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<td><span style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:20px;font-weight:bold;">PsyPost – Psychology News</span></td>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/new-study-finds-superagers-have-younger-looking-brains-over-time/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">New study finds “superagers” have younger-looking brains over time</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 7th 2025, 10:00</div>
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<p><p>Some older adults maintain exceptional memory and thinking skills well into late life, and a new study provides evidence that their brains may biologically age at a slower pace. Published in <em><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11357-025-01531-x" target="_blank">GeroScience</a></em> this research from a team at Ewha Womans University in South Korea used machine learning to predict the “biological age” of the brain based on brain scans. The findings suggest that people known as “superagers” — older adults with memory performance similar to people decades younger — tend to have brains that appear structurally younger and age more slowly over time compared to their peers.</p>
<p>Aging is commonly associated with declines in memory and thinking abilities. However, some older adults continue to perform at high levels on memory tests, even into their 70s and 80s. These individuals are often called “superagers.” </p>
<p>Scientists have been curious about whether the brains of these individuals are structurally different or whether they simply follow a more favorable aging path. While past research has shown that superagers tend to retain more brain volume in areas tied to memory, it has not been clear whether this preservation reflects a younger biological age or just a normal but healthier version of aging.</p>
<p>The current study aimed to go beyond simply measuring brain volume. Instead, it used a sophisticated machine learning model to estimate the biological age of a person’s brain, a method that looks at overall patterns of brain structure rather than specific regions. The researchers wanted to find out whether superagers’ brains appear younger than their actual age and whether their brains age more slowly over time. The team also hoped to understand whether having a younger-appearing brain was tied to better memory and thinking abilities.</p>
<p>To answer these questions, the researchers recruited 153 adults between the ages of 61 and 93 from the community. Each participant underwent brain scans and completed a battery of cognitive tests. Based on their memory performance, 63 individuals were classified as superagers. These participants performed as well as or better than middle-aged adults on memory tests, particularly on measures of delayed recall. The other 90 participants, whose memory scores were average for their age, were categorized as typical older adults. The researchers followed up with 64 participants two years later to assess how their brain aging had changed over time.</p>
<p>To estimate brain age, the team built a machine learning model using brain scans from nearly 900 healthy people between the ages of 31 and 100. This model was trained to predict a person’s age based on structural patterns in their brain. It used information from different types of brain tissue, including gray matter and white matter, and considered sex-based differences in brain aging. The model was then adapted specifically for use in older adults using a technique known as transfer learning.</p>
<p>The key measurement used in the study was the “brain age gap.” This represents the difference between a person’s predicted brain age and their actual age. A negative gap means the brain looks younger than expected, while a positive gap suggests the brain looks older.</p>
<p>At the first time point, superagers had an average brain age gap of about minus 1.4 years. In other words, their brains appeared younger than their chronological age. In contrast, typical older adults had a slightly positive brain age gap of about 1 year. The difference between these two groups was statistically significant, suggesting that superagers have structurally younger brains than their peers.</p>
<p>Two years later, the researchers repeated the brain scans on a subset of participants. At this point, the difference between superagers and typical older adults became even more pronounced. Superagers’ brain age gap had grown more negative, averaging almost minus 2.8 years, while typical older adults showed a positive brain age gap of more than 2.4 years. This meant that over time, superagers’ brains not only remained younger but were aging more slowly than those of their peers.</p>
<p>The study also tracked how the brain age gap changed over the two-year period. This allowed the researchers to estimate the rate of brain aging in each group. Participants who stayed in the superager category across both time points showed almost no increase in their brain age gap, suggesting minimal biological aging. </p>
<p>On the other hand, participants who remained in the typical group showed a significant increase in their brain age gap, indicating faster aging. Interestingly, some individuals who improved their memory scores over time and became superagers also showed a decrease in brain age gap, meaning their brains appeared to get younger. In contrast, those who declined from superager status showed a steep increase in brain age gap.</p>
<p>Beyond group differences, the study also examined whether the brain age gap was linked to memory and general thinking abilities. Across the entire sample, individuals with a younger brain age tended to perform better on memory tasks and scored higher on a common measure of overall cognitive function. This suggests that a younger-appearing brain is associated with better mental performance in late life.</p>
