EurekAlert! News by Subject: Social & Behavior

Social & Behavior

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 22-Jun-2026 12:16 ET (22-Jun-2026 16:16 GMT/UTC)

4-Feb-2026

Windows into the past: Genetic analysis of Deep Maniot Greeks reveals a unique genetic time capsule in the Balkans

University of Oxford
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new genetic study has revealed that the people of Deep Mani, who inhabit one of the remotest regions of mainland Greece, represent one of the most genetically distinctive populations in Europe, shaped by more than a millennium of isolation. The findings, published today (4 February) in Communications Biology, reveal that many lineages can be traced back to the Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman period of Greece.

Journal: Communications Biology

4-Feb-2026

Using influencers to encourage people to drink tap water

Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A study involving Instagram users unveils the mental processes that are key to overcoming resistance to drinking recycled tap water

Journal: British Food Journal

4-Feb-2026

Big data and LASSO improve health insurance risk prediction

KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A study in Risk Sciences examines whether alternative “big data” and the LASSO variable-selection method can strengthen health risk assessment in critical illness insurance. Using insurer application and claims records alongside smartphone-derived signals and public medical-claim information, the researchers report clear gains in out-of-sample predictive performance beyond traditional underwriting inputs. The paper also explores which categories of data may be most informative for underwriting.

Journal: Risk Sciences
Funder: National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Social Science Foundation of China, Research Seed Fund of the School of Economics, Peking University

3-Feb-2026

Political division in the US surged from 2008 onwards, study suggests

University of Cambridge
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Almost all the rise in US polarisation over political issues since the eighties occurred from 2008 onwards, a new study suggests. Far more Americans now adopt party and ideological labels in line with their opinions than did in the late 1980s.

Journal: Royal Society Open Science

3-Feb-2026

Emotional support from social media found to reduce anxiety

University of Arkansas
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Among the study’s findings was that people with high openness to experience, high extraversion, high agreeableness, and low conscientiousness reported an increase in perceived social media emotional support.

Journal: Psychiatry International
Funder: Fine Foundation

3-Feb-2026

IPO pay gap hiding in plain sight: Study reveals hidden cost of ‘cheap stock’

University of Notre Dame
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New research from University of Notre Dame accountancy professor Brad Badertscher examines the prevalence, determinants and consequences of cheap stock, finding the average firm’s IPO price is more than five times the exercise price (price per share when stock options are exercised) of options issued in the fiscal year before the IPO.

Journal: Management Science

3-Feb-2026

‘Masculinity crisis’: Influencers on social media promote low testosterone to young men, study finds

University of Sydney
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Young men are being encouraged to undergo testosterone testing and start hormone therapy through Instagram and TikTok content that promotes unproven health claims while downplaying medical risks, a new international study has found.

Journal: Social Science & Medicine