Psychology – Science & research news

Editor’s Choice Award for Evolutionary Psychology – January to March 2021

June 11, 2021

Professor Peter K. Jonason, the Specialty Chief Editor of the Evolutionary Psychology specialty section (Frontiers in Psychology), is delighted to announce the winners of the Editor’s Choice Award for January to March of 2021. The two articles selected have received notable attention within the community and offer important insights from the field of evolutionary psychology to better understand behavioral responses within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. [...]

Virtual humans equal to real ones in helping people practice leadership skills

April 16, 2021

Virtual humans can train people in leadership: Frontiers in Virtual Reality [...]

Organizational Psychology Editor’s Choice articles – October to December 2020

April 7, 2021

Editor’s Choice articles from Frontiers in Psychology on improving leadership effectiveness in these difficult times. [...]

First most impactful article award in Organizational Psychology goes to omnichannel customer behaviour study

March 24, 2021

The Organizational Psychology specialty section of Frontiers in Psychology is proud to launch the Most Impactful Article Award. [...]

Could coloring our steaks blue help reduce the world’s insatiable demand for meat?

March 11, 2021

By Prof Charles Spence, University of Oxford Image: SciePro/Shutterstock Blue has become an increasingly popular color in drinks and confectionary. Now, Prof Charles Spence [...]

Prof Gisli H Gudjonsson: 40 years’ worth of scientific research shows anyone can be coerced into a false confession

February 22, 2021

Prof Gisli H. Gudjonsson reviews the forensic science of false confessions: Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Study highlights factors that predict success for treating canine behavioral disorders

January 22, 2021

The personality of a dog's owner can predict outcomes of veterinary behavioral therapy: Frontiers in Veterinary Medicine [...]

Human-nature interactions: Perspectives on Conceptual and Methodological Issues

December 8, 2020

What else can we learn about the human relationship with nature? Read this article collection with 105 expert contributors, 237,000 views and downloads, and featured in World Economic Forum. [...]

Measuring broken hearts: divorce has negative effects on physical and mental health

November 30, 2020

What are the mental health effects of divorce? Frontiers in Psychology [...]

High achievement cultures may kill students’ interest in math – especially for girls

November 25, 2020

In countries with high academic standards in math, students (especially girls) typically are less interested: Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Cows prefer “live” co-moo-nication, study reveals

October 15, 2020

Cows enjoy the sound of a human voice -- but are more relaxed by a face-to-face chat than when listening to a recorded voice through a loudspeaker: Frontiers in Psychology [...]

COVID-19 infects majority of bad dreams — study

October 1, 2020

Scientists map content of dreams under Covid-19 lockdown: Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Better sleep with a partner

June 25, 2020

Couples that spend the night in the same bed show increased REM sleep and synchronization of sleep architecture: Frontiers in Psychiatry [...]

Dance with your grandma (after COVID-19 of course)

April 17, 2020

Dance Movement Therapy as a tool to improve mood, promote exercise, and create closeness between grandparents and grandchildren: Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Little scientists: children prefer books that explain why and how things happen

April 15, 2020

Books rich in causal information could help increase their motivation to read: Frontiers in Psychology [...]

More than a third of medical staff suffered insomnia during the COVID-19 epidemic in China

April 14, 2020

They were more likely to feel depressed and anxious, and certain factors implied increased risk: Frontiers in Psychiatry [...]

Mother nose best

March 4, 2020

Child body odor provides olfactory clues to mothers about child's developmental stage: Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Connectedness to nature makes children happier

February 26, 2020

Encourages children to display more sustainable behaviors, and gives greater levels of happiness: Frontiers in Psychology [...]

How language proficiency correlates with cognitive skills

February 24, 2020

Multilinguals may be better equipped at multitasking: Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Tunes for training

February 5, 2020

High-tempo music may increase the benefits of exercise and reduce perceived effort: Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Therapeutic horseback riding combined with cognitive exercises can help children with ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorders

January 31, 2020

Novel combination improves the motor skills of young people with neurodevelopmental disorders: Frontiers in Veterinary Science [...]

Prof Darren Treadway becomes the new Specialty Chief Editor for Organizational Psychology

January 30, 2020

One of the largest sections in Frontiers in Psychology, encompassing all aspects of human behavior in an organization. [...]

New dog, old tricks? Untrained stray dogs can understand human cues

January 17, 2020

Study suggests that understanding between humans and dogs transcends training: Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Comparing primate vocalizations

September 13, 2019

Study shows Old World monkeys combine items in speech — but only two and never more, unlike humans; Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Artificial intelligence enables recognizing and assessing a violinist’s bow movements

July 29, 2019

A system developed by David Dalmazzo and Rafael Ramírez, members of the Music Technology Group, allows violin students to benefit from real-time accurate information about their movements when playing the instrument; Frontiers in Psychology [...]

How to sell labriculture: less lab, more culture

July 4, 2019

‘High-tech’ framing may be driving negative attitudes towards cultured meat; Frontiers in Nutrition [...]

US army research supports personalized soldier training

June 17, 2019

Research suggests that gamification can boost soldier training, but only if we take individual differences into account; Frontiers in Psychology [...]

The app teaching anorexics to eat again

June 13, 2019

More patients with anorexia go into long-term remission by re-learning how to eat, than through CBT or drugs; Frontiers in Neuroscience [...]

‘Technoference’: We’re more tired and less productive because of our phones

May 15, 2019

A QUT study finds problematic phone use is getting worse in Australia; Frontiers in Psychiatry [...]