<p>But there are some caveats to consider. One of the biggest constraints was the small number of participants who completed the two-year follow-up, which makes it harder to draw conclusions about long-term patterns. In addition, the superagers in this study were defined using criteria that included people as young as 60, whereas other research sometimes focuses on those over 80. This could affect how the results apply to different groups of older adults.</p>
<p>Another limitation relates to the brain age model itself. It was based only on structural brain features visible in MRI scans. Brain aging is a complex process that involves many factors beyond structure, including blood flow, metabolism, and the buildup of proteins like beta-amyloid. The authors note that future studies could improve brain age prediction by incorporating more types of brain data.</p>
<p>Finally, the model used a linear approach to estimating change over time, which may not fully reflect the more irregular, non-linear patterns of brain aging that can occur in real life. New methods that capture these complex patterns might provide a clearer picture of how brain aging unfolds.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11357-025-01531-x" target="_blank">Preserved brain youthfulness: longitudinal evidence of slower brain aging in superagers</a>,” was authored by Chang‑hyun Park, Bori R. Kim, Soo Mee Lim, Eun‑Hee Kim, Jee Hyang Jeong, and Geon Ha Kim.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/positive-porn-attitudes-linked-to-better-sexual-well-being-in-young-women/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Positive porn attitudes linked to better sexual well-being in young women</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 7th 2025, 08:00</div>
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<p><p>Young women who view pornography positively may be more likely to report higher sexual satisfaction and comfort with their sexuality, according to findings published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2025.2559005" target="_blank">Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy</a></em>. The stud suggests that sexual communication plays a key role in this relationship. The research adds nuance to ongoing discussions about pornography’s impact on sexual health by identifying communication—not consumption—as a potentially meaningful factor in how young women experience sexual well-being.</p>
<p>The study was motivated by broader changes in sexual culture. With increased access to sexual content online and more open discussions about sexuality, young women are exposed to pornography earlier and more often than in the past. This shift has occurred alongside evolving sexual norms, including greater acceptance of sexual exploration and more diverse sexual identities and experiences. </p>
<p>While many earlier studies focused on men or on the negative consequences of pornography for women, this research aimed to explore how women’s own attitudes toward pornography are related to their psychological and sexual well-being. The authors noted that previous work often overlooked the complexity of women’s experiences with pornography, including the possibility that some women may actively use it as a tool for sexual exploration and self-discovery.</p>
<p>“Young women today engage with sexual content in a more open digital environment, yet still navigate cultural expectations that can influence their sexual experiences. Much prior research has treated pornography use mainly as a matter of how often it is viewed, leaving unclear how attitudes towards pornography are associated with specific dimensions of sexual well-being,” said study author Yishu Li, a PhD student in <a href="https://www.southampton.ac.uk/psychology/research/centres/centre_for_sexual_health_research.page" target="_blank">the Centre for Sexual Health Research</a> at the University of Southampton.</p>
<p>“We aimed to clarify this by examining three theoretically relevant processes—emotional responses after viewing, viewing frequency, and sexual communication—as potential mediators of the associations between attitudes towards pornography and two core indicators of sexual well-being: sexual satisfaction and comfort with sex. This approach shifts attention away from judging pornography as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and toward identifying which proposed pathways actually account for observed associations.”</p>
<p>The researchers recruited 306 women, most of them university students, with an average age of about 20. Participants were asked to complete a comprehensive online survey that included questions about how often they used pornography, how they felt after using it, and how they communicated with sexual partners. The survey also measured participants’ sexual satisfaction and their comfort with sexuality in general. Importantly, the study distinguished between women who held positive attitudes toward pornography—such as believing it can enhance sexual relationships—and those who held negative views, including concerns about exploitation or morality.</p>
<p>The researchers then examined whether certain factors might help explain the connection between women’s attitudes toward pornography and their sexual well-being. Specifically, they tested whether emotional responses to pornography, how often women viewed it, or how they communicated about sex could account for these associations.</p>
