http://phys.org/science-news/social-sciences/ en-us PhysOrg Team Phys.Org provides the latest news on social sciences, history, political science, psychology and sociology Religious practices that strongly control female sexuality are more successful at promoting certainty about paternity, according to a study published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://phys.org/news258050787.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-06-04T17:46:35-07:00 As voters increasingly rely on websites of presidential primary candidates for news, they run a risk because candidates' online attacks are not vetted through traditional "watchdog journalists" and other gatekeepers to determine accuracy or fairness, according to a study by Baylor University researchers. http://phys.org/news258050471.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-06-04T17:41:19-07:00 For millions of Facebook users, choosing which photo to use for an online profile is an important decision. Should it be lighthearted or professional, personal or more abstract? According to a study by researchers at the UT Dallas Center for Vital Longevity and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the photos we select may reflect individual preferences, but they also appear to reflect more deeply rooted, unconscious cultural differences. http://phys.org/news258033445.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-06-04T12:58:54-07:00 A small, exploratory study suggests that many first-time parents - particularly mothers - actually increase the amount of time they spend on Facebook after the birth of their child. http://phys.org/news258029639.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-06-04T11:54:06-07:00 It's nearly impossible to write objectively about the science of human kindness, cooperation and altruism if you are, in fact a human being. That's especially true now that there's a rift going on in the evolution community over two competing theories to explain why we're nice or, in technical terms, eusocial. http://phys.org/news258028174.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-06-04T11:50:01-07:00 (Phys.org) -- For most of western history, people have assumed that what is true of “us” in most cases, must be true for “them,” i.e. other groups about which we may actually know little. One example is the concept of time. In virtually all western societies, people envision time in the same abstract way; as a line moving from the past, through us, and on into the future. We speak of back in the past, or moving forward into the future. And because our way of thinking about time is so ingrained in us it’s difficult to imagine that others might really see time in radically different ways. And yet, some do, as evidenced by a remote tribe of people currently living in Papua New Guinea. The Yupno, a team of researchers has found, relate time to the river that dominates their life. The past is water that has already flowed by, while the future is represented by its source, which for them, lies uphill. Rafael Núñeza, Kensy Cooperridera, D Doana and Jürg Wassmannb studied the Yupno and found, as they report in their paper published in Cognition, that some people living in circumstances far different than that seen in the western world, really do see time in a completely different way. http://phys.org/news258017674.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-06-04T09:10:03-07:00 (Phys.org) -- If people think their toddlers are missing the old-person barbs that Homer, Bart and the others toss at Grandpa Simpson, they may want to change their minds—and the channel. Young children are capable of picking up on ageism and stereotyping of older people, and they are also acting on it, showing similar ageist biases, says a group of University of Alberta researchers. http://phys.org/news258016578.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-06-04T08:30:01-07:00 During a recent visit to the Universidad de Chile to conduct workshops on educational leadership to school principals, Dr Marc Pruyn from the Faculty of Education sat down for an interview with Christian Silva Abuyeres from the Chilean newspaper Factor Publico. The following article (translated by Olivia Ramos-Campa and Dr. Pruyn) appeared in the paper in May. http://phys.org/news258017178.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-06-04T08:26:32-07:00 University of Melbourne research has found a lack of social networks - and not necessarily racism or poor qualifications - is making life tough for ethnically diverse job seekers. http://phys.org/news258011573.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-06-04T06:53:01-07:00 All businesses want "engaged" employees -- those who are committed to the success of the company and are willing to go the extra mile to see it flourish. But there's a dark side to engagement that many organizations don't consider: Engaged employees can quickly become disengaged if they feel taken advantage of — and a formerly engaged employee can do more harm to the company than one who was never engaged to begin with. http://phys.org/news257762147.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-06-01T09:35:55-07:00 Mizuko "Mimi" Ito spends a lot of time "geeking out" at her computer. She plays video games, trolls the Internet, chats, and visits social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter for hours on end. http://phys.org/news257759978.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-06-01T08:59:47-07:00 Many boys say they would prefer a male befriender according to early findings, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Yet, less than a quarter of UK volunteer child befrienders are men. http://phys.org/news257743362.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-06-01T04:22:50-07:00 There are over 500,000 professional footballers, yet openly gay players appear almost entirely absent. It is often claimed that the problem lies with an intolerant fan culture, but a new study reveals that 93% of football fans oppose homophobia and would support openly gay players. The study, published in the British Journal of Sociology, identifies conservative clubs and agents to be the sport's strongest barriers to change. http://phys.org/news257706605.