Current reporting, research and professional developments across Psychology, curated for psychologists and behavioral-health professionals.
Posted August 5, 2026 | Reviewed by Davia Sills Many people would reflexively use words like “toxic” or “unpleasant” to describe a neighborhood with an active gossip network, but I believe that this attitude is…
Posted August 5, 2026 | Reviewed by Abigail Fagan The psychology of aesthetics is the study of how a viewer interacts with artworks. It is naturally more focused on the response of the perceiver, and less on the object…
Posted August 5, 2026 | Reviewed by Monica Vilhauer Ph.D. Postpartum psychosis can be understood as the most extreme expression of a nervous system that has become trapped in an unresolved, escalating threat state during…
Psychology says people who like to do charity every now and then aren't always seeking praise or recognition. Their actions can come from empathy, personal values, emotional responses, social ...
Child mental health services are supposed to change lives. So why don’t we measure whether they actually do?
Psychology says people who plan everything in life meticulously aren't always organized or in control. Detailed planning can sometimes be linked to anxiety, perfectionism and fear of uncertainty.
Psychology says emotionally mature people do not always forgive quickly because meaningful forgiveness requires more than simply saying the words.
Psychology says people who fear being "too much" often develop this belief after experiences that taught them to suppress or question their emotional needs.
Posted August 4, 2026 | Reviewed by Monica Vilhauer Ph.D. In Part 1 of this series, I wrote about the experience of telling your partner that he’s hurt you only to be blindsided by his anger and defensiveness. I…
Psychology says staying home on weekends isn't antisocial. It may reflect healthy self-care, emotional recovery, stress management, and a personality that values balance over constant socializing.
Fear extinction and its persistence depend on epigenetic modifications, which can be potentiated by histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACis). Butyrate (NaBu), a short-chain fatty acid and endogenous HDACi, promotes…
The spread of dis/misinformation represents a pressing challenge for contemporary society. Addressing this phenomenon requires digital tools as well as an understanding of the mechanisms that enable it. Among the…
Adolescence represents a developmental phase marked by profound and rapidly shifting emotional states. While some adolescents exhibit pronounced, day-to-day mood variability, others remain comparatively stable. Although…
A recent study investigated the relationship between childhood trauma and attention to emotions as a function of type and severity of maltreatment in a sample of women. It was found that high levels of physical and…
Understanding when and why social interaction improves human judgment is a central question in the behavioural sciences. We examine whether collective accuracy improves when groups break complex estimation problems into…
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) poses new challenges to academic integrity by enabling students to produce plausible academic work with limited detectable overlap. Using a two-wave prospective panel design…
Traditional methods of pattern evidence evaluation in forensic science have long relied on subjective expert judgment, raising concerns about transparency, validity, and reliability. In response, the international…
Insomnia frequently co-occurs with depressive and anxiety symptoms. We examined its prevalence and sociodemographic, lifestyle, health, depressive, and anxiety correlates among adults in Zhuhai, China. Data were from…
With the progression of aging and population mobility in China, empty-nest older adults constitute a significant proportion of the elderly population. Compared with other groups, empty-nest older adults are more prone to…
In decision-making environments characterized by uncertainty and ambiguous information, effectively reducing decision risk presents a significant challenge. The three-way decision provides a structured approach to…
In this study, we employed a multifaceted approach that integrated subjective questionnaires with electroencephalography and eye movement techniques to collect subjective ratings (valence, arousal, sense of culture…
English serves as a primary medium of instruction and a key form of academic capital in Somali higher education. However, students’ attitudes toward English learning are shaped by complex motivational and instructional…
The auditory system requires a reliable and rapid tracking of the temporal dynamics of sounds. While moving in sync with a rhythm can improve timing perception, most research has focused on isochronous rhythms…
Synthetic deepfake videos are a realistic form of misinformation, which appear to show someone saying or doing something they never did. The societal risks posed by such fakeries have motivated legislation mandating the…
Realism remains an unresolved question in vision science. This study investigates whether the physical gamut correlates with realism judgements. We conducted psychophysical experiments where observers judged the realism…
Readiness for parenthood is an important psychological resource that helps young adults anticipate future family roles and may reflect perceived preparedness for future parenting responsibilities during emerging…
Posted August 4, 2026 | Reviewed by Monica Vilhauer Ph.D. While growing up, almost all of us on one level or another have inherited some negative traits from our parents and authority figures. Perhaps we have a tendency…
Posted August 4, 2026 | Reviewed by Monica Vilhauer Ph.D. Picture two people facing the same brutal Monday: back-to-back meetings, an inbox that never empties, a deadline that keeps moving. One is quietly drowning. The…
Posted August 4, 2026 | Reviewed by Margaret Foley Students and families have such high expectations for college: find a passion, learn as much as possible, make lifelong friends, have great internships that turn into…
Ice cream before dinner. Cake before the main course. While many see it as a lack of self-control, psychology suggests eating dessert first isn't always impulsive. It may reflect how people make ...
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