https://phys.org/science-news/social-sciences en-us Phys.org provides the latest news on social sciences, history, political science, psychology and sociology Just over half of young adult Americans live with their parents, an unprecedented proportion that is doubtless linked to the coronavirus but also reflects a deeper trend, researchers said Friday. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-young-americans-parents.html Social Sciences Fri, 04 Sep 2020 16:02:04 EDT news518454121 As children return to school in the UK, they will encounter a curriculum that still pays little attention to black British history or culture. This is despite an urgent Black Lives Matter movement and growing demands for a more honest reckoning with the racial legacies of Britain's imperial past. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-uk-school-textbooks-highly-version.html Social Sciences Fri, 04 Sep 2020 10:10:08 EDT news518430593 A fear for health and safety that crosses party lines has driven a record number of American gun sales during the COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests, raising the potential for accidental deaths and the need to address gun safety and mental health, UC Riverside economists suggest in a new paper. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-pandemic-gun-buying-binge-party-lines.html Social Sciences Fri, 04 Sep 2020 09:16:44 EDT news518429801 Following her recent installation as Canada's first female finance minister, Chrystia Freeland was quick to acknowledge that a promotion such as hers was a rarity for a woman in the era of COVID-19. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-moms-alright-coronavirus-pandemic-policies.html Social Sciences Fri, 04 Sep 2020 09:10:01 EDT news518429254 The strength of connections, be it human connections within cities, or collaborative networks between cities, has been a key factor in determining how effectively the world's biggest cities have been able to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, according to leading experts. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-people-power-key-covid-pandemic.html Social Sciences Political science Fri, 04 Sep 2020 07:46:05 EDT news518424360 The use of tear gas—particularly CS gas—as a riot control agent, cannot be reconciled with respect for fundamental human rights and should therefore be banned entirely in international law, the University of Toronto's International Human Rights Program (IHRP) says in a report released today. Lawmakers at all levels of government should act to put forward legislation that bans use of the chemical weapon, eliminates existing stockpiles and prohibits import, export and manufacture. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-gas.html Social Sciences Political science Thu, 03 Sep 2020 12:15:02 EDT news518354099 One in three marriages in the United States now starts with a virtual connection, and algorithms have supplanted traditional dating and matchmaking agencies. The choices are seemingly endless: If you're looking for a lasting relationship, eHarmony promises bliss. If it's just a quick fling you're after, there's Tinder or Bumble. If your preferences are more specific, GlutenFreeSingles or ClownDating might appeal. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-economics-dating-sites.html Social Sciences Thu, 03 Sep 2020 08:04:01 EDT news518338990 More than half of all African American women in the United States report having at least one family member who is incarcerated, causing higher levels of depressive symptoms and psychological distress than previously understood. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-familial-incarceration-negatively-impacts-mental.html Social Sciences Thu, 03 Sep 2020 03:37:39 EDT news518323056 Every four years, U.S. presidential campaigns collectively spend billions of dollars flooding TV screens across the country with political ads. But a new study co-authored by Yale political scientist Alexander Coppock shows that, regardless of content, context, or audience, those pricey commercials do little to persuade voters. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-political-ads-persuasive-power.html Social Sciences Political science Wed, 02 Sep 2020 14:00:10 EDT news518248355 When it comes to creating successful business interactions, exchanges between buyers and sellers with similar emotional abilities may lead to more lucrative outcomes than an animated or ambitious employee alone. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-emotional-business-relationships.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Wed, 02 Sep 2020 09:29:43 EDT news518257779 Weapons were not used in the majority of police incidents where officers had to use force, the first detailed analysis of statistics from a new national reporting system suggests. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-weapons-uk-officers-majority-police.html Social Sciences Wed, 02 Sep 2020 09:07:09 EDT news518256425 Many people misunderstand the relationship between religion, scripture and violence, a new book argues. Some people worry that scriptures such as the Qur'an and the Bible fan the flames of violence in the world today, while others insist that they are inherently peaceful. According to an international team of researchers, the reality may be more complicated than either set of people think. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-scriptures-rarely-significant-factor-violence.html Social Sciences Wed, 02 Sep 2020 07:45:58 EDT news518251555 A new paper in The Economic Journal finds that bus drivers are more likely to let white riders ride for free and less likely to let Black riders ride without paying the fee. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-bus-drivers-white-customers-free.html Social Sciences Wed, 02 Sep 2020 03:01:22 EDT news518234476 The Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Limited ('ALS') is collaborating with Rapido Social at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) to improve its Custody Notification Service (CNS), following project funding from the National Indigenous Advancement Agency (NIAA). https://phys.org/news/2020-09-indigenous-custody-effective.html Social Sciences Tue, 01 Sep 2020 12:02:11 EDT news518180528 It is a well-known problem: too rarely do nature conservation initiatives, recommendations, or strategies announced by politicians lead to people really changing their everyday behavior. A German-Israeli research team led by the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ) and the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) has investigated the reasons for this. According to the team, the measures proposed by politicians do not sufficiently exploit the range of possible behavioral interventions and too rarely specify the actual target groups, they write in the journal Conservation Biology. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-nature-policy-rarely-people-behaviour.html Social Sciences Political science Tue, 01 Sep 2020 07:37:59 EDT news518164676 While trolls have been around almost as long as the Internet, "incels" are a more recent and distinctly different cyber sub-culture which warrants more study says a QUT researcher. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-helicopters-online-subculture.html Social Sciences Tue, 01 Sep 2020 07:27:21 EDT news518164038 If the words in a weather forecast, such as "cool," "sunny" or "windy," can influence the way you dress for the day—can they also influence whether or not you take public transit? https://phys.org/news/2020-09-weather-news-impacts-transit-ridership.html Social Sciences Tue, 01 Sep 2020 04:30:04 EDT news518153398 Eager to learn the latest in instructional practices that research says will better engage and educate her students, an assistant professor of biochemistry attends a virtual workshop devoted to exactly that. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-choir-forward-thinking-faculty.html Social Sciences Education Mon, 31 Aug 2020 15:00:01 EDT news518086599 Hurricane Laura's landfall on the coasts of Louisiana and Texas came just as New Orleans prepared to mark the 15th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and with the region already reeling from the coronavirus pandemic. For many, the wounds of the COVID-19 disaster and now Hurricane Laura are all too reminiscent of the way the US handled the devastation of Katrina. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-hurricane-katrina-gave-prisoners-fresh.html Social Sciences Fri, 28 Aug 2020 09:10:01 EDT news517823611 Children living in the most disadvantaged communities across Australia are far less likely to attend the required 15 hours of preschool and more likely to become developmentally vulnerable in their first five years of life, a new Bankwest Curtin Economics Center (BCEC) report has found. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-inequality-deep-australian-children.html Social Sciences Fri, 28 Aug 2020 08:00:02 EDT news517819617 The number of diversity networks within large organizations has greatly increased in recent years. Many modern companies wish to further the promotion of employees with a specific social identity, so they promote networks where these employees can meet one other. A good start—but unfortunately companies are not always open to the organizational changes these kinds of networks want to bring about. This is the conclusion of research by Marjolein Dennissen, who will defend her Ph.D. thesis at Radboud University on 3 September. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-diversity-networks-good.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Thu, 27 Aug 2020 13:30:36 EDT news517753834 Neighborhoods with high bikeability and walkability scores actually present higher crash risks to cyclists and pedestrians in Vancouver, according to new research from the University of British Columbia. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-high-bike-scores-greater.html Social Sciences Thu, 27 Aug 2020 12:26:32 EDT news517749990 Robin Ian MacDonald Dunbar, a psychologist at the University of Oxford, has conducted a review of the literature and concluded that the impact of the pandemic on friendships is likely to be fleeting. He has published a paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society A outlining his research and findings, and his theories regarding the impact of the pandemic on social networks. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-psychologist-negative-impact-pandemic-friendships.html Mathematics Social Sciences Thu, 27 Aug 2020 10:20:02 EDT news517741927 Researchers evaluated over 40 million individual voting records and found the system is unlikely to advantage Democrats, disadvantage Republicans. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-years-voting-history-reveals-vote-by-mail.html Social Sciences Political science Thu, 27 Aug 2020 09:28:20 EDT news517739296 A new study from the Center for Injury Research and Prevention (CIRP) at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) found that teen drivers and drivers 65 years and older—two age groups at a higher risk of being involved in an automobile accident—are more likely to be driving vehicles that are less safe, putting them at even higher risk of injury. The findings underscore the need for these groups to prioritize driving the safest vehicle they can afford. The findings were published today in the journal Traffic Injury Prevention. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-younger-older-drivers-safe-vehicles.html Social Sciences Thu, 27 Aug 2020 06:52:24 EDT news517729940 Tribal behavior on social media widened the gulf between Remain and Leave voters in the United Kingdom's debate whether to leave the European Union, re-aligned the UK's political landscape, and made people increasingly susceptible to disinformation campaigns, new research from the University of Bath shows. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-tribes-war-tribalism-polarized-brexit.html Social Sciences Political science Wed, 26 Aug 2020 12:14:37 EDT news517662873 A hallmark of the #MeToo movement has been to make plain the ubiquity of sexual violence against women and the impunity with which some perpetrators get away with it again and again. Rape is the nation's most underreported violent crime, according to U.S. Justice Department statistics, as survivors fear that juries will believe the perpetrators, not them, and if they pursue justice, they may suffer further physical, economic, or social harm. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-rape-culture-survivor-believed.html Social Sciences Wed, 26 Aug 2020 09:19:02 EDT news517652339 As the summer holidays come to an end and children return to school following lockdown, there couldn't be a better time for us to consider the school commute. Nowadays, many children in the UK commute to school by car. But getting more parents to ditch the car for school journeys and switch to more active modes of travel, such as walking or cycling, is of great public health importance. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-school-car-children-parents.html Social Sciences Education Wed, 26 Aug 2020 08:50:02 EDT news517648902 Blacks, Hispanics and other racial and ethnic minorities are not only underrepresented in science, they are also less likely to receive research funding or get published as often as white scientists, which can result in fewer promotions and lower incomes throughout their academic careers, according to new research from Rice University. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-racism-contributes-ivory-tower.html Social Sciences Wed, 26 Aug 2020 08:25:53 EDT news517649150 A recently published study led by The University of Texas at Arlington says that student debt may hurt students' chances of securing full-time employment due to added pressure in their job search. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-student-debt-chances-full-time-employment.html Social Sciences Education Wed, 26 Aug 2020 03:40:08 EDT news517632004