<p>The results showed that women who had more positive attitudes toward pornography tended to report greater sexual satisfaction and higher comfort with their sexuality. These women also described more frequent and open sexual communication with partners. This communication, in turn, appeared to explain a substantial part of the link between positive porn attitudes and better sexual outcomes. In statistical terms, sexual communication acted as a mediator, meaning it helped bridge the gap between viewing pornography positively and feeling satisfied or comfortable with one’s sexual experiences.</p>
<p>Neither the frequency of pornography use nor emotional reactions after viewing porn—whether positive or negative—helped explain these relationships. Although women with positive attitudes did tend to report more favorable emotions after viewing pornography, those emotions did not significantly predict sexual satisfaction or comfort with sexuality once other factors were accounted for. Similarly, how often a woman viewed pornography was not a meaningful predictor of her sexual well-being in this sample.</p>
<p>Negative attitudes toward pornography, on the other hand, were linked to more negative emotions following porn use, such as shame or guilt. However, these attitudes were not significantly associated with lower sexual satisfaction or discomfort with sexuality. This suggests that while some women may experience emotional tension related to pornography, those feelings do not necessarily lead to broader difficulties in their sexual lives. The researchers suggest that women who hold negative views may use strategies to minimize internal conflict, such as distancing themselves from the content or reinterpreting their engagement with it in line with personal or cultural values.</p>
<p>“Our findings show that in this sample of young UK women, sexual communication was the only factor that significantly helped explain the association between more positive attitudes towards pornography and higher sexual satisfaction and comfort with sex, while viewing frequency and emotional responses did not play that role, and negative attitudes were not associated with lower well-being,” Li told PsyPost.</p>
<p>“This suggests that commonly presumed routes, such as exposure itself, may be less central than often assumed. The study highlights the value of testing specific mechanisms rather than relying on broad assumptions and encourages readers to look more closely at how particular processes, rather than sheer exposure, may be associated with sexual well-being.”</p>
<p>The researchers propose that young women who see pornography as a normal or acceptable part of sexual exploration may feel more comfortable discussing their sexual preferences with partners, which in turn can lead to more satisfying and affirming sexual experiences. By contrast, viewing pornography more frequently or experiencing emotional discomfort after use did not appear to influence satisfaction levels. This finding challenges the idea that exposure alone—regardless of personal attitudes or context—has a strong impact on sexual well-being.</p>
<p>The role of sexual communication in this process appears to be central. The study aligns with other research showing that open, responsive sexual dialogue is a consistent predictor of positive sexual outcomes for women. In this case, it also seems to help explain how positive attitudes toward pornography can translate into greater satisfaction and comfort. The findings suggest that communication, rather than frequency of use or emotional reaction, may be a more important factor in how pornography use fits into women’s sexual experiences.</p>
<p>At the same time, the study’s findings come with some limitations. The sample primarily consisted of university students, most of whom were young, not highly religious, and more likely to identify with more liberal attitudes about sexuality. This means the results may not reflect the experiences of women from different age groups, cultural backgrounds, or religious beliefs. Additionally, the data were based on self-report, which can be influenced by personal bias or social desirability. </p>
<p>Participants also had the option to imagine their sexual experiences if they were not currently in a sexual relationship, which may limit the precision of certain responses. Future studies could benefit from more diverse samples and longitudinal data that track changes over time.</p>
<p>Despite these limitations, the study adds to a growing body of research that challenges blanket assumptions about the harms of pornography. It suggests that context and communication may matter more than exposure itself. For women who view pornography as compatible with their values and use it in ways that support open sexual discussion, it may serve as a component of a healthy sexual life. For those who hold more negative views, emotional discomfort may occur, but it does not seem to significantly hinder sexual well-being in broader terms.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2025.2559005" target="_blank">Attitudes Towards Pornography and Sexual Well-Being Among Young Women in the UK</a>,” was authored by Yishu Li, Roger Ingham, and Heather Armstrong.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/taylor-swifts-accent-scientists-trace-the-evolution-of-singers-dialect/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Taylor Swift’s accent: Scientists trace the evolution of singer’s dialect</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 7th 2025, 06:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study provides evidence that pop star Taylor Swift’s speaking voice shifted in measurable ways as she moved through different social and geographic communities during her career. Researchers found that Swift adopted Southern speech patterns during her early years in Nashville, gradually returned to features associated with Philadelphia English, and later adopted vocal traits linked to urban prestige while living in New York City. These findings suggest that even in adulthood, a person’s accent may adjust in ways that reflect their community ties, career goals, and public identity.</p>
