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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-psychology-research-reveals-what-people-imagine-a-narcissist-looks-like/" 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 psychology research reveals what people imagine a narcissist looks like</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 21st 2025, 10:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study reveals that people mentally picture two distinct types of narcissistic faces, one based on selfishness and another on vanity. Published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672251339014" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin</a></em>, the research found that while both faces were viewed negatively, the “vain” version was seen as more competent and attractive, especially by people with higher levels of narcissistic traits themselves.</p>
<p>The topic of narcissism has become a fixture in public conversation, from bestselling self-help books to viral social media trends. Despite this widespread interest, scientists have had a limited understanding of how people visually imagine a narcissistic individual. Previous studies often asked participants to rate pre-written descriptions or characters labeled as narcissistic. This approach has a drawback: the negative label itself might influence how people respond, rather than tapping into their genuine mental image.</p>
<p>To overcome this, a team of researchers led by Sarah Smith at Cardiff University wanted to explore these mental images in a more direct, participant-driven way. They were interested in what people think a narcissist looks like at a facial level and how these visual representations affect social judgments, such as trustworthiness or leadership potential. The researchers focused on two common themes in popular definitions of narcissism: selfishness and vanity.</p>
<p>The scientists employed an innovative technique called reverse correlation to generate facial images directly from participants’ minds. In this method, a participant is shown a neutral base face that has been overlaid with a random pattern of visual noise.</p>
<p>On each trial, they see two versions of this face, one with the noise pattern and one with its inverse. They are asked to select the image that better represents a certain category, for example, a “narcissist.” By repeating this process hundreds of times and averaging all the noise patterns a participant chooses, researchers can create a composite image that reflects that individual’s mental representation of the category.</p>
<p>In the first experiment, one group of participants was given a definition of a narcissist that emphasized selfishness. They then completed the reverse correlation task, which produced two composite images: a “selfish-narcissistic” face and its opposite, a “non-selfish” face, which was created by averaging the noise patterns from the images that were rejected.</p>
<p>A separate, independent group of participants, who were unaware of how the faces were created, was then asked to rate these two images on a wide range of characteristics. The results showed a clear negative perception of the selfish-narcissistic face. It was judged to be less warm, kind, likable, competent, and moral than the non-selfish face.</p>
<p>Raters also perceived the selfish-narcissistic face as more politically conservative and more masculine, but having lower self-esteem. They were less likely to vote for this person as a leader or trust them with a loved one. When the raters’ own levels of narcissism were measured, there was no connection between their scores and a more positive evaluation of the selfish-narcissistic face.</p>
<p>The second experiment followed the same procedure, but with a key difference. The researchers gave the image-generating participants a new definition of narcissism, this time one that highlighted vanity. This process resulted in a “vain-narcissistic” face and its counterpart, a “non-vain” face. Another group of independent raters then evaluated these new images.</p>
<p>The findings for the vain-narcissistic face were more complex. Like the selfish version, it was seen as less warm, kind, and moral than its non-narcissistic opposite. However, unlike the selfish face, the vain-narcissistic face was perceived as more competent, successful, extraverted, and having higher self-esteem. It was also viewed as more suitable for a career in corporate management. This suggests that emphasizing vanity in the concept of narcissism creates a mental image of someone who, while not particularly friendly, is seen as capable and assertive.</p>
<p>A significant discovery emerged when researchers looked at the raters’ own narcissistic traits. Individuals who scored higher on measures of narcissism tended to view the vain-narcissistic face more favorably. The study found that this connection was explained by perceived similarity. In other words, narcissistic participants felt they had more in common with the vain-narcissistic face, and this feeling of similarity led them to judge the face more positively on traits like warmth and competence. This effect did not appear for the selfish-narcissistic face.</p>
<p>A third experiment was designed to directly compare all four faces and investigate perceptions related to romantic attraction. A new group of participants rated the selfish-narcissistic, vain-narcissistic, non-selfish, and non-vain faces on their attractiveness and suitability as a friend or a short-term or long-term partner.</p>
<p>Overall, both narcissistic faces were viewed as less desirable for friendship and relationships compared to the non-narcissistic faces. They were also seen as more likely to engage in toxic relationship behaviors. However, when comparing the two narcissistic faces, the vain-narcissistic face was rated as more physically attractive and more desirable for a short-term relationship than the selfish-narcissistic face. Once again, raters with higher narcissism scores reported feeling more similarity and familiarity with the vain-narcissistic face, which in turn predicted finding that face more romantically appealing.</p>
<p>This series of studies provides a novel window into the public’s mental imagery of narcissism. The findings show that people’s visual representations are not monolithic. Instead, they differ based on whether selfishness or vanity is brought to mind. The image associated with vanity appears to carry some socially valued traits related to agency and competence, which are absent from the image associated with selfishness. This may help explain why some narcissistic individuals can be initially popular or seem appealing.</p>
<p>The research also advances our understanding of what scientists call “narcissistic tolerance,” the tendency for narcissistic people to view other narcissists more positively. The results show that this phenomenon can occur based on facial appearance alone, without any explicit information. Vanity appears to be a key ingredient that triggers this effect, likely by activating a sense of similarity between the observer and the person being judged.</p>
<p>The authors acknowledge some limitations to their work. The research focused on selfishness and vanity, but other aspects of narcissism, such as vulnerability, could generate different facial representations. Because the studies were conducted at a single point in time, they cannot definitively establish that perceived similarity causes positive judgments. It is also noted that the participants who generated the faces were university students and the samples were drawn from a Western country, so future research could explore these perceptions in more diverse and cross-cultural populations to see if these mental images are universal.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672251339014" target="_blank" rel="noopener">What Narcissists Look Like and Why It’s Important</a>,” was authored by Sarah Smith, Travis Proulx, and Geoffrey Haddock.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/the-beauty-bias-in-the-service-industry-is-inconsistent-and-sometimes-backfires-major-new-study-finds/" 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;">The ‘beauty bias’ in the service industry is inconsistent and sometimes backfires, major new study finds</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 21st 2025, 09:00</div>
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<p><p>A new comprehensive analysis of over 50 years of research finds that while a service provider’s physical attractiveness does have a moderately positive effect on customer evaluations, this “beauty premium” is highly inconsistent and can sometimes even lead to negative outcomes. The research, which synthesized data from dozens of previous studies, suggests that the widely held belief in a universal benefit for attractive employees is an oversimplification. This work was published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/JSTP-05-2024-0128" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Journal of Service Theory and Practice</a></em>.</p>
