news 2020

New HU study on the influence of "fake news" on the brain Neurocognitive studies by researchers at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU) show that headlines with emotional content influence our judgments about other people even when we consider the media source to be untrustworthy. Rumours, half-truths and misinformation can be consumed and shared non-stop online and have an enormous reach.

The research being carried out by Dr. Nina Engelhardt fills a gap in our understanding of tolerance as well as in (cognitive) literature, and her project has led to her being included in the Baden-Württemberg Foundation's Elite Program for postdocs. In public discourse, the word "tolerance" is often defined as respect, acceptance and recognition of other cultures.

During the corona crisis, neurotic people experience more negative emotions in their everyday lives, are more unstable emotionally and worry more about their health. These are the results of a study carried out by psychologists from the Universities of Münster and Bielefeld. The study has been published in the "Journal of Research in Personality'.

Psychological study shows connection between emotional arousal and assignment of sound sequences as well as associative meanings No 123/2020 from Jul 14, 2020 On the basis of psycholinguistic experiments, an international group of researchers including a cognitive neuroscientist at Freie Universität Berlin, has been able to demonstrate that emotions play a central role in the associations between the sounds of words and their meanings.

Due to border closures in the wake of the corona crisis, the arrival of refugees in Europe has temporarily dipped. However, worldwide numbers of refugees have surged, again, within a year, driven by violence, war, persecution, economic hardship, or climate change. In the foreseeable future, many refugees will not be able to return to their homes.

Following the rapid spread of COVID-19 in Europe and North America in March 2020, many people around the world began hoarding goods such as toilet paper. Some companies reported an increase in toilet paper sales of up to 700 percent, despite calls from governments to refrain from "panic buying". Which groups of people primarily hoarded all the toilet paper? Psychologists from the universities of St. Gallen and Münster and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig investigated this question.

Participants wanted: Bioinformaticians attempt to trace new COVID-19 hotspots - further studies concerned with psychological impacts How do people deal with their feelings in everyday life during the pandemic caused by the coronavirus and at what locations might a new hotspot of COVID-19 infections be developing? These questions are the focus of two studies for which Heidelberg University scientists are looking for participants from all age groups.

University of Jena psychologists study longevity of couples' relationships It has probably never been easier to find a partner who is compatible with you - at least in theory. Internet dating platforms feed algorithms with information about those seeking a relationship in order to find the best match for them.

In these times, when Donald Trump and Greta Thunberg are active, discussions on scientific findings can become emotional. But how does the general public see such emotional debates' Initial answers to this question have now been found in the interdisciplinary DFG (German Research Foundation) Research Training Group "Trust and Communication in a Digitized World".