<p>The research was published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0039052" target="_blank">The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America</a></em>.</p>
<p>Most research on dialects tends to focus on how groups of people from different regions sound at a single point in time. But when a person moves between communities with distinct dialects, their speech may offer insights into how accents can change. This is especially true when the individual is highly visible and well-documented, as is the case with Swift.</p>
<p>The authors were interested in whether Swift’s accent changed over the course of her career in ways that aligned with her geographical movements and professional shifts. She moved from Pennsylvania to Tennessee as a teenager to pursue country music and later shifted away from country toward pop music while returning to the Northeast. Her media interviews, recorded across different phases of this journey, provided material to study how specific vowel sounds changed in her speech, as well as how her vocal pitch varied over time.</p>
<p>The researchers also considered the social function of accent. Prior studies suggest that people often unconsciously adapt their speech to match those around them, and this adaptation can be strengthened by social or professional motivations. For someone building a career in country music—a genre strongly linked with Southern identity—aligning her speech with regional expectations could enhance her authenticity and connection with the audience.</p>
<p>“This work was made possible by Miski Mohamed, who is a huge Taylor Swift fan. Miski was a student in my class where I taught about measuring physical properties of the voice, and we generated the idea for the Taylor Swift study based on her accent change and the opportunity to see changes in her music when comparing in-studio versus live shows,” said senior author <a href="https://sites.google.com/umn.edu/listen-lab/" target="_blank">Matthew Winn</a>, an associate professor of audiology at the University of Minnesota.</p>
<p>“It is usually extremely difficult to studying how dialects change, because it is not realistic to follow around someone with a microphone and hope that they move to a different city and change how they speak. But Taylor Swift gives us that rare opportunity because she was recorded many times over the years in interviews and media appearances. She lived in different geographic regions, and also had different kinds of social influences and career aspirations that might have further shaped how she wanted to sound.”</p>
<p>The researchers analyzed Swift’s speech from interviews during three periods of her career: in 2008 when she was promoting a country album and living in Nashville; in 2012 when she had transitioned into pop and was reconnected with the Philadelphia region; and in 2019 when she was living in New York City and speaking publicly about social justice issues.</p>
<p>Audio clips were selected carefully to avoid noise and overlapping voices, and only natural, unstressed vowels were analyzed. They focused on vowels because these are reliable indicators of accent differences. Special attention was given to the vowels in words like “ride,” “code,” “thought,” and “cot,” as these vary across American dialects.</p>
<p>During the Nashville period, Swift’s pronunciation included traits associated with Southern White English. The most striking was a shortening of the /aɪ/ vowel, which occurs in words like “ride.” She also produced a more fronted /u/ vowel. This fronting occurred even when the surrounding sounds did not typically promote it, suggesting it was not just an automatic effect but likely influenced by broader social exposure and goals.</p>
<p>When she returned to promoting music outside of country genres, her speech showed signs of returning to features consistent with her roots in the Philadelphia area. Her /aɪ/ vowels regained a longer, more distinct trajectory, especially in voiced contexts like “ride,” although the difference was less noticeable in unvoiced contexts like “right.” Her /u/ vowel also became less fronted.</p>
<p>By 2019, Swift’s speech had shifted further. While living in New York, she showed a clearer separation between the vowels in “cot” and “caught,” a distinction common in Northern dialects but not prominent in the South. Her /aɪ/ vowels became even longer and more distinct from their Nashville versions. These changes suggest a deliberate or unconscious distancing from her earlier Southern accent.</p>
<p>“Many people think that dialects just reflect where a person grew up, but it also includes the social community that you want to be a part of,” Winn told PsyPost. “When Taylor was in Nashville in the country music scene, she added southern features to the pronunciation of two vowels. First, the vowel in ‘my’ which becomes similar to ‘ma’ (we call this monophthongization of /aɪ/). Also, she used a fronted version of the /u/ vowel (‘boom’ would shift toward ‘bee-oom’). She dropped these features when she shifted to pop music.”</p>