Can stress in the womb lead to mental resilience later in life?

May 13, 2019

When a mother is exposed to intimate partner violence during pregnancy, her children are less likely to suffer depression and PTSD symptoms if they live in violent communities, than otherwise; Frontiers in Genetics [...]

The unbeatable lightness of being

April 29, 2019

Is fostering our innate capacity for levity the ultimate antidote to stress and unhappiness? Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Stressed? Take a 20-minute nature pill

April 9, 2019

Just 20 minutes of contact with nature will lower stress hormone levels, reveals new study; Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Brain training app improves users’ concentration, study shows

March 15, 2019

Cambridge researchers have developed and tested 'Decoder', a new game that is aimed at helping users improve their attention and concentration; Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience [...]

Want to save the planet? Stop trying to be its friend

March 5, 2019

People tend to judge their environmental impact using moral intuition that evolved to handle social exchange -- but these tree huggers may be doing more harm than good, say researchers; Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Antarctic researchers enter a state of ‘psychological hibernation’, study finds

February 5, 2019

Researchers experiencing the dark and lonely Antarctic winter abandon even passive coping mechanisms like denial and depression; Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Social exclusion fuels extremism in young migrant men

January 24, 2019

A neuroimaging study shows that social exclusion can contribute to the development of extremism in those vulnerable to radicalization; Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Can Superman trigger heroic helping in people?

January 4, 2019

Image of a cartoon superhero. Research finds that priming people with superhero images increases their likelihood of engaging in prosocial behaviors: Frontiers in Psychology

Priming people with superhero images increases their likelihood of engaging in prosocial behaviors: Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Feminine leadership traits: Nice but expendable frills?

November 22, 2018

Image of feamle leader with team: The finding that both men and women prefer leadership traits considered as more masculine could help explain gender inequality in top leadership roles: Frontiers in Psychology

The finding that both men and women prefer leadership traits considered as more masculine could help explain gender inequality in the workplace: Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Top athletes weigh in on perceived effectiveness of anti-doping measures

November 20, 2018

Image of sports track with "doping free" in writing: First-of-its-kind study asked top cyclists and field athletes to rank effectiveness of different sport anti-doping strategies: Frontiers in Psychology

First-of-its-kind study asked top cyclists and field athletes to rank effectiveness of different anti-doping strategies: Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Why don’t we understand statistics? Fixed mindsets may be to blame

November 14, 2018

Image of a statistics problem. The first study of why people struggle to solve statistical problems reveals a preference for complicated rather than simpler, more intuitive solutions: Frontiers in Psychology

The first study of why people struggle to solve statistical problems reveals a preference for complicated rather than simpler, more intuitive solutions: Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Bad boss? You may be making things better – or worse!

October 29, 2018

Image of a boss yelling at his employees. Bad leaders are not solely to blame for bad outcomes -their followers can make it worse. On the flipside, followers and leaders can buffer undesirable effects on organizational functioning. Study published in Frontiers in Psychology.

Disagreeable, dishonest and careless leaders can mean bad outcomes for companies - but the employees they work with also play a major role: Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Men place less value on care-oriented careers like nursing

September 26, 2018

Image of young male nurse. The study also shows men and women support increasing the gender balance in STEM more than in healthcare, early education and domestic careers: Frontiers in Psychology

The study also shows both men and women support increasing the gender balance in STEM more than in healthcare, early education and domestic (HEED) careers: Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Age, race or need for instant gratification: which best predicts how much you will earn?

September 24, 2018

Picture of money. For the first time, machine learning allows researchers to rank factors that predict future affluence and higher income: Frontiers in Psychology

For the first time, machine learning allows researchers to rank the most important factors that predict future affluence: Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Training compassion ‘muscle’ may boost brain’s resilience to others’ suffering

August 13, 2018

As little as two weeks of compassion meditation training may reduce the distress a person feels when witnessing another’s suffering: Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Seeing yourself as Einstein may change the way you think

July 31, 2018

Frontiers in Psychology: A virtual reality simulation that allows people to embody Albert Einstein reduces age stereotypes -- and enhances the cognitive performance of those with low self-esteem

A virtual reality simulation of having Albert Einstein's body reduces age stereotypes and can enhance cognitive performance: Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Aggression at work can lead to ‘vicious circle’ of misconduct

July 18, 2018

Frequently being the target of workplace aggression not only affects the victim's health but can also cause them to behave badly towards others: Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Sports teams playing for survival in critical games are more likely to lose

June 12, 2018

Frontiers in Psychology: Teams playing for survival in critical games are more likely to lose

The first study using data from real games shows teams are more likely to lose when losing means elimination: Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Football coaches: an untapped resource in assessing and developing player psychology

June 11, 2018

Researchers give practical tips to help football coaches reliably assess player characteristics important for performance: Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Virtual avatar-to-avatar interviews may improve eyewitness testimony

May 28, 2018

Interviews in virtual reality may increase the accuracy and amount of recalled information: Frontiers in Psychology [...]

Comments on social networks reinforce socialization during adolescence

May 17, 2018

A study looking at online behavior and evaluative comments made by teenageers concludes that while cybergossiping can lead to risky behavior such as cyberbullying, it also serves a valuable socializing function: Frontiers in Psychology

While cybergossiping can lead to risky behavior like cyberbullying, it also serves a valuable socializing function for teenagers: Frontiers in Psychology [...]