Social & Behavior
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 12-Jan-2026 06:11 ET (12-Jan-2026 11:11 GMT/UTC)
11-Dec-2025
When socially responsible investing backfires
University of RochesterPeer-Reviewed Publication
Socially responsible investors (SRIs) often see themselves as agents of social or environmental progress. They buy into polluting or “dirty” companies believing that their capital can nudge a business toward a cleaner path. But a new study by finance professors at the University of Rochester, Johns Hopkins University, and the Stockholm School of Economics argues that this logic can backfire. Instead of accelerating environmental reforms, SRIs may unintentionally create incentives for firms to postpone them.
11-Dec-2025
Fairness in AI: Study shows central role of human decision-making
Graz University of TechnologyPeer-Reviewed Publication
In addition to helping in a practical way, recommendations based on AI should above all be fair. A new study by researchers at TU Graz, Uni Graz and the Know Center shows how this can be achieved.
- Journal
- Frontiers in Big Data
- Funder
- Zukunftsfonds Steiermark
10-Dec-2025
Waste management in spider mites reveals evolutionary insights into arthropod social behavior
University of TsukubaPeer-Reviewed Publication
Researchers at University of Tsukuba have discovered the adaptive significance of the remarkable waste-management behavior in the social spider mite Stigmaeopsis longus, a tiny herbivorous arthropod that lives in cooperative groups. These mites protect their eggs from the adverse effects of fecal accumulation by defecating in designated areas near the nest entrance. This study is the first to experimentally demonstrate the adaptive function of excretory behavior in a social spider mite, offering new insights into the evolution of sociality and nest-based living in arthropods.
- Journal
- Biology Letters
10-Dec-2025
Global study suggests the underlying problems of ECT patients are often ignored
University of East LondonPeer-Reviewed Publication
A major international survey of people receiving electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has found that most patients are not asked about the childhood adversities or recent life stressors that they believe caused their difficulties.
- Journal
- International Journal of Mental Health Nursing
10-Dec-2025
Epilepsy can lead to earlier deaths in people with intellectual disabilities, study shows
University of PlymouthPeer-Reviewed Publication
A new study by a team of UK researchers analysed nearly 10,000 deaths between 2016 and 2021, making it the largest global study examining epilepsy-related mortality in adults with intellectual disabilities and epilepsy. It found epilepsy was the primary cause of death in just over 16% of those people, and that they died at a significantly younger average age – 56 compared to 62 – than those who had issues other than epilepsy listed as the primary cause of death in their health records. The study particularly highlights significant disparities in epilepsy-related mortality based on ethnicity, with African and Asian individuals dying younger – at an average age of just 36 – than their White British counterparts.
10-Dec-2025
Dragon-slaying saints performed green-fingered medieval miracles, new study reveals
University of CambridgeBook Announcement
The Vatican’s eco-friendly farm, recently inaugurated by the first ever Augustinian pope, echoes his order’s forgotten early history, new research argues. Dr Krisztina Ilko challenges major assumptions about the medieval Catholic Church and early Renaissance.