<p>The researchers also tracked changes in her voice pitch. Swift’s average pitch, measured across vowel sounds, was significantly lower in her New York City interviews than in earlier years. This change coincided with her increased public engagement on issues such as sexism and musicians’ rights. Prior studies suggest that lowering one’s pitch can signal authority, seriousness, or competence, particularly for women in public-facing roles. Although the researchers acknowledge this change could also be influenced by age, the timing suggests that her lower pitch may have supported her evolving public persona as a leader and advocate.</p>
<p>“We did not expect the change in her voice pitch,” Winn said. “Also we did not expect that she would show the /u/ vowel fronting as strongly as she did. Normally this happens only in specific contexts, but she showed it rather consistently.”</p>
<p>Across all three periods, Swift preserved some consistent features. For instance, in words that end with the letter “l,” like “cold” or “school,” her vowels remained farther back in her mouth, a trait associated with Philadelphia English. This consistency supports the idea that people retain parts of their native dialect even as they adapt to new environments.</p>
<p>Importantly, the researchers stress that changing one’s accent over time does not suggest inauthenticity or deception.</p>
<p>“Observing these accent changes does not mean that a person is ‘faking’ who they are,” Winn told PsyPost. “It is a totally normal behavior for people who become part of a community. Also, a person doesn’t need to lower their pitch just to be taken seriously – it’s a common thing to do, but it isn’t necessary.”</p>
<p>As with all research, there are limitations to consider. The analysis is based on a single speaker, which means the results cannot necessarily be generalized to others. Also, the interviews were conducted in casual, uncontrolled settings, so some variation in speaking style could be influenced by context, emotional tone, or conversational partner.</p>
<p>Another limitation is the lack of control over what words were spoken during each era. Because the interviews were not scripted, the researchers had to work with the words Swift happened to say, which affected how many tokens they had for each vowel.</p>
<p>Future studies might compare other highly visible public figures who have crossed regional or cultural boundaries. The authors also expressed interest in returning to their lab’s main research focus, which involves studying how hearing loss affects speech perception and effort.</p>
<p>“The main focus of the research in our lab is actually not dialects or Taylor Swift!” Winn explained. “We do most of our work trying to understand how speech communication is affected by hearing loss. We work with people who listen using a cochlear implant, and try to understand the factors that might make listening effortful for them.”</p>
<p>“Hearing loss affects 1 in 7 adults in the United States, and yet we have much to learn about how hearing difficulties can affect a person’s stress, ability to work, and willingness to socialize with friends and family. These are the topics that motivate our work. We run experiments that measure changes in pupil dilation and eye movements as signatures of how hard a person has to work to understand what they hear.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0039052" target="_blank">Acoustic analysis of Taylor Swift’s dialect changes across different eras of her career</a>,” was authored by Miski Mohamed and Matthew B. Winn.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/people-with-dark-personality-traits-show-less-concern-for-animal-rights/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">People with dark personality traits show less concern for animal rights</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 6th 2025, 14:00</div>
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<p><p>Certain socially aversive personality traits may help explain why some people believe humans deserve moral superiority over other animals, according to a new study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-025-08261-5" target="_blank">Current Psychology</a></em>. The research suggests that psychopathy and sadism, two of the so-called “Dark Tetrad” traits, are linked to stronger beliefs in human dominance over animals, along with lower empathy and a preference for social hierarchies. These findings support the idea that speciesism (a belief system placing humans above non-human animals) is rooted in broader psychological patterns that also underlie prejudice toward other humans.</p>
<p>Speciesism refers to the belief that humans are inherently more important than non-human animals, often used to justify the exploitation of animals for food, clothing, and scientific research. Although many people recognize that animals are capable of suffering, most societies continue to treat them as inferior beings. This view has serious implications, not only for animal welfare but also for human health and environmental sustainability.</p>
<p>Psychologists have recently begun to investigate how individual differences in personality might relate to speciesist beliefs. One focus has been on the Dark Tetrad—a group of four personality traits that reflect tendencies toward manipulation, callousness, and enjoyment of others’ suffering. These traits are narcissism (excessive self-love and entitlement), Machiavellianism (strategic manipulation), psychopathy (emotional coldness and impulsivity), and sadism (pleasure from harming others).</p>
<p>Prior research has linked the Dark Tetrad to various antisocial behaviors, including aggression, bullying, and prejudice. The new study aimed to explore whether these traits are also related to attitudes toward animals, and whether this relationship is shaped by empathy and ideological beliefs about social hierarchies.</p>