<p>The study was conducted by researchers Goldar Lenjeu Chefor of the University of Mississippi and Ellis Chefor of Kennesaw State University. They initiated the project to resolve long-standing contradictions in research on how a service employee’s appearance affects customer perceptions and behaviors. While some studies have shown that attractive employees lead to higher sales and better reviews, others have found no effect or even a negative effect, particularly when a service interaction goes wrong. This inconsistency creates confusion for businesses and highlights the need for a clearer understanding of the bias, especially as companies increasingly turn to artificial intelligence to make hiring and promotion decisions fairer.</p>
<p>“We were trying to find out how general the effect of physical attractiveness is on, not necessarily a service provider’s performance, but how the service provider is evaluated,” Goldar Chefor said. The researchers sought to quantify the real-world impact of this bias to help businesses make better decisions.</p>
<p>“Our approach was to identify the impact of attractiveness bias to help managers make more informed decisions and to highlight the often-overlooked negative consequences that can result,” Ellis Chefor added.</p>
<p>To achieve a broad and reliable overview, the researchers employed a method known as meta-analysis, which statistically combines the results of many independent studies. They gathered 54 articles published between 1971 and 2023, which included 65 independent samples and a total of more than 41,000 participants. This large dataset allowed them to calculate an overall average effect of physical attractiveness and examine the factors that might change its impact. The analysis explored what specific features contribute to perceptions of attractiveness, what service outcomes are most affected, and how the effect changes in different situations, such as online versus in-person interactions.</p>
<p>The analysis first confirmed that, on average, there is a positive relationship between a service provider’s physical attractiveness and positive service outcomes. However, the variability in this effect was substantial. The results indicated that in future studies, the effect could range from slightly negative to moderately positive, showing that the beauty premium is not a universal rule. The findings suggest that context plays a significant role in whether an employee’s appearance helps or hurts a customer’s experience.</p>
<p>The investigation also looked at what physical attributes most strongly influence a customer’s perception of attractiveness. Previous research often focused on facial features. This analysis found that while facial appeal was a strong indicator, an employee’s body shape and appearance had an even stronger association with being perceived as attractive. This suggests that customers’ judgments are based on a broader set of visual cues than just the face.</p>
<p>A key part of the study examined the mechanisms behind the beauty premium. The results showed that physical attractiveness does not directly translate into better outcomes. Instead, it operates through the customer’s social perceptions. “The mechanism through which physical attractiveness influences service outcomes is an implicit social judgment of the employee,” Goldar Chefor explained. Customers tend to automatically judge attractive individuals as being more competent, trustworthy, and likeable. These positive judgments then lead to higher ratings for service quality and satisfaction.</p>
<p>The analysis showed that physical attractiveness had its strongest influence on customers’ cognitive and emotional responses. Attractive employees were more likely to be seen in a positive light, receive higher satisfaction ratings, and generate positive feelings. The link to actual customer behavior was weaker. While attractiveness was associated with increased customer loyalty and engagement, it had no significant effect on sales performance or a customer’s willingness to recommend the service to others through word-of-mouth. This finding suggests that while customers may enjoy interacting with an attractive employee, it does not necessarily translate into actions that directly boost a company’s revenue.</p>
<p>The researchers also identified several factors that altered the strength of the attractiveness effect. One of the most surprising findings concerned gender. The common assumption is that women are judged more on their appearance than men. “We expected that the beauty bias will be greater for women than men, primarily because prior research shows that consumers expect women, much more than men, to show more of those traits like likeability and warmth that are easily implicitly inferred from attractiveness,” Goldar Chefor noted. “But our results showed the opposite.”</p>
<p>The analysis found that the effect of physical attractiveness was actually weaker for female service providers. “It appeared that men’s evaluations are driven more by their physical attractiveness, and the effect that attractiveness has is not on their actual performance, but on their perceived performance,” she continued. “So how people evaluate men relies more on attractiveness than it does for women. That was a little bit surprising.”</p>
<p>Other contextual factors also made a difference. The beauty premium was stronger in in-person interactions compared to virtual ones, likely because more sensory cues are available face-to-face. The effect was also more pronounced in Eastern cultures compared to Western cultures and for human employees compared to non-human agents like robots. This suggests that the rise of virtual services and automated agents could naturally reduce the impact of appearance-based bias.</p>
<p>The study also confirmed that physical attractiveness can become a liability during service failures. “For example, if I had a bad experience at a restaurant and the waiter was attractive, I’m going to have a worse evaluation of the organization than if they were not attractive,” Ellis Chefor said. “There are negative consequences of having attractive people, especially when there’s some kind of service failure.” This happens because customers may have higher expectations for attractive employees, leading to greater disappointment when things go wrong.</p>
<p>The findings have practical implications for how companies approach hiring, training, and performance evaluations. As businesses adopt artificial intelligence, there is an opportunity to mitigate these biases. “There’s a growing trend in the industry of organizations using artificial intelligence service agents as sales managers to evaluate, to rate and to promote salespeople,” Ellis Chefor said. “We need to figure out whether artificial intelligence helps control the kind of discrimination we suspect exists, particularly around how people are evaluated based on attractiveness.”</p>
<p>He also noted the difficulty of addressing this bias through legal channels. “People often try to sue organizations for discriminatory hiring and promotion practices based on appearance, but these cases rarely succeed,” Ellis Chefor stated. “That’s because proving someone is more attractive than another is subjective and difficult to quantify. You can see the bias happening, but without a clear way to measure it, it’s nearly impossible to prove in court.”</p>
<p>The study does have some limitations. Its conclusions are based only on existing quantitative research, meaning some aspects of attractiveness, like personal style or grooming, could not be fully analyzed due to a lack of available data. The researchers point out that style is an area companies can influence through dress codes without engaging in discriminatory practices.</p>
<p>Future research could explore the dark side of physical attractiveness in more detail and examine its effects over the long term to see if the initial positive impression fades over time. More investigation is also needed on the impact of appearance in virtual settings and with non-human service agents, as these interactions become more common.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/JSTP-05-2024-0128" target="_blank" rel="noopener">What is beautiful is not all good: a meta-analysis on the effects of physical attractiveness on service outcomes</a>,” was authored by Goldar Lenjeu Chefor and Ellis Chefor.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/childhood-poverty-and-neglect-show-stronger-links-to-teen-depression-than-bullying/" 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;">Childhood poverty and neglect show stronger links to teen depression than bullying</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 21st 2025, 08:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in <em><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/epidemiology-and-psychiatric-sciences/article/effects-of-parental-adverse-childhood-experiences-aces-and-childhood-threat-and-deprivation-on-adolescent-depression-and-anxiety-an-analysis-of-the-longitudinal-study-of-australian-children/E7382B816D21C070AAAF1EBC7580F2FF" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences</a></em> indicates that children whose parents faced adversity during their own childhoods are more likely to experience depression and anxiety as adolescents. The study also provides evidence that children who grow up in environments marked by deprivation, such as financial stress or parental neglect, face even higher risks. These risks tend to persist throughout adolescence, while experiences involving threat, such as bullying or exposure to violence, appear to have a stronger impact at younger ages.</p>
