Society

A new study published in Social Psychological and Personality Science examines how expressions of moral outrage on social media are linked to online activism, specifically petition-signing behavior.... Read more

There was a significant post-Brexit reduction in lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in rural and peripheral areas, a new study has revealed.... Read more

As the nation's colleges and universities respond to the U.S. Supreme Court's "race-neutral" admissions mandates and the Trump administration's efforts to cut funding to campuses with DEI programs, a UC Riverside education professor has offered a framework for institutions to defend racial equity and student well-being.... Read more

There is a growing feeling in New Zealand that the regional geopolitical situation is becoming less stable and more conflicted. China has ramped up its Pacific engagement, most recently with the Cook Islands, and the United States under Donald Trump is abandoning the old multilateral world order.... Read more

From smoking bans to new speed limits—many people soon stop resisting policy changes that restrict their personal freedom once the new rules come into force. This conclusion was reached in a study conducted by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the University of Vienna. The work is published in... Read more

More than 130 cardinals entered the Sistine Chapel on May 7, 2025. With the announcement "Extra omnes"—"all out"—the doors were closed and the cardinals sequestered to elect the next leader of the Catholic Church. They will vote, confer, pray and vote again until a candidate acquires the two-thirds majority needed... Read more

Nearly one out of five women and one out of seven men aged 20 and older globally faced sexual violence as a child, according to a study published in The Lancet.... Read more

When purchasing, say, a used car or a house from a private seller, it's not uncommon for the prospective buyer to make an offer below the asking price, then negotiate with the owner before a deal is reached.... Read more

A sweeping 26-country study reveals a consistent gap in trust toward climate scientists based on political ideology, with right-leaning individuals reporting lower trust than their left-leaning counterparts. The divide is especially stark in wealthier democracies and English-speaking nations, according to the research.... Read more

A first-of-its-kind study by researchers at Michigan State University reveals that individuals who experience the most distress and impairment in daily functioning from social media use are more likely to believe fake news.... Read more

When New York state agencies buy local food for schools, health care facilities, prisons and other public entities, local economies benefit and tax revenue rises. But by how much? And when does it make sense to spend a little more on local products to reap those benefits? With New York... Read more

Around the world, artificial intelligence and Automated Decision-Making (ADM) tools are playing increasingly significant roles in handling immigration and homeland security data.... Read more

England's rural councils play a crucial role in the country's economic and environmental success, but are underfunded compared to other areas, a new report shows.... Read more

Customers often prefer companies aligned with their values, but it has been less clear how they react to firms taking a stance on a polarizing topic. A new study published in Strategic Management Journal explores how individuals respond to firms' communications around a polarizing political issue: whether firms take an... Read more

The sudden closure of internal European borders during the COVID-19 crisis had not only practical consequences, but also changed how people thought about immigration and Europe. Recent research from the University of Amsterdam and international partners shows that these measures temporarily undermined trust in the EU and increased hostility toward... Read more

Is there a relationship between the outcome of a sovereignty referendum and the subsequent electoral performance of the political parties? Is a sovereignty referendum associated with an increase in electoral support among winners and a decrease among losers?... Read more

As communities across the U.S. continue to grapple with public safety and police reform, a study published in Management Science offers compelling evidence for a path forward: Procedural justice training for police officers, backed by leadership support, can significantly improve officer behavior and strengthen community trust.... Read more

A new planning formula to optimize the lifecycle value of Australia's warships in an era of geopolitical instability has been proposed by researchers at the University of South Australia.... Read more

In our polarized political system, what's one thing that Democrats and Republicans have in common? Growing distrust and dislike for each other.... Read more

People coming out of prison in New Zealand face multiple hurdles reintegrating into society—starting with one of the most fundamental elements of modern life: getting a bank account.... Read more

Leading up to the 2020 election, two Texas A&M University political scientists wanted to know how sincere voters considered Joe Biden. The researchers divided statements from the Biden campaign into two types: those that made a pragmatic argument, such as the campaign's assertion that mass imprisonment hurts the economy; and... Read more

Existing legislation which governs finance and investment can help to protect society from the dangers associated with advances in quantum computing, a new study shows.... Read more

A team of statistical researchers at Meta, owner of Facebook, working with colleagues from the University of Hong Kong and Harvard University, has applied a specially designed algorithm to analyze Facebook data to track human migration around the world in the year 2022. The team has posted a paper describing... Read more

Canada's recent federal election was regularly dubbed one of the most consequential of the last 50 years. Economic and sovereignty threats from United States President Donald Trump were key issues in the campaign. In response, pledges about energy infrastructure and resource development played an important role in party platforms.... Read more