<p>“I live in Serbia, where we share our towns and cities with many abandoned animals,” said study author <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Marija-Brankovic-2" target="_blank">Marija Branković</a>, a research associate at the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory at Belgrade University and an associate professor at Singidunum University. “My academic interest in the topic stemmed from my attempts to help these animals. My impression, from this activist experience, was that the same psychological capacities and traits relevant to our relationships with other humans also determine our relationships with non-human animals. This is what has driven the interest in pursuing this study.”</p>
<p>The research involved two separate studies using surveys to assess personality traits, attitudes toward animals, and related psychological characteristics. In both cases, participants were primarily young adults recruited from student populations.</p>
<p>In the first study, 369 participants completed questionnaires measuring the Dark Tetrad traits, their level of speciesism, their intentions to behave in ways that benefit animals (such as adopting a more plant-based diet or helping stray animals), and their meat consumption habits. The researchers also accounted for the effects of age, gender, and education.</p>
<p>The results indicated that higher levels of psychopathy and sadism were strongly related to greater speciesism. People who scored higher on these traits were also less likely to express intentions to help animals. Machiavellianism was only weakly linked to more frequent meat consumption, and narcissism did not appear to play a significant role in attitudes toward animals.</p>
<p>A statistical analysis revealed that psychopathy and sadism were the key personality predictors of speciesist attitudes, with psychopathy especially associated with both stronger speciesist beliefs and lower prosocial intentions. This pattern suggests that a lack of empathy and a disregard for others’ suffering may be central to negative attitudes toward animals.</p>
<p>In the second study, the researchers aimed to understand the psychological processes that might explain the link between Dark Tetrad traits and speciesism. A new group of 234 participants completed measures of psychopathy, sadism, speciesism, three components of empathy (emotional, cognitive, and concern-driven), and two ideological variables: social dominance orientation and right-wing authoritarianism.</p>
<p>Social dominance orientation reflects a preference for hierarchical social systems where some groups dominate others. Right-wing authoritarianism describes a tendency to favor tradition, obedience to authority, and social conformity.</p>
<p>This second study found that psychopathy was again associated with stronger speciesist beliefs, but its effect was fully explained by a person’s level of social dominance orientation. In other words, people high in psychopathy tended to favor social hierarchies, and this belief in dominance extended to the way they viewed animals. All three aspects of empathy—feeling with others, understanding others, and caring about others—were also linked to less speciesism, both directly and indirectly through their relationship with social dominance orientation.</p>
<p>Interestingly, sadism did not emerge as a significant predictor in this second study once other variables were accounted for. Similarly, right-wing authoritarianism did not play a notable role in shaping speciesist beliefs when considered alongside social dominance orientation.</p>
<p>Together, these studies suggest that speciesism is not just about personal preference or cultural tradition—it may reflect broader personality patterns and social ideologies. People who are emotionally detached, less capable of empathizing with others, or who enjoy exerting power and control may be more likely to view non-human animals as less worthy of moral concern. These psychological traits also appear to support a worldview where dominance and hierarchy are seen as natural or desirable.</p>
<p>“We found that the same psychological capacities and traits, such capacities for empathy and basic social attitudes, predict the relationship with both humans and non-human animals. We found that the so-called Dark Tetrad traits, in particular psychopathy and sadism, are related to higher speciesism – support for animal exploitation. However, the general social attitudes are even more important for our relationship to animals.” </p>
<p>“In particular, our endorsement of ideologies of superiority is a key factor in all relationships with those who are different. In contrast to the Dark Tetrad traits, which are considered more enduring personality characteristics (although not immutable), ideologies of superiority are learned within a social context and can be unlearned. This is our key message – individuals and societies should seek to critically reexamine the ideologies of superiority to foster a more compassionate relationship with both humans and other animals.”</p>
<p>The study, like all research, includes some caveats. The samples in both studies were relatively homogenous, consisting mostly of young adults and students. This may limit how broadly the results can be applied. The reliance on self-report questionnaires also raises the possibility of social desirability bias, where participants might underreport socially frowned-upon beliefs or traits.</p>
<p>In addition, the measures used to assess empathy were specifically focused on non-human animals. While this specificity is useful for the topic at hand, it remains unclear how well these results would generalize to empathy more broadly. Future research could explore whether general empathy and species-specific empathy operate in similar ways.</p>