<p>Adversity in childhood, including neglect, abuse, and family dysfunction, can have long-lasting effects on mental health. These adverse experiences, commonly referred to as Adverse Childhood Experiences, have been linked to a wide range of outcomes including depression and anxiety. However, most of the existing research focuses on the direct effects of adversity on children, often treating all types of adversity as having equal weight. Less is known about how adversity experienced by parents might influence their children’s mental health, especially when those children face their own difficulties.</p>
<p>“There is a growing recognition that childhood maltreatment and household adversities can have long-term effects not only in one’s life course but also on the future generations,” said study author Santosh Giri, a PhD Candidate at the Rural Health Research Institute at Charles Sturt University.</p>
<p>“We wanted to expand this area of research by exploring how parental past traumatic events could lead to mental disorders in children during adolescence. Additionally, the age of 12-17 years provides us a window of opportunity to changes one’s life course, some might go downhill and develop mental disorders, substance abuse and even suicide, while others might prosper their education and life. We wanted to know what can be done to help children coping with adversities to have a better life.”</p>
<p>The researchers analyzed data from <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/long-term-research/growing-australia-longitudinal-study-australian-children" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children</a>, a national study that has followed a large group of children from early childhood through adolescence. For this project, they focused on over 3,000 children who were surveyed at ages 12–13, 14–15, and 16–17. Parents also provided information about their own childhood experiences, including whether they had faced poverty, abuse, or family dysfunction.</p>
<p>To evaluate the impact of adversity, the researchers grouped children’s experiences into two categories. Threat-related adversities included being bullied, witnessing violence, and experiencing harsh or hostile parenting. Deprivation-related adversities included family poverty, parental mental illness or substance abuse, neglect, or a lack of emotional support. These categories were based on earlier psychological frameworks that suggest different types of adversity affect brain development in different ways.</p>
<p>The mental health of the adolescents was measured using standard questionnaires for depression and anxiety. Adolescents completed these surveys themselves when they reached the target ages. The researchers then looked for patterns linking parental and childhood adversity to symptoms of depression and anxiety.</p>
<p>The researchers found that by the age of 17, nearly one in three adolescents showed signs of depression, and nearly one in ten reported significant symptoms of anxiety. Children whose parents had experienced at least two forms of adversity during their own childhoods were about 40 percent more likely to experience depression at age 12–13 and about 20 percent more likely by age 16–17, compared to children of parents without such a background.</p>
<p>Exposure to deprivation-related adversity had an even stronger impact. Children who had faced two or more forms of deprivation were more than twice as likely to experience depression at age 12–13. This elevated risk persisted into later adolescence, with these children still showing a 30 percent higher risk of depression by age 16–17. In contrast, children exposed to multiple forms of threat were twice as likely to report depression at age 12–13, but this pattern did not continue at older ages.</p>
<p>“We were surprised to find that deprivation-related experiences such as financial strain or lack of emotional and social support had more consistent and long-lasting associations with depression than threat-related experiences like bullying or family conflict, with the effect particularly appearing at the ages 16-17,” Giri told PsyPost. “This suggests that the chronic absence of key resources during the entire childhood may be just as damaging, or even more so, than exposure to threat, especially when the child is aged 16-17 and that interventions should address both forms of adversity in right age-group of vulnerability.”</p>
<p>The study also looked at anxiety symptoms. While no single factor showed a consistently strong effect, children with histories of deprivation were more likely to experience anxiety between ages 14 and 17. Exposure to threat-related adversity also increased the risk of anxiety, especially around age 14–15.</p>
<p>The research team explored whether children’s own adversities might intensify the effects of their parents’ earlier experiences, but no clear interaction effects were found. This suggests that while both parental and childhood adversity matter, they may contribute to mental health risks in independent ways.</p>
<p>The study also found that adolescent girls were consistently more likely to report depression and anxiety than boys. Children born to younger mothers or from socioeconomically disadvantaged households also had elevated mental health risks. These findings suggest that multiple risk factors often cluster together, creating more serious challenges for some families.</p>
<p>“Families with children aged 17 or younger need to consider being aware of their children’s mental health status,” Giri explained. “Our study found that the prevalence of depression rises from 11% at ages 12–13 to 30% at ages 16–17, and anxiety increases from 5% to 10% over the same period. Children from dysfunctional households or those who have experienced abuse and neglect are more likely to develop symptoms of depression or anxiety between the ages of 12 and 17.”</p>
<p>“This can be prevented with early intervention that begins as early as age 10 or 12. It is important to address unresolved trauma among parents, and children raised in deprived environments should be considered at risk for depression during adolescence. Healthcare practitioners and policymakers need to recognize that supporting parents who have experienced adversity or who are facing mental health or substance use issues, along with addressing stress at the family level, could play an important role in tackling the growing mental health burden and rising suicide rates among teenagers.”</p>
<p>While the study provides strong evidence linking early-life adversity to adolescent mental health, the authors noted some limitations. Many of the measures relied on parents recalling their own childhoods or reporting their children’s experiences. This could lead to inaccuracies, especially if parents underreported or forgot traumatic events. The study also did not include certain types of adversity, such as physical or sexual abuse, due to data limitations.</p>
<p>Future research may focus on identifying protective factors that help some children thrive despite exposure to adversity. The authors are particularly interested in studying how supportive relationships, cultural identity, and community engagement might buffer against the effects of trauma. Long-term, they hope their work can inform trauma-informed approaches that support both parents and children.</p>
<p>“Some of the early life adversities, such as extreme poverty, are less modifiable with short term interventions, while others such as neglect, are more modifiable with family-centred parenting interventions,” Giri noted. “Our study does not shed light on which one’s is more important than other, but we now know that long-term deprivations are more relevant for developing depression symptoms during adolescence while short term threats are more relevant for anxiety during the period. We suggest following socioecological model of child health, which will highlight addressing all early life deprivations including socio-economic harms, as well as parenting practices through multi-component interventions. State and national government spending on this is crucial.”</p>
<p>“We plan to investigate resilience factors such as supportive relationships, community connectedness, and cultural identity that may help protect against the intergenerational effects of adversity. Ultimately, we hope our research will inform trauma-informed and family-centred prevention programs that can promote wellbeing across generations.</p>
