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

Social & Behavior

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 31-Dec-2025 04:11 ET (31-Dec-2025 09:11 GMT/UTC)

7-Aug-2025

IBS in America: Despite advances, IBS remains a burden for many millions

American Gastroenterological Association
Reports and Proceedings

Bethesda, MD (Aug. 1, 2025) – Despite social media helping to increase awareness of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) among the public (81% of health care providers agree) and advancements in treatment over the past decade, IBS symptoms continue to significantly impact patients' daily lives and productivity, according to a new survey released by the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), in partnership with The Harris Poll, a Stagwell (STGW) agency.

7-Aug-2025

HSE scientists: social cues in news interfaces build online trust

National Research University Higher School of Economics
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers from the HSE Laboratory for Cognitive Psychology of Digital Interface Users have discovered how social cues in the design of news websites—such as reader comments, the number of reposts, or the author’s name—can help build user trust. An experiment with 137 volunteers showed that such interface elements make a website appear more trustworthy and persuasive to users, with the strongest cue being links to social media pages. The study's findings have been published in Human-Computer Interaction.

Journal: Human-Computer Interaction

6-Aug-2025

Why forgiving yourself is harder than it sounds

Flinders University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study from Flinders University has revealed why forgiving ourselves can be so difficult for some – even when we know it might benefit our mental health.

The research, published in the journal Self and Identity, looked at the real-life experiences of people who feel stuck in guilt and shame after making a mistake or going through a difficult situation.

Journal: Self and Identity

6-Aug-2025

New study links 2023 Maui wildfire to spike in suicide, overdose

University of Hawaii at Manoa
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Deaths by suicide and drug overdose significantly increased in the aftermath of the August 2023 Maui wildfire, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The study, led by Alex Ortega, dean of the Thompson School of Social Work and Public Health, and Keawe‘aimoku Kaholokula, chair of the Department of Native Hawaiian Health, in the John A. Burns School of Medicine, both at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, along with Jonathan Purtle, associate professor at New York University’s School of Global Public Health, is one of the first to show that wildfires can lead to immediate deaths from suicide and drug overdose.

Journal: Journal of the American Medical Association

6-Aug-2025

Global hunt for ‘positive tipping points’

University of Exeter
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Experts are calling for a global effort to identify “positive tipping points” to accelerate the green transition – and have devised a method to find them.

Journal: Sustainability Science

6-Aug-2025

Getting the most out of therapy – Therapists report what you should know before starting

University of Warwick
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, UK have outlined what UK therapists think you should know to get the most out of your first sessions of NHS Talking Therapy/CBT

Journal: BMJ Open
Funder: Medical Research Council

6-Aug-2025

With just a few messages, biased AI chatbots swayed people’s political views

University of Washington
Reports and Proceedings

University of Washington researchers recruited self-identifying Democrats and Republicans to make political decisions with help from three versions of ChatGPT: a base model, one with liberal bias and one with conservative bias. Democrats and Republicans were both likelier to lean in the direction of the biased chatbot they were talking with than those who interacted with the base model.