Author: dispatchtimes news

A new analysis of American survey data finds that people in interracial romantic relationships are more likely to hold liberal political views than those in relationships with partners of the same race, though the size of the difference varies by race, sex and marital status. The researchers report that the odds are about 37% higher for those in interracial partnerships. The study, published in The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics, examined how closely political beliefs align with who people choose as partners. It sits within a broader body of research suggesting conservatives tend to favour traditional family structures and…

A new study finds that almost one in five women seeking treatment for anxiety or depression also meet criteria for ADHD, with nearly half of these cases previously undiagnosed. The research, published in The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, highlights how overlapping symptoms can mask an underlying attention condition in adult women. ADHD, a neurodevelopmental condition characterised by inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, has historically been diagnosed far more often in males. In clinical settings, the male-to-female ratio sits around ten to one, though population surveys suggest the gap is narrower in real-world settings. Women often present with subtler, internalising…

Men who blend emotional openness with progressive gender attitudes into their sense of manhood appear less reactive when their masculinity is called into question, a study published in Social Psychology Quarterly has found. The research, led by Justin Huft of the University of California, Riverside, used a novel measure of what he calls hybrid masculinity and suggests that how men respond to threats to their gender status depends in part on how they define manhood for themselves. Hybrid masculinity as a buffer against threats to manhood The study sits within the sociological idea of hegemonic masculinity—the dominant cultural ideal in…

A large-scale study of political discussions on Facebook has found that subtle wording in posts can be linked to a higher share of hostile replies. Analysing tens of thousands of posts about American political groups, researchers say using noun labels such as “Senate Republicans” or sweeping generalisations about a party tends to attract more prejudiced comments than adjective-led phrasing like “Republican senators.” The researchers argue that such linguistic cues connect with broader patterns of affective polarization, the growing disdain and distrust that supporters of opposing parties feel toward one another. They note that when voters view the other side as…

Ketamine and MDMA treatment have been linked to changes in DNA methylation—a chemical mark that can influence how genes are read—in genes associated with neuroplasticity and immune processes. The findings come from a study examining blood and saliva samples taken from people treated for depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). DNA methylation is a chemical modification that can alter gene activity without changing the DNA sequence itself. Researchers often measure methylation in blood or saliva because those samples are easier to obtain than brain tissue, though changes in these tissues do not necessarily reflect what happens in the brain. Ketamine…

A new neuroimaging study published in European Neuropsychopharmacology has found that childhood abuse and neglect are linked to distinct differences in brain structure among young adults, with patterns varying by age, biological sex, and the specific type of adversity faced. The research identifies two separate brain-behaviour profiles: one associated with physical abuse and trauma denial, the other linked to emotional abuse in women and reductions in the left amygdala. Childhood maltreatment encompasses physical, emotional and sexual abuse, as well as physical and emotional neglect. Individuals who experience maltreatment in childhood are more likely to develop mood and anxiety conditions at…

A large-scale, cross-disciplinary project has concluded that roughly half of tested claims in the social and behavioural sciences hold up when independent researchers attempt to repeat the work. The findings, published in Nature, come from a Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency SCORE programme experiment led by Andrew H. Tyner of the Center for Open Science, with senior colleague Timothy M. Errington and corresponding author Brian A. Nosek. The study united hundreds of researchers from 31 countries to test 274 scientific claims drawn from 164 papers across 54 journals, sourced from a random sample of 3,900 quantitative papers published between 2009…

A study from researchers at the University of Turin suggests that when people view landscape photographs they personally find beautiful, their immediate movement may be slowed and the brain’s preparation for action dampened. The findings, published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, support the idea that aesthetic appreciation can momentarily shift brain resources away from action so attention can be devoted to absorbing sensory information. The work situates itself within a long-running debate about how beauty affects the brain’s motor systems. Early research hinted at a link between perceived beauty and movement-related brain activity, with some studies suggesting that looking…

A new study suggests that early trauma may shape how children’s cortisol responses to stress relate to anxiety and behavioural problems, with different trajectories emerging over the following two years. The research tracked 189 young people aged 8 to 15 from Charleston, South Carolina, of whom 107 had experienced at least one potentially traumatic event before age six and 82 had not. The study was led by Gretchen R. Perhamus of the Medical University of South Carolina. Researchers assessed the stress response in a laboratory setting using a three‑minute social task in which each young person spoke to a camera…

A major US study published in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion finds that a household’s income shapes how believers interpret the Bible’s teachings on poverty and charity. The research shows that highly religious individuals at opposite ends of the income spectrum tend to reach markedly different conclusions: low‑income believers view biblical charity as a call for societal transformation, while affluent believers see it as a matter of individual philanthropy. Sociologists have long debated how religion relates to economic inequality. One influential line of thought, rooted in Karl Marx, argues religion acts as an opiate that pacifies the…