<p>“We are deeply grateful to the families who participated in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children,” Giri added. “Their continued involvement helps us better understand how early experiences shape wellbeing over time and provides vital evidence to guide public health policy and mental health services in Australia.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S2045796025100255" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The effects of parental adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and childhood threat and deprivation on adolescent depression and anxiety: an analysis of the longitudinal study of Australian children</a>,” was authored by Santosh Giri, Nancy Ross, Rachel Kornhaber, Kedir Y. Ahmed, and Subash Thapa.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/national-prostalgia-is-associated-with-lower-support-for-donald-trump/" 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;">National prostalgia is associated with lower support for Donald Trump</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 21st 2025, 07:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in the journal <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/asap.70034" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy</a></em> provides evidence that how Americans think about their nation’s past or future is associated with their attitudes toward immigrants and political candidates. The research found that national <em>nostalgia</em> (a sentimental longing for how the country used to be) predicts greater support for Donald Trump and more prejudiced views. In contrast, national <em>prostalgia</em> (a sentimental longing for a better future) tends to reduce prejudice and predicts lower support for Trump.</p>
<p>“We were interested in studying national nostalgia and prostalgia because we knew from the literature that national nostalgia is linked to increases in support for conservative political candidates and intergroup hostility,” explained study authors Angel Armenta, Kevin McAweeney, and Demitri Aguilar in a joint statement to PsyPost. “However, while there is a growing body of literature on studies demonstrating the positive benefits of future-orientation (e.g., on health, educational success, etc.), little is known on how national prostalgia is related to political support or intergroup hostility.”</p>
<p>“Additionally, we recognized that during the lead up to past two U.S. presidential elections the republican presidential candidate was relying heavily on nationally nostalgic messages (i.e., “Make America Great Again”) to garner political support, while the democratic presidential candidate was relying heavily on nationally prostalgic messages (i.e., “Our best days still lie ahead”) to garner political support. Thus, we sought to expand prior national nostalgia research by integrating national prostalgia which theoretically should act in contrast to national nostalgia.”</p>
<p>To examine this, the researchers conducted two studies. The first examined whether national nostalgia and prostalgia predicted prejudicial attitudes. The second explored whether these emotional orientations were linked to support for either Donald Trump or Joe Biden during the 2020 presidential election.</p>
<p>In Study 1, the researchers recruited 177 adults from across the United States using an online platform. The sample was predominantly White and male, with an average age of 34. Participants completed a series of questionnaires assessing their levels of national nostalgia, national prostalgia, political ideology, optimism, and attitudes toward immigrants.</p>
<p>National nostalgia was measured using questions that asked how often participants missed or thought about the way American society was in the past. National prostalgia used similar wording, but focused on imagined future states of the nation.</p>
<p>Participants were also asked about their desire to protect their cultural ingroup and their tendency to derogate immigrant outgroups. These were measured using previously validated scales that asked about preserving “the American way of life” and about negative attitudes toward undocumented immigrants.</p>
<p>After analyzing the data, the researchers found that people high in national nostalgia were more likely to express a desire to protect the ingroup and hold negative views of immigrants. People high in national prostalgia, by contrast, tended to show less ingroup protection and less outgroup derogation. These patterns held even when controlling for participants’ political ideology and optimism.</p>
<p>Notably, the effects of national prostalgia on reducing prejudice only emerged when national nostalgia was also included in the analysis. This pattern suggests that prostalgia’s influence may only be seen when researchers account for nostalgia. In statistical terms, this is known as a suppression effect. It suggests that people may feel both types of sentiment, but they function differently depending on which is more dominant.</p>
<p>“The suppression effect in Study 1, where our effects of national prostalgia on intergroup dynamics were only present after adding national nostalgia as a predictor was surprising,” the researchers said. “This effect suggests that the benefits of national prostalgia may require the absence of national nostalgia.”</p>
<p>In Study 2, the team examined whether these emotional orientations predicted support for presidential candidates. This part of the study included 110 Latino participants who lived near the U.S.-Mexico border. All participants were required to be fluent in English. The researchers collected data just weeks before the 2020 election.</p>
<p>Participants were asked which candidate they intended to vote for and completed the same measures of national nostalgia and prostalgia used in the first study. The researchers also collected information about participants’ gender, age, political ideology, and whether they associated Donald Trump with U.S. immigration enforcement agencies. These extra factors were included because they could influence attitudes toward the candidates.</p>
<p>The results showed that national nostalgia predicted greater support for Donald Trump. In contrast, national prostalgia predicted a lower likelihood of supporting Trump. But neither national nostalgia nor prostalgia predicted support for Joe Biden. These findings were statistically significant even after controlling for political conservatism, gender, age, and views on immigration enforcement.</p>
<p>“One result that surprised us was that national prostalgia did not predict support for Joe Biden, especially since his campaign echoed prostalgic messages, such as ‘Our best days still lie ahead,'” the researchers told PsyPost. “These results may suggest that Joe Biden was perceived as a continuation of the status quo and not a change candidate.”</p>
<p>The authors suggest that national nostalgia functions as a backward-looking emotion that promotes a sense of cultural loss. This sentiment may lead individuals to blame immigrants or other outgroups for perceived social decline. In contrast, national prostalgia focuses on what the country could become. It encourages people to imagine a future where progress is possible, which may reduce hostility toward groups seen as different or new.</p>
<p>“Some key takeaways are that national nostalgia and prostalgia can play key roles in how groups interact and may impact political support for specific candidates,” the researchers explained. “Whereas national nostalgia may be linked to increases in support for conservative candidates and intergroup hostility, national prostalgia may be linked to decreases in support for conservative candidates and intergroup hostility.”</p>
<p>The study also helps distinguish prostalgia from other future-oriented concepts. While general optimism or consideration of future consequences have been studied before, national prostalgia captures a more emotional and collective way of thinking about the future. It blends hope with national identity and provides a unique framework for understanding political and social attitudes.</p>
<p>Although the study offers strong evidence for the differing roles of national nostalgia and prostalgia, there are still some limitations to consider. First, the findings are correlational, which means they cannot confirm causality. Experimental or longitudinal studies would be needed to determine whether increasing national prostalgia actually causes people to become less prejudiced or less supportive of past-oriented political candidates.</p>
<p>Future studies could seek to better define the boundaries between national nostalgia and prostalgia. While they are distinct concepts, some individuals may experience both. It is also possible that longing for a future that resembles the past blends elements of each.</p>
<p>“There are a few future goals for this line of work,” the researchers explained. “We would like to use experimental designs to establish a causal link between national prostalgia and intergroup relations. We would also like to explore how subjectivity in perceived ways of impacting the nation’s future could predict differences in intergroup relations. Additionally, we plan to continue to investigate differences between national nostalgia and prostalgia.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/asap.70034" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National prostalgia is associated with decreases in ingroup protection, outgroup derogation, and support for Donald Trump’s presidency</a>,” was authored by Angel D. Armenta, Demitri Aguilar, Kevin McAweeney, Hannah Volpert-Esmond, and Michael A. Zárate.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/illicit-fentanyl-is-poisoning-pets-study-shows/" 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;">Illicit fentanyl is poisoning pets, study shows</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 21st 2025, 06:00</div>