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-05-31T19:00:03-07:00 The assignment to write a court's majority opinion is one of the major tools for shaping judicial and, consequently, public policy. Researchers at the University of Georgia, along with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, recently examined factors that might influence such an assignment. Based on data from all 50 states, the study reveals that judges' race, gender and other status-based characteristics influence the majority opinion assignment in many state supreme courts. http://phys.org/news257686618.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-05-31T12:37:33-07:00 Americans are more likely to donate to a charity that reflects the values of their political affiliation, according to a new study from Rice University, the University of Texas at San Antonio and Pennsylvania State University. http://phys.org/news257680704.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-05-31T11:10:02-07:00 Hiding your true social identity -- race and ethnicity, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation or a disability -- at work can result in decreased job satisfaction and increased turnover, according to a new study from Rice University, the University of Houston and George Mason University. http://phys.org/news257680663.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-05-31T10:57:50-07:00 As Election Day 2012 draws nearer, the "Twitterverse" promises to light up again and again with explosions of political opinion. But which tweets are the genuinely expressed feelings of individual users and which are systematic disseminations of information meant to support or discredit an idea—the textbook definition of propaganda? http://phys.org/news257679337.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-05-31T10:35:57-07:00 Much of the fervor fueling the anti-immigration debate is shaped by the belief that immigrants—legal and otherwise—are somehow a threat to our national identity. Americans, some critics believe, venerate a set of ideals and attitudes that are distinctly American. But do immigrants honor these same values? http://phys.org/news257675102.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-05-31T09:25:07-07:00 About 89 percent of all undergraduate students and 94 percent of seniors participate in some type of research while at The University of Texas at Austin, according to a new study released this month from the Office of Assessment for the university’s Division of Student Affairs. Based on a survey of 13,120 undergraduates, the report reveals that 71 percent of students agree that the university is strongly committed to undergraduate education. http://phys.org/news257673582.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-05-31T08:59:53-07:00 How the news media tell a story can make those who consume the story more compassionate and willing to act and help others. http://phys.org/news257672877.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-05-31T08:48:07-07:00 Despite increasing numbers of multiethnic neighborhoods in the United States, relatively few black or white families are actually moving into these types of communities, according to a new study in the June issue of the American Sociological Review. http://phys.org/news257610511.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-05-31T00:00:01-07:00 Wine investors are warned not to put all their eggs in one French basket in a new report from the University of East Anglia. http://phys.org/news257609748.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-05-30T19:00:02-07:00 University of Kent research has demonstrated how computer mediation could help combat bullying in schools.  http://phys.org/news257613355.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-05-30T16:17:43-07:00 Female sex offenders receive lighter sentences for the same crimes than males says a study recently published in Feminist Criminology, a SAGE journal and the official journal of the Division on Women and Crime of the American Society of Criminology. http://phys.org/news257602750.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-05-30T13:20:31-07:00 The family meal is often touted and encouraged for its social and health benefits, but a new Cornell University study questions the nature of this association, finding that the perceived benefits may not be as strong or as lasting once a number of factors are controlled for. http://phys.org/news257514193.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-05-29T12:43:19-07:00 Innovative use of language, a firm grasp of technology, and a thirst for unusual words are just some of the findings revealed about how children use language according to new Oxford University Press (OUP) research. http://phys.org/news257497095.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-05-29T07:58:24-07:00 When Brent Ryan started doing academic research on Detroit, in the 1990s, he was immediately taken aback by the city’s plight: derelict commercial buildings, burnt-out homes and whole neighborhoods being abandoned.  http://phys.org/news257488216.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-05-29T05:30:27-07:00 Researchers have called for a consistent and supportive approach to child abandonment in Europe to protect the welfare of the hundreds of youngsters given up by their parents every year. http://phys.org/news257486170.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-05-29T04:56:53-07:00 In early human evolution, when faithful females began to choose good providers as mates, pair-bonding replaced promiscuity, laying the foundation for the emergence of the institution of the modern family, a new study finds. http://phys.org/news257416014.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-05-28T15:00:11-07:00 There are certain things in life we'd rather not conjure up too vividly, and for this we have at our disposal a range of linguistic deodorisers, smokescreens and fig leaves. These are euphemisms. They are about taboos (those things that go bump in the night), they are about politeness - and sometimes they are about skeletons in cupboards. http://phys.org/news257406799.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences 2012-05-28T06:53:41-07:00