How can the memory of Nazi crimes be kept alive? Many memorial sites, museums, and archives rely on participatory and digital formats to reach more people, especially younger generations. However, until now there has been a lack of scientific evidence on their effectiveness.... Read more

In the aftermath of George Floyd's murder in 2020, policing has been at the center of the cultural and political conversation in the U.S.... Read more

Urban Institute Associate Dr. Nebeela Ahmed has published a new article titled "Infrastructure as territorial stigma: labor migrant exclusions in the Indian city" in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research.... Read more

As federal support for election security faces major cutbacks, a study in the journal Operations Research introduces a scientifically backed, low-cost solution to strengthen the integrity of U.S. elections.... Read more

With US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's "proud" cancellation of the military's Women, Peace and Security (WPS) program, the "war on woke" has found its latest frontier—war itself.... Read more

Ukraine and the US have signed a much-anticipated deal on natural resources. The deal would open up some of the war-torn country's mineral and energy resources to the United States.... Read more

This election, social media has been a major battleground as candidates try to reach younger voters. As Gen Z and Millennials now make up the dominant voter bloc in Australia, securing their support is more electorally important than ever.... Read more

In early April 2025, the Trump administration terminated the immigration statuses of thousands of international students listed in a government database, meaning they no longer had legal permission to be in the country. Some students self-deported instead of facing deportation.... Read more

As demonstrators gathered outside, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on April 30, 2025, about whether Oklahoma can operate the nation's first faith-based charter school. St. Isidore of Seville would be a virtual K-12 school run by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa.... Read more

Terrorist attacks are more common during security and economic crises, but they decrease during humanitarian disasters.... Read more

Donald Trump won the US election on a campaign that included rolling back environmental laws. In the UK, Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch has called the national net zero target "impossible." And former prime minister Tony Blair has said the current approach of phasing out fossil fuels is "doomed to... Read more

Donald Trump's tariffs will make many things more expensive for his fellow US citizens. The price of imported cars, building materials and some tech will go up—and so will the cost of the food on American dining tables.... Read more

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, organizers opted for an eco-friendly cooling system in athlete housing, skipping central air in favor of a low-energy alternative. Countries responded by bringing their own air conditioning units—a move that undercut the original environmental goal. According to researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's Dietrich College of... Read more

A study led by researchers at the Columbia Butler Aging Center and the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health has unveiled a framework for rethinking political decision-making—drawing inspiration from how the human body maintains stability and health. The findings are published in npj Complexity.... Read more

With federal elections looming and with global politics in the spotlight, researchers from Edith Cowan University (ECU) have offered political parties some sage advice, warning that broken election promises could damage the party brand and ultimately lead to a loss of political power.... Read more

Policymakers often overlook the challenges faced by shrinking small and medium-sized cities. Yet, keeping these cities sustainable is crucial for many urban stakeholders. Unfortunately, the methods that have succeeded in large cities cannot be unilaterally applied to combat this issue. This suggests that a research gap on effective urban management... Read more

The Trump administration is trying to reshape how schools discipline students—and alter the federal government's role in the process.... Read more

The recent deportation orders targeting foreign students in the U.S. have prompted a heated debate about the legality of these actions. The Trump administration made no secret that many individuals were facing removal because of their pro-Palestinian advocacy.... Read more

New research from a team of leading U.K. universities has revealed that over £3.77 billion in government contracts has been awarded to private companies since 2015 for managing border security and small boat crossings in the English Channel.... Read more

In an otherwise unremarkable election campaign, the major parties are promising sharply different energy blueprints for Australia. Labor is pitching a high-renewables future powered largely by wind, solar, hydroelectricity and batteries. The Coalition wants more gas and coal now, and would build nuclear power later.... Read more

Nearly two‐thirds of adults in the U.S. have experienced some form of in‐person exposure to gun violence, according to a national study by Rutgers researchers tracking racial disparities in direct and media‐based experiences.... Read more

The Trump administration claims to be rooting out "gender ideology extremism" and "restoring biological truth" in the United States.... Read more

News outlets across the country have been making efforts to engage more deeply with their communities and enhance transparency in their reporting. New research from the University of Kansas has found that journalism engagement training has begun to shift political coverage, reducing the prevalence of "horse race" stories about who... Read more

By autumn 2026, all frontline officers of the UK's second largest police force will be expected to wear a camera while on duty, at a cost of over £13 million.... Read more

Whistleblowers—people who expose wrongdoing within their organizations—play a crucial role in holding governments and corporations accountable. But speaking up can come at a cost. People who report misconduct often face retaliation, job loss or legal threats, making whistleblowing risky and challenging. And when legal protections for whistleblowers are weakened, the... Read more

"The strong do what they will, the weak suffer what they must."... Read more