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<p><p>A newly published study offers a rare glimpse into how the opioid crisis may be affecting not only humans but also the animals they live with. According to findings published in the <em><a href="https://journals.lww.com/journaladdictionmedicine/fulltext/9900/illicit_fentanyl_exposures_in_cats_and_dogs.588.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Journal of Addiction Medicine</a></em>, over a four-year period, more than 100 household pets—mostly dogs and a few cats—were reported to have been exposed to illicit fentanyl in the United States and Canada. These exposures resulted in a wide range of concerning symptoms, such as lethargy, uncoordinated movement, and in some cases, signs of serious toxicity.</p>
<p>Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is significantly more potent than heroin or morphine. While it is sometimes used in medical settings, particularly in pain management, illicit versions have become increasingly common in the illegal drug supply. Because it is cheap to manufacture and highly potent, fentanyl is often mixed with other drugs, sometimes without the user’s knowledge. This has contributed to a dramatic increase in opioid-related poisonings and deaths across North America.</p>
<p>Previous studies have highlighted the risk of fentanyl exposure in children, especially when the drug is accidentally ingested in household settings. Pets, especially cats and dogs, are also frequent members of these same households and tend to explore their surroundings using their mouths and noses. This behavior puts them at risk of accidentally ingesting or inhaling small but toxic amounts of fentanyl, whether from loose powder, pills, or contaminated objects such as foil, straws, or syringes.</p>
<p>The research team conducted the new study to better understand how often these exposures occur in pets, what types of exposures are most common, and what signs of illness appear in affected animals. Their findings offer insight into how the ongoing drug epidemic is extending beyond human health and into the lives of domestic animals.</p>
<p>“Illicit fentanyl contributes to many overdoses in the United States,” said study author <a href="https://www.drorrinware.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Orrin D. Ware</a>, an assistant professor at the <a href="https://ssw.unc.edu/employees/orrin-ware/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill</a>. “This study highlights the potential risk of exposure to illicit fentanyl for cats and dogs, the two most common household pets in the country. To do this, we analyzed 24-hour call center data from ASPCA Poison Control to identify the most common clinical signs reported after these exposures.”</p>
<p>The study drew on data collected by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ Poison Control Center. This 24-hour hotline receives calls from across the United States and Canada whenever a toxic exposure is suspected in animals. Researchers looked at records from 2019 to 2023 that involved cats or dogs and had a reported exposure to illicit fentanyl. To isolate cases involving only fentanyl, they excluded any incidents involving multiple substances or prescription fentanyl intended for veterinary use.</p>
<p>Out of more than 600 initial reports, the researchers narrowed their analysis to 117 confirmed or suspected cases of illicit fentanyl exposure: 113 dogs and 4 cats. Most of these exposures occurred in the United States, with the highest number of cases reported in California, Washington, Arizona, and Florida. A small number of cases were recorded in Canada.</p>
<p>In terms of dog breeds, Chihuahuas and American Pit Bull Terriers were the most frequently involved. The average age of the dogs was under two years, and the average weight was around 10 kilograms. Most of the dogs were juveniles, which may suggest that younger pets are more likely to get into dangerous substances left within reach.</p>
<p>Among the dogs, the most commonly reported symptoms were lethargy, unusual vocalization, poor coordination, hypersalivation, and slow heart rate. Some cases also involved signs like hypothermia or rapid breathing. In the 85 cases where the exposure was confirmed or observed, symptoms often developed quickly after the animal had contact with the substance. For example, some dogs began showing signs within minutes of chewing on or licking an object suspected to contain fentanyl.</p>
<p>Cats made up a much smaller portion of the sample. Of the four reported feline exposures, two involved ingestion of suspected fentanyl pills. One cat was dropped off at a neighbor’s house in a state of immobility after being exposed in a transitional housing complex. Another cat ingested part of a suspected fentanyl tablet and showed signs such as excessive salivation. While the number of feline cases is too small to draw firm conclusions, these incidents still highlight that cats are not immune to the risks posed by unsecured opioids in their environment.</p>
<p>Descriptions from the poison control case notes reveal a range of exposure scenarios. Some pets were found chewing on straws or pens used to inhale fentanyl. Others ingested pills, powder, or cotton balls soaked in liquid fentanyl. In some cases, animals had access to foil or carpet that was contaminated with drug residue. One dog was reportedly exposed while lying in a bed inside a car where fentanyl had been spilled. A few incidents even involved police dogs who were exposed during drug raids.</p>
<p>More than half of the reported dog exposures were confirmed through clinical testing or direct observation, and most calls to the poison control center came from the pet owners themselves. The data show that illicit fentanyl can be found in many forms—powder or crystals were the most common, followed by tablets, liquid, and contaminated paraphernalia.</p>
<p>The findings of this case series point to a broader ripple effect of the opioid crisis. In homes where fentanyl is present—whether through active use, drug trafficking, or accidental contamination—animals can become unintended victims. Because of their small body size and the potency of fentanyl, even minute amounts can be dangerous or fatal.</p>
<p>“Unsecured substances and paraphernalia can pose a danger to animals, especially cats and dogs, who may come into contact with them,” Ware told PsyPost. “The most common clinical signs seen in dogs with possible exposure to illicit fentanyl include lethargy, vocalization, ataxia, and hypersalivation.”</p>
<p>The researchers advise that any suspected exposure to fentanyl should be treated as an emergency. Naloxone, a medication used to reverse the effects of opioid overdose, can also be effective in animals when administered promptly. Veterinarians may use intranasal or injectable forms of naloxone, and supportive treatments such as intravenous fluids may also be needed.</p>
<p>The study provides evidence that the dangers of illicit fentanyl are not limited to people and highlights the potential risks that unsecured opioids can pose in homes with pets. But the study has some limitations. The cases analyzed represent only those reported to a specific poison control center, which means the actual number of fentanyl exposures in pets may be significantly higher.</p>
<p>Some pet owners may not recognize the symptoms or may avoid reporting exposures due to concerns about legal consequences. Other incidents may go unnoticed entirely. Additionally, the study focused on fentanyl-only exposures, excluding cases involving other drugs that are sometimes found in combination with fentanyl.</p>
<p>More research is needed to examine how often these co-exposures occur and whether certain environments or pet owner behaviors are associated with higher risks. Future studies might also explore how pets respond to repeated low-level exposures or what long-term health effects may result from a single event.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://journals.lww.com/journaladdictionmedicine/fulltext/9900/illicit_fentanyl_exposures_in_cats_and_dogs.588.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Illicit Fentanyl Exposures in Cats and Dogs Reported to a North American Veterinary Poison Control Center From 2019 to 2023</a>,” was authored by Orrin Ware and Brown Watts.<br>
