Political Science

To encourage scientists to speak up when people misuse science to serve political agendas, biology professor Mark Peifer of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill argues that eugenics should be included in college genetics curriculums.

A global survey spanning 68 countries reveals that public trust in scientists is still high. A team of 241 researchers conducted the largest post-pandemic study of trust in science, societal expectations and public views on research priorities.

Recognizing that news coverage may have influence in forming attitudes and in driving action, a team of psychology researchers examined whether reframing this gender gap in terms of 'men's overrepresentation' -- rather than as 'women's underrepresentation' -- would have an impact on perceptions of the issue and on motivations to address it. Its findings showed that framing the gap as 'men's overrepresentation' -- as opposed to 'women's underrepresentation' -- in political leadership elicited more anger at the disparity among women and increased perceptions that the gap is unjust. Moreover, the results showed that anger at the disparity leads women to take action to address it.

When it comes to peace processes and negotiations, U.N. Women highlights a stark reality: All too often, women remain invisible and excluded. But a new study draws on evidence from Colombia to show that addressing gender-related issues helps peace agreements succeed.

How can we ensure that as many households as possible adopt not only solar panels, but also their own battery to store solar energy, a heat pump, and an electric car? Researchers have looked into just this question.

We distance ourselves from completely neutral products if they are liked by people who have political views that we find disagreeable. Even chocolate can be political, according to new research from Sweden. The behavior is reinforced if we have to make a decision when others are watching.

A new analysis shows that political polarization also poses significant health risks -- by obstructing the implementation of legislation and policies aimed at keeping Americans healthy, by discouraging individual action to address health needs, such as getting a flu shot, and by boosting the spread of misinformation that can reduce trust in health professionals.

Research shows, during four recent major hurricanes, important public safety messaging was drowned out by more trivial social content--including people tweeting about pets, sharing human-interest stories, or bickering about politics. That's a big problem for officials working to understand where help is needed and to communicate effectively with people impacted by disasters.

A new computational model analyzes the factors that help determine whether debunking efforts will persuade people to change their beliefs about the legitimacy of an election.

Government subsidies for business practices and processes should be approached with caution, even when they seem to be environmentally friendly, writes a group of scientists and economists. They argue that subsidies can alter market pressures, leading to unintended consequences that not only perpetuate harmful subsidies over time but also diminish the overall effectiveness of those intended to promote environmental sustainability.

Using MRI scans of almost 1,000 Dutch people, researchers show that there is indeed a connection between brain structure and ideology. However, the connection is smaller than expected. Nevertheless, the researchers find it remarkable that differences in the brain are linked to something as abstract as ideology.

What makes someone seem wise? People view wisdom through the lens of applying knowledge and thinking logically as well as considering others' feelings and perceptions, according to researchers who looked at perceptions of wisdom across 12 countries and five continents.

A new article concludes that current climate standards are not sufficiently incentivizing the big picture innovations necessary to deliver net zero, and must be expanded to include a company's broader influence on climate action.

The familiar terms 'climate change' and 'global warming' are more likely to resonate with people than other commonly used phrases.

Researchers have developed and validated a new tool for comparing gender inequality among different regions of a country, highlighting links between gender inequality, wellbeing, and participation in the #MeToo movement within the United States.

New analyses find that public perceptions of scientists' credibility -- measured as their competence, trustworthiness, and the extent to which they are perceived to share an individual's values -- remain high, but their perceived competence and trustworthiness eroded somewhat between 2023 and 2024. The research also found that public perceptions of scientists working in artificial intelligence (AI) differ from those of scientists as a whole.

Current crises are distracting from the climate crisis and weakening support for climate action, a Europe-wide survey reveals.

The latest 'Florida Climate Resilience Survey' found that 90% of Floridians believe that climate change is happening. Belief in human-caused climate change has surged among Florida Independents while slipping among Republicans in the state since last fall. But despite these changes, the survey found enduring support among Floridians for increased government action to address the consequences of a warming planet. The survey found 68% of all respondents want state government to do more and 69% want the federal government to do more to address climate change.

