https://phys.org/science-news/social-sciences/ en-us The latest news on social sciences, history, political science, psychology and sociology Orofacial clefts (OC; cleft lips and/or palates) require intense care immediately after birth and can lead to lifelong difficulties with eating and speaking, leading to social marginalization, stigmatization, and exclusion. In a study published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, Dr. Xiaofan Sun and her colleagues identified and analyzed the first archaeological case of OC in China. The study found that the young man not only survived infancy, suggesting intensive care was given to him, but his burial suggests that he was fully integrated into his community, receiving full burial rights, indicating his deformity did not lead to him being shamed in life. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-archaeological-case-cleft-lip-china.html Archaeology Fri, 17 Apr 2026 12:20:02 EDT news695642603 Improved methods for social and behavioral sciences research could help enhance public trust in science, says a new study that investigated the robustness of data analysis to understand whether it reliably stood the test of time. It did. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-science.html Social Sciences Thu, 16 Apr 2026 18:40:01 EDT news695570281 The exact location of William Shakespeare's only London property can now be pinpointed to a quiet Blackfriars street, thanks to the discovery of a previously unknown floorplan. The discovery, made by Shakespeare expert Professor Lucy Munro from King's College London, not only identifies the exact place of the property Shakespeare bought in 1613 but also the layout and size. It also paints a different picture of where Shakespeare may have spent some of his time in his later years. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-shakespeare-london-house-discovery.html Archaeology Wed, 15 Apr 2026 19:10:07 EDT news695462461 If you can't get no satisfaction, then maybe it's because happiness does not only stem from pleasure or a meaningful existence. Instead, a new Simon Fraser University study suggests that freedom is the key to happiness. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-autonomy-key-happiness.html Social Sciences Wed, 15 Apr 2026 15:20:02 EDT news695474282 In an analysis of a video-assisted, pitch-side review of soccer (UK football) referee calls in the English Premier League, referees overturned their original call 95% of the time. However, these decisions had no statistical link to crowd size, the score or quarter when the call was made, or whether the call was regarding the home versus away team. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-referee-decisions-soccer-frequently-overturned.html Other Wed, 15 Apr 2026 14:00:08 EDT news695464857 A new study led by Dr. Andrea Nini at The University of Manchester has found that a grammar-based approach to language analysis can match or outperform advanced AI systems in identifying who wrote a text. The method, called LambdaG, uses patterns in grammar and sentence construction rather than large-scale AI models, offering comparable accuracy with greater transparency and lower computational cost. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-basics-approach-outperform-ai-language.html Social Sciences Wed, 15 Apr 2026 11:40:05 EDT news695465206 A study published in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology combined zooarchaeology with multi-isotopic analysis to reveal the diverse life histories of ancient dogs in the Wari Empire (ca. 600–1050 CE). Not only has this study broadened our understanding of the role of dogs during the Wari Empire, but it has also identified the first empirical evidence of Peruvian Hairless Dogs from that period, which were likely treated differently from other dogs. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-physical-evidence-peruvian-hairless-dogs.html Archaeology Wed, 15 Apr 2026 10:00:03 EDT news695463715 A multidisciplinary archaeological team has examined plague burials from a 17th-century monastery turned hospital in Basel, Switzerland, shedding light on how social status impacted plague mortality in Early Modern Europe. Their study, "All equal in the face of death? Life histories of confirmed victims of the last plague epidemic in Basel," is published in the journal Antiquity. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-great-equalizer-young-laborers-hardest.html Archaeology Tue, 14 Apr 2026 05:00:05 EDT news694964942 Psychologists have long known that social situations profoundly influence human behavior, yet have lacked a unified, empirically grounded way to describe them. A new study addresses this problem by using generative AI to systematically classify thousands of everyday social interactions. In a new study, researchers analyzed thousands of textual descriptions of two-person social interactions, then used generative artificial intelligence (AI) to code the exchanges by features, resulting in a taxonomy of categories of social interactions. Then they related these groups to variables like conflict, power, and duty to provide a comprehensive, data-driven framework for quantifying the structure of interactions. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-ai-everyday-interactions-reveal-social.html Social Sciences Mon, 13 Apr 2026 14:10:02 EDT news695306693 The small talk you try to avoid because you think it will be boring may actually be more enjoyable than you think, and good for you as well, according to research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-small-topics-enjoyable.html Social Sciences Mon, 13 Apr 2026 09:00:03 EDT news695028773 From refusing to doff hats in court to resisting hat-snatching highway robbers, England's relationship with hats goes far deeper than fashion, new research shows. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-hat-wars-early-modern-england.html Social Sciences Thu, 09 Apr 2026 19:00:05 EDT news694950931 Research from MIT Sloan School of Management has demonstrated a new way of designing social science experiments that can uncover patterns invisible to common approaches. In their paper titled "Integrative experiments identify how punishment affects welfare in public goods games," published in Science, MIT Sloan associate professor Abdullah Almaatouq and recent MIT Sloan Ph.D. graduate in Information Technology Mohammed Alsobay, alongside Cornell University professor David G. Rand and University of Pennsylvania professor Duncan J. Watts, have shown what becomes possible when researchers move beyond studying factors in isolation. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-reveals-hidden-patterns-decades-social.html Social Sciences Thu, 09 Apr 2026 17:50:02 EDT news694972681 When making ethical decisions, university students appear to prioritize fairness and the fate of the worst-off over either reducing total harm or obeying unconditional moral precepts, according to a study published in PNAS Nexus. Woo-Young Ahn and colleagues have designed an experimental dilemma that pits a utilitarian approach—which seeks to minimize total harm—against an approach promoted by philosopher John Rawls, which emphasizes improving the situation of the person in the toughest situation. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-pain-fair-fmri-moral-choices.html Social Sciences Tue, 07 Apr 2026 17:10:10 EDT news694797661 As organizations increasingly rely on algorithms to rank candidates for jobs, university spots, and financial services, a new method, named hyperFA*IR, offers a more principled approach when picking candidates based on a limited pool of applicants, especially if minorities are few. The new interactive visualization, "Ranks of Disparity," makes these complex dynamics visible. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-disparity-approach-flaw-fairness-algorithms.html Mathematics Tue, 07 Apr 2026 13:20:01 EDT news694778667 Humans are masters of seeing faces in any old thing—a handbag, TV static, toasted white bread. Scientists want to know why. A few years ago, as the category 5 Hurricane Milton bore down on the Florida coast, the internet noticed something strange. Doesn't the satellite image of the storm look a bit like an angry bald guy? Or a skull? https://phys.org/news/2026-04-clouds-pareidolia.html Social Sciences Tue, 07 Apr 2026 09:26:37 EDT news694772735 Debates over how geometry is understood and learned date back at least to the days of Plato, with more recent scholars concluding that only humans possess the foundations of this understanding. However, a new analysis by New York University psychology professor Moira Dillon concludes that geometry's foundations are shared by humans and a variety of other animals—from rats to chickens to fish. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-analysis-geometric-human-math-module.html Mathematics Mon, 06 Apr 2026 16:10:06 EDT news694709581 When people are talking, they can start to unconsciously mirror each other, for instance, in the words they use, their sentence structures and even hand gestures. This tendency to mirror others can lead to smoother conversations, while also fostering empathy and collaboration. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-alignment-conversations-highly-situation.html Mathematics Mon, 06 Apr 2026 10:20:01 EDT news694687707 If you don't have anything nice to say, perhaps it's OK to say it anyway—if responding to someone who has treated you or your team rudely, new Cornell research suggests. Civil responses to disrespectful behavior remain the best option. But in a variety of contexts—from hockey fights to the workplace—experiments showed that people view an uncivil action or comment more leniently when performed as retaliation rather than instigation. Retaliating in kind to incivility may be appreciated as much as neutral responses. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-rudeness-rewarded-response.html Social Sciences Thu, 02 Apr 2026 14:20:03 EDT news694348081 In a society increasingly shaped by self-checkouts, GPS navigation and touchscreen ordering kiosks, new research shows face-to-face conversation may be quietly fading. A new study published in Perspectives on Psychological Science suggests that people are losing 338 spoken words every year and have been for at least a decade and a half. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-people-spoken-words-year-years.html Social Sciences Wed, 01 Apr 2026 19:50:02 EDT news694250250 Commonly used self-report measures of romantic relationships may capture people's overall appraisal of their relationship more than measuring distinct relationship facets such as communication, conflict and affection, according to a new study published in PLOS One by James Kim of Lakehead University in Ontario, Canada, and colleagues. The findings also suggest that a person's judgment of their overall relationship quality strongly shapes how they answer questions intended to capture distinct, separate facets of the relationship. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-relationship-surveys-wrong-factor.html Social Sciences Wed, 01 Apr 2026 14:00:03 EDT news694195981 Findings from the Systematizing Confidence in Open Research and Evidence (SCORE) program—a collaborative effort involving 865 researchers—have been published in Nature as a collection of three papers alongside a release of five additional preprints. The SCORE program offers new empirical evidence on the reproducibility, robustness, and replicability of research across the social and behavioral sciences, and the predictability of replicability. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-replicate.html Social Sciences Wed, 01 Apr 2026 11:00:16 EDT news694187761 An individual's position in the income hierarchy is a stronger predictor of well-being than either how much they earn or how large the income gap is between them and others, finds new research from the University of Leeds, the University of Oxford and the University of Warwick. The study, published in Nature Communications, shows that the strength of the relationship between income rank and well-being varies significantly depending on the social and cultural context in which people live—and that strong civic and community life can substantially reduce it. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-income-worldwide-social-capital-buffer.html Social Sciences Tue, 31 Mar 2026 17:50:01 EDT news694195081 New Minnesota Carlson research debunks the idea that introverts are better listeners than extroverts. In fact, extroverts may have a slight perceived advantage as listeners. The study authors suggest moving past personality-based assumptions to develop listening as a skill. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-debunks-belief-introverts.html Social Sciences Tue, 31 Mar 2026 16:40:01 EDT news694180502 Lil Miquela has 2.5 million Instagram followers, a high-fashion wardrobe, and a clear political voice. She has advocated for Black Lives Matter and the LGBTQI+ community, fronted major brand campaigns, and built a devoted global fanbase. She also has no pulse. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-millions-dont.html Social Sciences Tue, 31 Mar 2026 14:40:05 EDT news694175161 The brain? It has a flexible social perception. In interactions with people from different ethnic groups, it tends to respond more inclusively when a shared national identity is made salient. A study, by the University of Trento, Italy, and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, sheds light on the underlying neural mechanisms. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-cohesion-diverse-societies-brain-scans.html Social Sciences Tue, 31 Mar 2026 14:20:02 EDT news694174720 A new study published in Nature Communications finds that worldwide, people with higher levels of education are more culturally similar to those in Canada, the U.S., U.K., and other Anglo, industrialized countries and countries in Western Europe. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-student-samples-higher-shift-values.html Social Sciences Fri, 27 Mar 2026 08:40:05 EDT news693819422 New research from the University of St Andrews has revealed that human readiness for intergroup violence is not a single or unified mindset. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the new study, spanning 58 countries and involving more than 100 researchers from various institutions around the world, demonstrates that violent extremist intentions are driven by two fundamentally different psychological motivations. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-violent-extremism-uncovered-global.html Social Sciences Wed, 25 Mar 2026 17:20:05 EDT news693663362 Jack Welch, the legendary General Electric CEO, was infamous for firing the bottom 10% of his workforce every year, without exception. The company's market cap rose substantially during Welch's tenure, but his "rank and yank" ritual was divisive. If you knew your job was always on the line, the logic went, you would push harder and generate results. Yet what did this approach do to the employees who had to constantly compete with each other to keep their jobs? https://phys.org/news/2026-03-cooperative-workplaces-boost-freedom.html Social Sciences Tue, 24 Mar 2026 14:40:08 EDT news693573181 Emotional Intelligence (EI) training can improve employee well-being and prevent burn-out in high-stress environments, University of Queensland research has found. Dr. Jemma King from UQ's School of Psychology said EI training has proven beneficial for high performance athletes, including Formula 1 drivers and crew in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, with potential for people in other workplaces. The study is published in the journal Scientific Reports. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-special-emotional-intelligence-boost-stress.html Social Sciences Tue, 24 Mar 2026 13:40:01 EDT news693571741 When holidays or pandemics shut down schools, gender differences in children's reading habits widen; boys stop reading, while girls continue, according to a new study from the University of Copenhagen. The researchers say their findings suggest that boys are more dependent on school routines and expectations than girls. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-boys-ditch-schools-girls.html Social Sciences Tue, 24 Mar 2026 13:00:01 EDT news693570698