Ware, Orrin D. PhD, MPH, MSW; Watts Brown, Ginger DVM, DABT, DABVT</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/sermons-at-large-evangelical-church-tend-to-justify-economic-inequality-study-finds/" 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;">Sermons at large evangelical church tend to justify economic inequality, study finds</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 20th 2025, 18:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.70001" target="_blank">Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion</a></em> provides detailed evidence that some evangelical church leaders use sermons to justify economic inequality, even when discussing Bible passages that could challenge it. Focusing on New River Church, a large and fast-growing megachurch in the American Midwest, the research suggests that pastors there interpret Scripture in ways that downplay inequality and defend wealth accumulation. The findings indicate that these messages are shaped not only by theology but also by the broader social and economic pressures religious leaders face.</p>
<p>Religion has long been linked to ideas about justice, poverty, and wealth. Christianity in particular has played a wide range of roles in shaping attitudes toward inequality, both opposing and supporting it. Historical figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. used their Christian beliefs to fight injustice, while others have used the same religious texts to support capitalist structures and hierarchies.</p>
<p>Scholars have consistently found that evangelical Christians in the United States are more likely than other religious groups to justify economic inequality. This pattern is surprising, especially since evangelicals are, on average, less wealthy than the general population. Researchers have also noted that evangelical leaders tend to communicate economic individualism from the pulpit, promoting the idea that financial outcomes result primarily from individual choices and effort.</p>
<p>Given these patterns, sociologist Dawson P. R. Vosburg of The Ohio State University set out to understand how evangelical leaders reconcile Bible teachings that appear to promote equality with their support for existing economic hierarchies. His study focused on New River Church as a case example of how these messages are delivered to large congregations.</p>
<p>Vosburg analyzed 79 sermons drawn from a ten-year archive of nearly 400 messages delivered at New River Church. The church is known for its modern style and rapid growth, attracting thousands of in-person and online attendees. Though contemporary in its branding, the church holds conservative beliefs and emphasizes a literal interpretation of the Bible.</p>
<p>Vosburg’s analysis focused on sermons that addressed economic themes, particularly those that mentioned wealth, poverty, generosity, or financial responsibility. He found that New River’s pastors used several strategies to present economic inequality as morally acceptable or even divinely sanctioned.</p>
<p>One of the most consistent themes was the defense of wealth itself. In multiple sermons, pastors emphasized that God does not condemn people for being rich. Instead, they argued that the real issue lies in how people relate to their wealth. As long as money does not become a person’s primary source of identity or security, its possession is seen as a blessing. Sermons included repeated assurances that owning luxury goods or expensive homes was not a spiritual problem. Listeners were warned not to “rich shame” others and were reminded that even Jesus did not condemn wealth outright.</p>
<p>Another message involved minimizing inequality within the United States by comparing it to global poverty. The pastors often cited statistics showing that most Americans, including low-income individuals, are better off than many people around the world. This framing was used to argue that everyone in the congregation was already “rich” and should feel grateful rather than concerned about economic disparities at home.</p>
<p>Spiritual interpretations of Bible passages were also common. When preaching on texts that mention the poor or criticize the rich, pastors frequently claimed these references were metaphorical. Rather than addressing material poverty, they said, such verses referred to “spiritual poverty.” This move allowed them to sidestep any direct challenge to inequality in the material world. Notably, this type of spiritual interpretation was not applied to passages about tithing, where members were encouraged to give a specific portion of their income to the church, often with the promise of divine financial protection in return.</p>
<p>Vosburg also found that sermons invoked the idea that “God owns everything” to justify the current distribution of wealth. Since all resources belong to God, the logic went, He must have intended the current economic order. From this perspective, questioning inequality amounts to questioning God’s will. This line of reasoning was used to suggest that everyone has been given exactly what they need by God, and people should avoid comparing themselves to others.</p>
<p>These justifications did not rely solely on biblical texts. Pastors often framed inequality using common cultural narratives found in the broader American context. For example, they appealed to ideas of merit and individual effort, suggesting that people receive wealth because of their abilities or faithfulness. Although God was said to give the ability to earn money, the end result still aligned with the idea that success is deserved.</p>
<p>Vosburg argues that the structure of evangelical churches like New River, which rely on donations and voluntary attendance, creates strong incentives for leaders to avoid offending wealthy members. In one sermon, a pastor described how a wealthy couple had left another church because they felt judged for their financial status. At New River, the couple found a more accepting environment where their wealth was affirmed rather than criticized.</p>
<p>This anecdote highlights how market pressures can influence religious messages. Churches that openly challenge inequality may risk losing members and financial support. In contrast, those that affirm existing hierarchies may be more likely to attract and retain wealthier congregants. Vosburg suggests this dynamic helps explain why some churches emphasize messages that align with mainstream economic beliefs, even when those beliefs appear to contradict biblical teachings.</p>
<p>The study does not claim that all evangelical churches interpret Scripture in the same way or that all Christians support economic inequality. Vosburg points out that other traditions within Christianity have taken strong stances against inequality, and even some evangelicals have used their faith to push for greater justice. Still, the findings provide a detailed look at how one influential church handles these tensions in practice.</p>
<p>As a case study of a single church, the findings cannot be assumed to represent all evangelical congregations. New River’s size, style, and geographic location may shape its unique approach. Vosburg also notes that economic inequality is not always a prominent topic in sermons, making it difficult to track patterns across large numbers of churches without extensive data.</p>
<p>However, this study adds to a growing body of research using recorded sermons to analyze religious discourse. It introduces a framework for understanding how economic messages are framed in religious settings and suggests that future research could compare churches with different theological or political orientations.</p>
<p>Vosburg encourages scholars to investigate how religious leaders who oppose inequality present their messages, and how these churches fare in terms of growth and finances. The increasing availability of sermon archives and advances in text analysis may make it easier to explore how widespread these patterns are.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.70001" target="_blank">‘I Thank God We’re Rich’: Justifying Economic Inequality in an Evangelical Congregation</a>,” was published August 25, 2025.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/ai-model-suggests-that-dreams-shape-daily-spirituality-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;">AI model suggests that dreams shape daily spirituality 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 20th 2025, 16:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study reports that dreams featuring supernatural beings or events can influence a person’s feelings of closeness to God in their waking life. This effect is not always immediate, with the research showing that dream experiences can impact daily spirituality with a delay of several days. The findings were published in the journal <em>Frontiers in Psychology</em>.</p>
<p>Researchers conducted this study to explore a long-standing but seldom scientifically tested idea: that religious and spiritual concepts, particularly ideas about supernatural agents like gods or spirits, might have origins or be maintained through dream experiences. Billions of people worldwide identify as religious, and their conception of God can significantly affect their mental health, well-being, and social behaviors. </p>
<p>For instance, viewing God as kind and loving is associated with positive outcomes, while viewing God as harsh and authoritarian can be linked to anxiety and social mistrust. Given these connections, understanding the cognitive mechanisms that shape and update a person’s image of God is an important area of psychological science.</p>