The division between liberals and conservatives on both climate-change beliefs and related policy support is long-standing. However, the results of a newly released global experiment show that despite these differences, the two camps actually align when it comes to taking certain actions to combat climate change.

Most Americans report having personally experienced the effects of extreme weather, according to new survey data. An analysis finds that a reported exposure to extreme weather is associated with support for a half-dozen pro-environmental government policies that are intended to mitigate the effects of climate change and are contained in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

Legislators love bundling things together. It lets them accomplish more with less hassle and attempt to make legislation more appealing to a broader group. But a new study suggests that this can sometimes backfire. The authors found that pairing climate policies with other policies does not necessarily increase their popular appeal, and can actually reduce public support.

Researchers propose that governments apply a new method for calculating the benefits that arise from conserving biodiversity and nature for future generations.

There exists a narrative about climate change that says there are winners and losers -- with Russia being one of the countries that stand to benefit from its effects. In a new study, researchers found that Russia is suffering from a variety of climate change impacts and is ill-prepared to mitigate or adapt to those climate impacts. And, as the rest of the world transitions to renewable energy sources, Russia's fossil-fuel-dependent government is not willing or ready to make alternative plans for the country, changes that could potentially benefit the whole of their society.

In a survey involving a total of 2,472 respondents, researchers asked participants about nonpolitical and political moral behavior and nonpolitical and political moral tolerance. They found people more willing to behave badly in political contexts -- and more willing to tolerate bad behavior among potliticians they support.

Both liberals and conservatives are more likely to believe that merit-based hiring is unfair after learning about the impacts of socioeconomic disparities, according to a new study.

An international group of leading scientists call for an urgent change in the governance of urban expansion as the world's cities continue to grow at unprecedented rates.

People judge members of their own circles more harshly than they judge individuals from other groups for the same transgressions, new research has found.

Enforcement is one of the biggest challenges to international cooperation on mitigating climate change in the Paris Agreement. The agreement has no formal enforcement mechanism; instead, it is designed to be transparent so countries that fail to meet their obligations will be named and thus shamed into changing behavior. A new study shows that this naming-and-shaming mechanism can be an effective incentive for many countries to uphold their pledges to reduce emissions.

New research examines the 'revolution' in the study of deforestation brought about by satellites, and analyzing which kinds of policies might limit climate-altering deforestation.

Study finds that politics, public expectations fuel hyperinflation.

A new study finds that only a small number of U.S. policies consider ultra-processed foods, lagging behind countries such as Belgium, Brazil, and Israel.

Research finds 'AI-tocracy,' China's increased investments in AI-driven facial-recognition technology, both help the regime repress dissent and may drive the technology forward.

When unethical behavior is criticized, demands are often met with defensiveness and denial. How can we overcome this reaction? New research demonstrates that criticism is more persuasive when it is expressed with concern for the welfare of those being criticized.

People might be more positive to the removal of fuel subsidies if told where the money would be spent instead. This has been shown in a study which investigated attitudes towards removing fossil fuel subsidies in five developing countries.

The first global study to investigate how gender equality may be associated with life expectancy has found that both women and men live longer as it improves.

People who share a political ideology have more similar 'neural fingerprints' of political words and process new information in similar ways, according to a new analysis.

In a new study, researchers find a significant societal impact of the pandemic beyond the domain of health and raise concerns about the ability of democratic societies to cope with future crises such as the climate crisis.

An artificial intelligence tool could help governments decide whether or not to bail out a bank in crisis by predicting if the intervention will save money for taxpayers in the long term.

In an experimental study, participants' first impressions of photos of strangers' faces were strongly influenced by disclosure of the stranger's political partisanship.

Researchers show how major sociopolitical events can have global impacts on sleep that are associated with significant fluctuations in the public's collective mood, well-being, and alcohol consumption.

With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, people were plunged into a situation that required them to acquire information about an emerging scientific issue to assess the adequacy of government actions and programs of significant personal import to each individual.

