Summary: A large study across 13 experiments with over 8,000 participants shows that people are far more likely to act dishonestly when they can delegate tasks to AI rather than…
Category: social neuroscience
Brain Circuits Show Why Friends’ Lies Are Easier to Believe
Summary: Researchers explored how people process deception from friends versus strangers, using brain imaging to study decision-making in gain and loss contexts. Volunteers were more likely to believe lies in…
Aggression Is Contagious: Observing Violence Primes the Brain for Aggression
Summary: A new study shows that observing violence can make individuals more likely to act aggressively later, but the effect depends on familiarity. Male mice who watched familiar peers attack…
Music Sparks Social Imagination and Eases Loneliness
Summary: A large-scale study with 600 participants shows that music can genuinely evoke feelings of companionship by sparking social imagination. When participants listened to folk music, they imagined vivid social…
Moral Outrage Goes Viral, But Doesn’t Drive Action Online
Summary: A new study analyzing over a million posts linked to online petitions found that while moral outrage boosts a post’s virality, it doesn’t significantly increase petition signatures. Emotional and…
Music Mindfulness Eases Anxiety and Depression
Summary: Mindfulness exercises paired with music were found to engage both neural and cardiac systems, potentially reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression. A recent study showed that live and virtual…
The Psychology Behind Why Some People Give More Than Others
Summary: A new analysis of over 90,000 participants shows that personality traits influence how people engage in volunteering and charitable giving. Researchers found that extraverts are more likely to volunteer,…
Stronger Bonds Before Birth Shape Healthier Mother-Child Futures
Sumary: A new study reveals that young mothers who feel emotionally connected to their unborn babies are more likely to form healthy, positive relationships with their children later. Researchers tracked…
Do Accents Influence Guilt Perceptions?
Summary: Accents influence perceptions of guilt, with those judged as “lower status” being considered more likely to commit crimes. Researchers analyzed responses from 180 participants who rated voices from 10…
Social Connections Key to Borderline Personality Disorder Therapy
Summary: Loneliness plays a central role in borderline personality disorder (BPD) and often persists even when clinical symptoms subside. Current treatments, such as dialectical behavior therapy, fail to fully address…