<p>The brain’s activity during the dreaming phase of sleep, known as rapid eye movement sleep, creates a unique mental state. It is characterized by intense visual imagery, strong emotions, and a hyper-associative mode of thinking, all while the brain’s capacity for logical reflection is reduced. This state is thought to be well-suited for simulating extraordinary encounters, including interactions with supernatural beings. The study aimed to use modern longitudinal methods, tracking people over time, to see if a measurable connection exists between the content of dreams and a person’s daily spiritual life.</p>
<p>To investigate this, the researchers conducted an intensive two-week study with 124 healthy adults. Participants completed surveys every evening and every morning from their own homes. These surveys tracked their daily moods, social interactions, and spiritual feelings, including a daily rating of their felt closeness to God and their conception of God as authoritarian. Each morning, participants also reported any dreams they could recall. These dream reports were then analyzed for specific characteristics.</p>
<p>The team used a combination of human rating and machine learning to analyze the dream reports. Three trained assistants scored each dream for “dreamer agency,” which is the degree to which the dreamer felt in control of events within the dream. A machine learning classifier was trained to identify dreams containing supernatural content. Participants also rated their own dreams on scales like pleasant or unpleasant, and strange or familiar. In addition to the surveys, approximately half of the participants wore a specialized headband with electroencephalogram sensors to objectively measure their sleep stages, including the percentage of time spent in rapid eye movement sleep.</p>
<p>The initial analysis focused on the characteristics of supernatural dreams. The researchers found that dreams classified as containing supernatural content were consistently rated by the dreamers themselves as more bizarre, strange, and scary compared to non-supernatural dreams. A key finding was that in these supernatural dreams, the dreamer’s sense of control, or agency, was significantly lower. This suggests a link between feeling a loss of personal power in a dream and the appearance of powerful, non-human characters or events.</p>
<p>Next, the researchers used statistical models to connect these dream variables to the participants’ daily spirituality ratings. They found that the emotional tone of a dream, its affect, had a direct impact on the following day. More positive dreams were associated with higher next-day ratings of closeness to God. The amount of rapid eye movement sleep a person got also predicted a greater feeling of closeness to God and a stronger conception of God as authoritarian.</p>
<p>The analysis also revealed a delayed relationship between dreams and spirituality. The models showed that a person’s dreamer agency and dream affect from four nights prior were predictive of their current day’s feeling of closeness to God. Overt supernatural content in a dream did not predict next-day changes, but it did have a negative association with closeness to God at a four-day lag. This suggests that the cognitive and emotional impact of certain dream experiences may take several days to fully integrate and influence a person’s waking spiritual perceptions.</p>
<p>To further test and understand this delayed effect, the researchers conducted a second phase of the study using a more advanced computational technique. Standard statistical models can struggle to capture complex, non-linear relationships that unfold over time. To address this, the team built a temporal sequential artificial neural network, a type of computer model designed specifically to learn from sequences of data over time. They fed this network the same data from the first study to see if it could more accurately predict the daily spirituality ratings.</p>
<p>The artificial neural network significantly outperformed the original statistical model in predicting daily feelings of closeness to God. The researchers then used a technique called saliency map analysis to peer inside the “black box” of the network and see which pieces of information it considered most important for its predictions. This analysis confirmed the findings from the first study: the network placed a greater emphasis on dream-related data from three and four days in the past than it did on data from one or two days in the past.</p>
<p>In a final step, the team tested several versions of the neural network, each with a different time window. They compared models that could only see data from one day ago, two days ago, three days ago, and four days ago. </p>
<p>The results showed that the models with three-day and four-day lags were significantly more accurate than the models with shorter one-day or two-day lags. This provided strong computational support for the idea that the influence of dream content on waking spirituality is a process that unfolds over several days. The network was not, however, able to successfully model the changes in the authoritarian God concept, which the researchers suggest may be due to limitations in the amount of data available.</p>
<p>The researchers propose that these findings support the hypothesis that dreams serve as a space where concepts of supernatural agents are generated and regulated. The process may begin with a reduction in the dreamer’s sense of agency during a dream. This cognitive state could create an opening for the mind to simulate other characters who possess the agency the dreamer lacks, sometimes taking on extraordinary or supernatural powers. These emotionally charged simulations are not always processed overnight. Instead, the mind may take several days to integrate the experience, which then influences waking beliefs and feelings, such as the felt relational closeness to God.</p>
<p>The study has some limitations. The machine learning method used to classify dreams as supernatural is not perfect and may misidentify some content. The study sample was recruited in part using advertisements for people with frequent nightmares, which may have resulted in a group with higher-than-average negative dream affect. The use of at-home sleep monitoring headbands, while practical, can be less precise than laboratory-grade equipment and is subject to user error. Finally, the artificial neural network analysis was performed on a relatively small dataset, which may limit the generalizability of its findings, particularly for outcomes it was unable to model effectively.</p>
<p>Future research could build on these findings by using different methods to capture the ongoing, dynamic shifts in emotion and belief that follow a significant dream. Further work with larger datasets could also help to confirm the results of the neural network and explore its inability to model certain spiritual concepts. The study represents a notable step in applying modern longitudinal and computational methods to explore the complex relationship between the inner world of our dreams and the foundational beliefs that shape our waking lives.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1575174/full" target="_blank">Dream content influences daily spirituality</a> ,” was authored by John Balch, George Hodulik, Rachel Raider, Aidan David, Chanel Reed, Wesley J. Wildman, David Rohr, and Patrick McNamara.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/new-research-reveals-masturbation-is-on-the-rise-and-challenges-old-ideas-about-its-role/" 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 research reveals masturbation is on the rise and challenges old ideas about its role</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 20th 2025, 14:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study analyzing over a decade of data from the British population has found that masturbation became more common for both women and men between the early 2000s and the early 2010s. The research also suggests that the traditional view of masturbation as a simple substitute for partnered sex for men and a supplement for women is incomplete, indicating it may serve as a replacement for both genders when partnered sexuality faces challenges. The findings were published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2025.2555053" target="_blank">The Journal of Sex Research</a></em>.</p>
<p>Researchers embarked on this investigation to address several gaps in our understanding of sexual self-pleasure. Historically, a gendered model has been proposed to explain masturbation patterns. This model suggests that for men, masturbation often serves a compensatory function, acting as a substitute when partnered sex is unavailable. For women, it has been thought to serve a complementary function, where solo sex is an addition to an active partnered sex life. </p>