A new global COVID-19 study provides actionable recommendations to end the public health threat without exacerbating socio-economic burdens or putting the most vulnerable at greater risk.

There has long been an assumption that a connection exists between affective polarization and anti-democratic attitudes. A new study tests several depolarization interventions and finds that, while they depolarize, they do not affect anti-democratic attitudes.

When groups of people need to reach a decision, they will often take a straw poll to test opinions before the official vote. New research shows that one specific voting method proved more effective than others in identifying the best choice.

An interdisciplinary team of researchers reports on how social norms -- 'patterns of behaviors or values that depend on expectations about what others do and/or think should be done' -- can be harnessed to bring about collective climate action and policy change.

A new study identifies the political factors that allow some countries to lead in adopting cleaner sources of energy while others lag behind. By analyzing how different countries responded to the current energy crisis and to the oil crisis of the 1970s, the study reveals how the structure of political institutions can help or hinder the shift to clean energy. The findings offer important lessons as governments race to limit the impacts of climate change.

Trying to understand people we disagree with can feel like a lost cause, particularly in contentious political environments. But new research finds that valuing empathy across party lines can make our political arguments more persuasive.

New research shows that moral values predict regional differences in COVID-19 vaccination rates beyond structural, demographic and political barriers to vaccination.

A new study debunks the idea that wearing a mask to slow the spread of disease damages most everyday social exchanges.

Italian citizens who exercised their democratic right to vote in the 2020 constitutional referendum may have unintentionally contributed to the spread of COVID-19, finds a new study. However, researchers found that the decision to delay an early general election in 2021 saved 23,000 lives.

Just after the U.S. Congress passed the nation's most substantial legislation aimed at battling climate change, a new study shows that the average American badly underestimates how much their fellow citizens support substantive climate policy. While 66-80% of Americans support climate action, the average American believes that number is 37-43%, the study found. The study found that conservatives underestimated national support for climate policies to the greatest degree but, liberals also believed that a minority of Americans support climate action. The misperception was the norm in every state, across policies, and among every demographic tested, including political affiliation, race, media consumption habits, and rural vs. suburban.

The same four factors that explain how people change their beliefs on a variety of issues can account for the recent rise in anti-science attitudes, a new review suggests.

Financial incentives play an important role in the widespread adoption of electric vehicles. New research, however, finds that not all financial incentives are created equal in the eyes of prospective car buyers, and the current federal incentive -- a tax credit -- is, in fact, valued the least by car buyers.

Researchers examined mortality rates and federal and state election data for all counties in the U.S. from 2001 to 2019. The team found what they call a 'mortality gap' -- a widening difference between age-adjusted death rates in counties that had voted for a Democrat or a Republican in previous presidential and governor elections.

With the accelerating evolution of technology, artificial intelligence (AI) plays a growing role in decision-making processes. Humans are becoming increasingly dependent on algorithms to process information, recommend certain behaviors, and even take actions of their behalf. A research team has studied how humans react to the introduction of AI decision making. Specifically, they explored the question, 'is society ready for AI ethical decision making?' by studying human interaction with autonomous cars.

Brain scans of people taken while they performed various tasks -- and even did nothing -- accurately predicted whether they were politically conservative or liberal, according to the largest study of its kind.

A new study finds anticipating stress related to political elections can affect people's emotional well-being before anything has even happened. But a related study shows that education can help protect people against those stresses -- even for individuals who are actively engaged in the political process.

A new article looks at how producers of such products as commercial milk formulas, processed foods, alcoholic beverages, pharmaceuticals and electronic gaming software have been ramping up efforts to influence United States policy toward the WHO.

People may be willing to condone statements they know to be false and even spread misinformation on social media if they believe those statements could become true in the future, according to new research.

A study initiated before the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines has found that a $1000 incentive for the vaccine-hesitant could boost vaccine rates up to 87 percent. The study also speaks to how monetary incentives can be used to influence larger behavior change.