<p>“A group of my colleagues and I are working toward an enhanced understanding of the links between violence against animals and humans. We seek to understand the shared psychological underpinnings of violent behaviors, as well as how society and the social context help enhance and sustain violent behavior, to be able to prevent them.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-025-08261-5" target="_blank">Dark minds do not like animals: the Dark Tetrad traits as predictors of relations with non-human animals</a>,” was authored by Marija Branković, Janko Međedović, and Anastasija Budžak.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/children-who-play-like-boys-in-preschool-show-better-spatial-abilities-a-decade-later/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Children who “play like boys” in preschool show better spatial abilities a decade later</a>
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<p><p>An analysis of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children data found that children with masculine-typical play styles at 3.5 years of age tend to perform better in a mental rotation task when they are 13 years old, regardless of their sex. The mental rotation task is an indicator of spatial visualization abilities. The paper was published in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-025-03188-1"><em>Archives of Sexual Behavior</em></a>.</p>
<p>Mental rotation ability refers to how accurately and quickly a person can imagine and judge objects rotated in space. It is an important indicator of spatial ability, a core component of human cognition. High performance means a person can quickly and correctly identify whether objects are the same or different when they are shown from different angles (i.e., rotated), while low performance means slower reaction times or more errors.</p>
<p>Mental rotation ability is important for tasks such as map reading, navigation, engineering design, medical imaging, and sports that rely on spatial reasoning. Mental rotation performance has also been used in cognitive training, aptitude testing, and neuroscience research to understand how the brain processes spatial information. Research consistently shows that, on average, males tend to outperform females on mental rotation tasks, especially when large angular rotations are required. These sex differences tend to be moderate to large in size and have been linked to both biological factors (such as hormonal influences) and sociocultural experiences (such as greater exposure to spatially demanding play or training for males).</p>
<p>Study authors Karson T. F. Kung and Melissa Hines wanted to investigate whether play behavior in early childhood is associated with mental rotation performance in adolescence. They hypothesized that children with masculine play styles at age 3.5 would have better mental rotation performance as 13-year-old adolescents compared to children with feminine play styles. They also hypothesized that randomly selected “control” children would perform better than children with feminine play styles.</p>
<p>These authors analyzed data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). ALSPAC is a longitudinal study in the UK that enrolled over 14,000 mothers and their children. It recruited pregnant women who lived within Avon in Southwest England with expected delivery dates between April 1991 and December 31, 1992.</p>
<p>The final analysis was based on data from the children who participated in the follow-up at age 13. This sample consisted of 66 masculine boys and 59 masculine girls, 81 feminine boys and 68 feminine girls, and 55 control boys and 67 control girls. This represents about 60% of the initial group selected for follow-up based on their preschool play behavior.</p>
<p>When these children were 3.5 years old, their parents completed an assessment of their play behavior (the Preschool Activities Inventory), enabling study authors to classify children into masculine, feminine, and control groups. Ten years later, when the participants were 13 years old, they completed the spatial relations subscale of the Primary Mental Abilities Test. This allowed study authors to assess their mental rotation abilities.</p>
<p>Results showed that masculine children scored significantly higher on the mental rotation task than did feminine children. This association was not moderated by the child’s sex and held even after the researchers controlled for sociodemographic background, academic performance, and other preschool characteristics such as vocabulary and fine motor skills.</p>
<p>“Sex-typical play behavior in the preschool period is related to mental rotation performance 10 years later in adolescence. Preschool sex-typical play behavior may have long-term implications for spatial skills development beyond childhood,” the study authors concluded.</p>
<p>The study sheds light on the links between play behavior in childhood and mental rotation abilities in adolescence. However, although the study is longitudinal, its design does not allow any causal inferences to be derived from the results. While it is possible that early masculine play supports the development of mental rotation abilities, it is also possible that children who initially had better mental rotation abilities prefer masculine play.</p>
<p>The paper, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-025-03188-1">A 10‑Year Longitudinal Relationship Between Preschool Sex‑Typical Play Behavior at Age 3.5 Years and Mental Rotation Performance in Adolescence at Age 13 Years,</a>” was authored by Karson T. F. Kung and Melissa Hines.</p></p>
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
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