Pop Music Echoes a Growing Culture of Vices

Summary: A monumental study from the Centre for Digital Music at Queen Mary University of London reveals that popular music lyrics have grown increasingly negative over the past six decades,…

Brain Injury Could Explain Sudden Criminal Behavior

Summary: A new study has found that damage to a specific white matter pathway in the brain—the right uncinate fasciculus—may increase the likelihood of criminal or violent behavior following brain…

Moral Values Shift with the Seasons

Summary: A study has found that people’s endorsement of moral values fluctuates seasonally, with group-focused values like loyalty, authority, and purity being more strongly supported in spring and fall. This…

Overestimation of Opponents’ Immorality Fuels Political Divide

Summary: A study reveals that Democrats and Republicans overestimate how much the opposing party approves of clearly immoral acts like theft or animal abuse. This “basic morality bias” is evident…

Is Childhood Adversity A Lens for Moral Judgments?

Summary: Researchers uncovered how a person’s childhood adversity shapes others’ judgments of their actions. The study reveals that people perceive negative actions by those with challenging childhoods as less a…

Moral Conundrums: The Conflict Underlying Obedience to Authority

Summary: Researchers explored the conflict experience of individuals when instructed to act against their beliefs. Using the “bug destruction task,” participants were ordered to grind live bugs, causing a moral…