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Social & Behavior

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 21-Jun-2026 06:15 ET (21-Jun-2026 10:15 GMT/UTC)

Study: Teens use cellphones for an hour a day at school

University of Washington School of Medicine/UW Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

U.S. adolescents spend more than one hour per day on smartphones during school hours, with social media accounting for the largest share of use, according to research published Jan. 5, 2026, in JAMA. The findings have relevance for educators, parents and policymakers.

Journal: JAMA

Twitter data reveals partisan divide in understanding why pollen season's getting worse

University of Michigan
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Two things are clear from a University of Michigan analysis of nearly 200,000 Twitter posts between 2012 and 2022. One, people are really good at identifying peak pollen season. And two, liberal users on Twitter were more likely than conservatives to ascribe shifting pollen seasons over the years to climate change.

Journal: PNAS Nexus
Funder: University of California Santa Cruz Belonging Program

Why we talk to people who think differently – or why we don’t

University of Basel
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at the University of Basel have developed a tool that measures when people engage in dialog across political divides. The results show that personal factors play a greater role in people’s willingness to engage in dialog than the controversial nature of a topic.

Journal: Political Psychology

Vitamin C may help protect fertility from a harmful environmental chemical

University of Missouri-Columbia
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new discovery at the University of Missouri reveals that vitamin C may help protect reproductive health from a harmful environmental chemical. Using a fish model, researchers found that exposure to potassium perchlorate, a chemical commonly used in explosives and fireworks, can harm sperm production, potentially reducing fertility.

Journal: Environmental Science & Technology

Decentralized social media platforms unlock authentic consumer feedback

Washington State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Businesses looking for clearer insight into how consumers truly feel about their products, campaigns or brand decisions may find more authentic reactions on decentralized social media platforms, according to new research from Washington State University.

Journal: European Journal of Marketing

The book only gets 3 stars, but is considered great literature

Aarhus University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study from the Center for Humanities Computing and the Center for Contemporary Cultures of Text at Aarhus University shows that star ratings of books are not always accurate. Average ratings on Goodreads can hide both literary classics and highly divided reading experiences – and can therefore be a misleading measure of literary value.

Funder: Velux Fonden

New way found for detecting high intellectual abilities

University of the Basque Country
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Leire Aperribai’s research tested an effective, reliable tool to better detect individuals with high intellectual abilities. The study demonstrated that a half-hour intelligence test on computer can significantly increase the current low level of detection. Moreover, unlike other methods, this test does not differentiate between genders, the conclusion being that it is suitable for general screening purposes.

Journal: Journal of Intelligence