news

Most of us probably assume that romantic relationships are more important for women than for men. In any case, romantic relationships are a much more popular topic in women's magazines than in magazines aimed at men. And in films, single women tend to be portrayed as pitiful and seem to be more motivated to fall in love than single men.

A comprehensive study conducted by the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, now found that while there is a connection between political orientation and prosociality, it is weaker than previously assumed. It is often assumed that people who hold left-wing political beliefs have stronger prosocial traits and are more altruistic than those who support right-wing parties.

News from Researchers at Leipzig University have examined the complex relationships between obesity, social isolation and mental health in the German adult population. Their findings show that socially isolated obese people are at increased risk of mental illness. Particularly at risk are the elderly, the widowed and men of lower socio-economic status.

Psychopathic people have great difficulty or are even unable to show empathy and regulate their emotions. According to a new study by Matthias Burghart, a Max Planck researcher in Freiburg, this could be because these people suffer from alexithymia, also known as emotional blindness. The term alexithymia is an amalgam of the Greek prefix a- (without) and the words lexis (reading) and thymos (emotion).

The state elections in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg have caused political upheaval due to the AfD's results. Exploratory talks on the future formation of a government are still ongoing. An interdisciplinary study as part of the Volkswagen Foundation's NurtureDEMOS project at the University of Trier and the Centre for Research on Right-Wing Extremism, Democracy Education and Social Integration (KomRex) at the University of Jena has recorded and analyzed attitudes and voting behaviour in the states in the run-up to the state elections.

People who reduce their screen time on by merely one hour a day improve both their well-being and their motivation at work. On average, we spend three and a quarter hours a day looking at our phones. Cutting back this time by one hour a day is not only good for our mental health, but also helps us to feel happier and more motivated at work.

The risk gene adenylyl cyclase 2 is associated with bipolar disorder, as has been repeatedly confirmed in genome-wide association studies. However, until now there has not been any proof of a causal relationship. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry have now provided this: for the first time, they experimentally demonstrated that mice with a risk variant of the gene showed behavioral changes reminiscent of manic symptoms in patients with bipolar disorder.

Rohingya children, whose lives have been marked by flight and displacement, have retained their prosociality as a fundamental human trait in the face of adversity.

We all know what it's like when the penny suddenly drops. Animals too experience such moments of insight. They could prove useful for research, according to Ekrem Dere. For generations, researchers have been pondering the question of how and where consciousness is formed in the brain. Professor Ekrem Dere from Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, proposes a new approach to researching conscious cognitive information processing.

When members of a group successfully coordinate their movements with one another, this leads to a stronger sense of togetherness. This was shown by a recent study by the Universities of Würzburg and Regensburg. People who feel connected to each other find it easier to coordinate their actions. They therefore perform better in tasks that require good coordination.

In everyday life, adults think about the future an average of 59 times a day. This helps them to cope with future challenges. What about children? Adults are particularly good at preparing for the future when they imagine what they will feel. Researchers at Ruhr University Bochum have investigated whether this is also the case with pre-school children.

Researchers at the University Alliance Ruhr have discovered new insights into how acute illness affects empathy. Their study confirms complex relationships between physical well-being and empathy. When people are ill, they feel less empathy for others than when they are healthy. This has been confirmed by a study conducted by Ruhr University Bochum and the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany.

A new study from Humboldt-Universität approaches the question from a psychological perspective. A neurocognitive study by researchers at the Institute of Psychology at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU) shows that negative knowledge about an artist influences the perception of the artwork, regardless of the artist's level of fame.

Researchers recommend the use of structured interviews to reduce potential biases People who speak a regional dialect or who have an accent may be at a disadvantage in personnel selection processes. This is the result of a new meta-analysis carried out by researchers at Freie Universität Berlin, the Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences, and Ulm University.

A hug can have a beneficial effect. Even when it comes from a robot. Touch can do a lot of good - so far, so good. But to what extent do humans benefit from it? How much touch is allowed? Who should touch and where? When we experience physical contact - does it even have to be with another human? A research team from Bochum, Duisburg-Essen and Amsterdam analyzed over 130 international studies with around 10,000 participants to answer these questions.

The generic masculine generally emphasizes the masculine side. The fact that all genders are of course meant does not change this. This is shown by a new study by Würzburg psychologists. It is a crux with the generic masculine in German: if a group is made up of 99 female professors and only one male professor, it would be grammatically correct to speak of "the professors" in this case.

In Western Europe, the number of children and adolescents who do not identify with their sex assessed at birth and who therefore seek help is rapidly increasing. A recently published updated systematic review evaluates the current evidence on the use of puberty blockers and cross-sex-hormones in minors with gender dysphoria as insufficient, and therefore emphasizes the particular importance of psychological and psychotherapeutic interventions for this vulnerable group.

International team led by Münster researchers studies psychological consequences of the war The outbreak of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine almost two years ago led internationally to a collective downturn in people's sense of well-being - irrespective of age, gender, political views or any other attributes which the people questioned had.

Physical activity in everyday life has the potential to compensate for the negative consequences of being alone on well-being - especially in psychologically and neurobiologically vulnerable people. Social isolation and loneliness are major societal problems. Their negative impact on mental health has been exacerbated worldwide by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an uniquely extensive study, researchers were able to demonstrate the clinical benefits of schema therapy in the context of inpatient treatment. This therapy is therefore a promising alternative for the treatment of severe depression. Schema therapy is increasingly being used as a psychotherapeutic method.