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

Social & Behavior

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 1-Jan-2026 23:11 ET (2-Jan-2026 04:11 GMT/UTC)

Tiny metal figurines from Sardinia's Nuragic civilization in around 1,000 BC reveal extensive ancient Mediterranean metal trading networks

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Tiny metal figurines from Sardinia's Nuragic civilization in around 1,000 BC reveal extensive ancient Mediterranean metal trading networks

Journal: PLOS One

Indian new mums report better postpartum wellbeing when their own mum acts as their primary support - while women whose mother-in-law is the primary caregiver instead report significantly lower overall wellness

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Indian new mums report better postpartum wellbeing when their own mum acts as their primary support - while women whose mother-in-law is the primary caregiver instead report significantly lower overall wellness

Journal: PLOS One

The pandemic may have influenced the trainability of dogs, as reported by their owners

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Dogs reportedly became harder to train as the pandemic progressed, though this seemed to improve by the time it was ending, according to a study publishing September 10, 2025, in the open-access journal PLOS One by Courtney Sexton of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, U.S., Yuhuan Li of the University of Washington, U.S., and colleagues.

Journal: PLOS One

Equity implications of where long-term fossil fuel plants are located found to differ based on time period studied

Carnegie Mellon University
Reports and Proceedings

In a new study, researchers examined the relative contributions of siting decisions (i.e., where to locate infrastructure projects) and demographic shifts after projects are built to current disparities in exposure to polluting U.S. fossil fuel plants. The study found little evidence that plants were disproportionately located in counties with higher Black populations, on average. But it also found that the share of the Black population grew in the decades after the first fossil fuel plant was built in a county.

Funder: Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation at Carnegie Mellon

New free screening tool helps kindergarten teachers spot student needs early

University of Missouri-Columbia
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Starting kindergarten is a big step for young children. It can also be a key time to spot which students might need some extra help with that life transition. Therefore, a new, free screening tool, created by researchers at the University of Missouri’s College of Education and Human Development, is designed to help kindergarten teachers quickly identify which students could benefit from extra academic or social-emotional support — before small challenges become potential long-term setbacks later in life. Intended to take just 10-15 minutes per class, the simple three-question screener asks teachers to rate each child’s academic and social-behavioral progress on a 0-to-4 scale (poor-excellent).

Journal: Journal of Behavioral Education

Study suggests a novel approach for building communication and social connection among individuals with autism spectrum disorder

Elsevier
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New research has revealed that people with similar levels of autistic traits are more attracted to each other, and their brains synchronize in unique ways during passive and active communication. The findings of the novel study in Biological Psychiatry, published by Elsevier, offer new insights into the Double Empathy Problem and the neural mechanisms of social interaction, suggesting that tailoring environments could reduce social fatigue and increase meaningful connection for individuals with autism.

Journal: Biological Psychiatry

Study: Some Chicago clubs use racist tactics to discourage Black patrons

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Bureau
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a new study of practices in Chicago nightclubs, a team at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign found that Black men were charged inflated prices for drinks compared with white men. Bouncers also denied Black testers who were part of the research project access by telling them that they either needed reservations or that admission was limited to those attending a private party. U. of I. sociologist Reuben A. Buford May said that these tactics, which he calls velvet rope racism, are not unique to Chicago nightclubs and are used at some clubs across the U.S. to discourage racial and ethnic minorities from visiting.

Journal: Socius Sociological Research for a Dynamic World