Author: dispatchtimes news

Believing that one’s socioeconomic position could decline in the future may itself erode well-being by heightening anxiety about social status, according to four studies led by Davide Melita of the University of Granada. The research suggests that expectations of downward movement have a clearer and stronger impact on people’s happiness than expectations of upward mobility. The studies collectively involved 2,819 participants across Spain and the United States. The first two surveys examined how beliefs about mobility in society at large relate to status anxiety and well-being, while the final two experiments tested whether altering people’s expectations about their own economic…

A new systematic review and meta-analysis published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine finds that breast reduction surgery is associated with improvements in sexual function for many women. The study, led by researchers based in Iran, synthesised data from 13 eligible studies involving 676 participants across several countries, including Brazil, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Iran, Poland and Spain. Researchers aimed to clarify how reducing breast size affects postoperative sexual function in healthy women with symptomatic macromastia. Studies focusing on cancer-related breast surgery or gender-affirming procedures were excluded to keep the focus on the physical and psychological…

A new meta-analysis pooling data from more than 12,000 adults has found that difficulties with managing emotions are notably linked to one form of narcissism while showing little to no connection with another. The study, published in Personality and Individual Differences, indicates that insecure and defensive features of narcissism are associated with emotion dysregulation, whereas more boastful, outwardly dominant narcissistic traits are not consistently tied to these emotional difficulties. In psychology, narcissism exists along a spectrum of traits rather than as a single label. It is typically divided into grandiose and vulnerable subtypes. Grandiose narcissism describes an outgoing, attention-seeking, self-assured…

A new study exploring parasocial relationships and fear of missing out around Taylor Swift finds that fans’ intense one-sided bonds with the pop star, coupled with FoMO, are strong predictors of whether they will attend her concerts or watch related films. The research underscores how a sense of social belonging can drive large-scale consumer behaviour. A parasocial relationship describes a one-sided emotional bond where an audience member feels close to a media figure who reciprocates little to no personal knowledge of the individual fan. In Swift’s case, the researchers note, these bonds have been developed over years of interaction with…

A new study from researchers at the University of Graz indicates extreme metal fans process disgust in visuals differently to nonfans, with noticeably lower disgust reactions and greater amusement when confronted with grotesque imagery. The online experiment found fans rated disgusting artworks, grotesque album art and disturbing photos as less repulsive than nonfans, while also enjoying the aesthetics more in certain contexts. Disgust is a basic emotion evolved as a cue to avoid disease and decay, but the study suggests the morbid appeal of extreme metal extends beyond mere tolerance. Extreme metal, the umbrella for subgenres such as death metal…

The election of Pope Leo XIV in May 2025 prompted a modest rise in the sense of meaning in life among practising Roman Catholics in the United States, according to a study published in The Journal of Positive Psychology. Over a 10-day post-election window, participants reported a stronger sense that their lives were meaningful, while their search for meaning gradually declined. The effects persisted after controlling for participants’ religious commitment and their views about the pope’s American nationality. Meaning in life is a multi-dimensional construct, psychologists explain. It comprises having a motivational goal or purpose, perceiving life as coherent, and…

A new analysis published in PLOS One links the public endorsement of white replacement conspiracy theories by political leaders to measurable increases in real-world extremist activity, with a stronger signal at the local level than across the nation. The researchers found that as endorsements accumulate, episodes of white supremacist organising tend to rise, and attention to immigration within affected constituencies also increases. White replacement theories describe a belief that a secret faction is engineering mass immigration to replace a country’s native-born population. Though these ideas have surfaced periodically in various Western democracies over the past century, their appearance in mainstream…

A new cross‑country study suggests that public opinion toward major technology companies is not a simple spectrum of support or opposition. The research, published in Research and Politics, finds that higher levels of education are linked to mixed, ambivalent views of Big Tech rather than outright enthusiasm. The study focuses on the six-country survey and the attitudes toward global technology firms such as Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft. Beyond consumer products, the firms’ control over core digital infrastructure means they now shape information access, decision‑making in public life and the development of emerging tools like artificial intelligence, prompting regulators…