Author: dispatchtimes news

A new study suggests that subtle grooming choices, such as the length and colour of a person’s fingernails, can shape how others judge their physical appeal and romantic desirability. The research, published in EvoS Journal: Evolutionary Studies and Higher Education, finds that medium-length nails and white nail polish were rated most attractive, while long nails and darker shades drew less favourable marks. The project was led by Sara DeMichele, a Bucknell University alumna now pursuing a doctorate at Liberty University, alongside Bucknell psychology professor T. Joel Wade. Nail adornment involves altering the length, shape, or colour of the hard protective…

A US study drawing on more than two decades of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics finds that older adults who experience food insecurity in later life have roughly twice the odds of screening positive for probable dementia, compared with those who have reliable access to food. The research, led by Cindy W. Leung of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the University of Michigan, has been published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. In the United States, food insecurity among households with older adults has nearly doubled over the past two decades. Food…

A Canadian study led by researchers from the University of Regina has found that among men who perpetrated intimate partner violence, problematic alcohol use and deficits in social and cognitive skills each increase the risk of reoffending, but the two factors do not multiply the danger. The analysis used data from 7,781 men in Alberta who began community supervision between 2009 and 2012. Alcohol use was widespread in the sample. About 93 per cent reported drinking, with roughly a third consuming alcohol on three or more days each week. For about half of the men, alcohol contributed to their criminal…

Researchers have mapped contrasting brain responses to rewards in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder, revealing that the same deep brain structures are involved but activate in opposite ways. The analysis, published in Molecular Psychiatry, pooled 29 neuroimaging studies and included 468 people with ADHD, 424 with ASD and 1,027 control participants, all scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging while receiving monetary or social rewards. Reward processing is a fundamental mechanism that guides learning and motivation. When a reward is received, brain networks evaluate its value and influence future behaviour. Atypical responses within these systems are a feature…

A multi‑part study from the United States suggests that liberals and conservatives respond to party endorsements in surprisingly similar ways, even as conservatives tend to report more rigid thinking. The researchers conclude that the key psychological process driving open or closed attitudes toward policy is broadly the same across the ideological spectrum when people are exposed to party cues. The work, conducted at Michigan State University, examined how people react to cues from political parties. The team, led by Aymin Triki, then an undergraduate research assistant, with Abigail L. Cassario and Mark J. Brandt, sought to understand how party endorsements…

A study by researchers at the University of Vienna finds that the attractiveness of online misogyny perpetrators does not influence how bystanders judge the posts. When the content is clearly hostile or abusive, people rely on the message itself rather than any appearance cue. The work, published in Computers in Human Behavior, explored whether a troll’s physical appearance could sway readers’ judgments of misogynistic comments and how the wording of the hostility might shift responses. The researchers frame their analysis in terms of the Elaboration Likelihood Model, a theory that distinguishes between central processing of information and peripheral processing that…

A new study explores whether the body’s oxytocin system acts as a biological risk factor for Functional Neurological Disorder. The findings suggest that while genetic variations in the oxytocin receptor gene do not directly cause the condition, interactions between genetics, epigenetics and circulating hormones may help explain how patients process physical sensations and their history of childhood trauma. The research appears in Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology and was led by Natascha Stoffel of the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. Functional Neurological Disorder sits at the boundary between psychiatry and neurology. Patients experience genuine physical symptoms such as tremors, weakness, or non-epileptic seizures,…

A new set of US and international experiments suggests that people who believe few things in the world truly matter are more willing to endorse violent extremism. The research, led by Daniel W. Snook of Florida Gulf Coast University and published in Psychology of Violence, also found that a 10-day exercise involving photographing and journaling about things perceived as meaningful was linked to lower violent extremism intentions, though the reasons for the effect are not yet clear. The study centres on “primal world beliefs” — broad, largely unconscious assumptions about the nature of reality that shape how individuals interpret their…

A Swedish study of almost 77,000 lottery players suggests that sudden, unearned wealth can alter family life in gendered ways: men become more likely to marry and have children, while women experience a brief rise in divorce risk. The research, published in the Journal of Human Resources, used random windfalls from lotteries to examine long-term effects on marriage and fertility. Economist Anastasia Terskaya, a co-author, framed the findings within a long-standing theoretical tradition. “Economists have long argued that money shapes decisions about marriage, divorce and having children,” she said. “Gary Becker’s work in the 1960s-70s is the classic example.” She…