 percent in lower-income countries and about 8 percent in higher-income countries.

Journal: One Earth
Funder: MIT chaired professorship research fund, National Natural Science Foundation of China grant, Chinese Academy of Sciences grant

Impact of a weight loss intervention on 1-year weight change in women with stage II/III breast cancer

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About The Study: In this secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial, a telephone-based weight loss intervention induced significant weight loss in patients with breast cancer with overweight and obesity across demographic and treatment factors. Further follow-up of the Breast Cancer Weight Loss trial will evaluate whether the weight loss intervention improves disease outcomes.

Journal: JAMA Oncology

How AI will transform mental health support for patients with breast cancer

University of Virginia Health System
Peer-Reviewed Publication

From virtual counselors that can hear depression creeping into a person’s voice to smart watches that can detect stress, artificial intelligence is poised to revolutionize mental health care for patients with breast cancer.

Journal: AI in Precision Oncology