<p>However, given that social attitudes toward sexuality and masturbation have evolved, the scientists questioned whether this gendered framework remains accurate. They also noted a lack of robust, large-scale research tracking masturbation prevalence over time using consistent methods, which has made it difficult to identify clear trends.</p>
<p>To conduct their analysis, the research team used data from two major British surveys: the second and third waves of the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles. These are large, probability-based sample surveys, meaning they are designed to be representative of the general population in Britain. The second survey was conducted between 1999 and 2001 with 11,161 participants aged 16 to 44. The third survey took place between 2010 and 2012 and included 15,162 individuals aged 16 to 74. Participants were interviewed in their homes by trained interviewers, with a computer-assisted self-completion portion for sensitive questions, including those about masturbation.</p>
<p>The first part of the study focused on trends over time. To make a direct comparison, the researchers looked only at the data for individuals aged 16 to 44 in both surveys. They found a statistically significant increase in the proportion of people who reported masturbating in the past month. For women, the rate rose from 37.0% in the first period to 40.3% in the second. For men, the prevalence increased from 73.4% to 77.5%. The analysis also showed that the percentage of women who reported never having masturbated in their lifetime decreased from 28.5% to 24.1%.</p>
<p>When examining specific groups, the researchers found that the increase in recent masturbation was most pronounced among the youngest men, those aged 16 to 24. Looking at relationship status, the increase was significant for both women and men who had casual or steady partners. No significant change was observed for individuals who were single. The researchers suggest that broader cultural shifts, including increased access to the internet and online sexual content between the two survey periods, may have contributed to these changing patterns of sexual behavior.</p>
<p>The second part of the study used the more recent data from the third survey, which included a wider age range of 16 to 74 years, to identify which social, demographic, health, and relationship factors were associated with masturbation. Here, the findings challenged the simple gendered model of compensation versus complementation. When looking strictly at the frequency of intercourse, the old model appeared to hold. Women who had more frequent intercourse were more likely to report masturbating, supporting a complementary role. In contrast, men who reported the highest frequency of intercourse were less likely to report masturbating, which points to a compensatory pattern.</p>
<p>However, a more complex picture emerged when the researchers considered participants’ satisfaction and desires related to their sex lives. For both women and men, reporting masturbation in the past month was more likely if they wanted to have intercourse more often than they currently were. It was also more common among those who felt their level of sexual interest differed from their partner’s, were dissatisfied with their sex life, or felt distressed or worried about it. </p>
<p>Similarly, both women and men who reported having sexual difficulties themselves, or whose partners had sexual difficulties, were more likely to report recent masturbation. This suggests that when partnered sexuality is a source of dissatisfaction or presents challenges, masturbation may function as a replacement activity for both genders, not just for men.</p>
<p>The analysis also identified several other factors linked to masturbation. Younger age was consistently associated with a higher likelihood of reporting recent masturbation for both women and men. Individuals who considered their religious beliefs to be important were significantly less likely to report masturbating. Sexual orientation was also a factor, with gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals reporting higher rates of masturbation compared to their heterosexual counterparts. People with a greater number of sexual partners in the past year were also more likely to report masturbating.</p>
<p>In terms of personal attitudes, individuals who believed that sex without love is acceptable were more likely to have masturbated recently. Conversely, those who believed that people naturally want less sex as they get older were less likely to report the behavior. Poor self-reported health was also associated with a lower likelihood of masturbation for both women and men. When it came to relationships, individuals who were living with a partner were less likely to report masturbating compared to single individuals. For men specifically, being happy in their relationship was linked to a lower probability of reporting recent masturbation.</p>
<p>The authors acknowledge certain limitations to their study. The data is based on self-reports, which can be influenced by social desirability or memory recall biases, especially for sensitive topics like sexual behavior. The data used for the second part of the analysis was collected over a decade ago, between 2010 and 2012. Since then, the widespread adoption of smartphones and dating apps may have further influenced sexual behaviors. </p>
<p>Finally, because the data is cross-sectional, it shows associations between factors but cannot establish cause and effect. Future research could explore more recent trends and use methods that provide a deeper understanding of the motivations behind masturbation in different contexts.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2025.2555053" target="_blank">Trends in Masturbation Prevalence and Associated Factors: Findings from the British National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles</a>,” was authored by N. Fischer, M. Kozák, C. A. Graham, S. Clifton, C. H. Mercer, and K. R. Mitchell.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/typing-patterns-on-smartphones-offer-clues-to-cognitive-health-new-research-suggests/" 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;">Typing patterns on smartphones offer clues to cognitive health, new research suggests</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 20th 2025, 12:00</div>
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<p><p>New research published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0001052" target="_blank">Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science</a></em> suggests that how quickly and frequently we type on our phones may offer insight into our cognitive health—particularly in people with mood disorders. The findings suggest that passive data from daily phone use may help detect cognitive impairments often seen in mood disorders like depression and bipolar disorder.</p>
<p>Mood disorders such as major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder affect millions of people and are linked to substantial impairments in thinking skills. These difficulties with memory, attention, and mental flexibility can interfere with daily tasks, reduce quality of life, and increase the burden on caregivers. Cognitive challenges in these disorders are also associated with significant indirect costs, including lost productivity.</p>
<p>Traditional assessments of thinking abilities are typically conducted in clinics using paper-and-pencil or computer-based tasks. While helpful, these tests may not reflect how people function in their everyday environments. In addition, they are time-consuming and require active participation, which can be burdensome.</p>
<p>Researchers are exploring ways to measure thinking in more natural settings without requiring effort from participants. One promising approach involves using sensors in smartphones to collect behavioral data passively. Since typing on a phone engages multiple cognitive systems—including attention, planning, and motor control—it may serve as a real-world window into how the brain is functioning.</p>
<p>“Cognitive problems are a major part of mood disorders and can persist even when the mood symptoms improved. We wanted to use <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/mood-tracker" target="_blank">the BiAffect app</a>, developed by Dr. Alex Leow, as a method to passively and objectively assess cognitive function in the context of mood disorders. BiAffect uses smartphone typing as a index of brain function and has been tested a range of disorders,” said study author <a href="https://www.psych.uic.edu/profile/olusola-ajilore" target="_blank">Olu Ajilore</a>, the University of Illinois Center for Depression and Resilience (UI CDR) Professor of Psychiatry and director of the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, Clinical Research Core/Center for Clinical and Translational Science, and Adult Neuroscience Residency Research Track.</p>
<p>The study recruited 127 adults between the ages of 25 and 50, including people diagnosed with various mood disorders as well as healthy controls. Over a four- to five-week period, participants used BiAffect, which captured metadata about their typing behavior, such as the time between keystrokes and physical motion detected by the phone’s accelerometer. Participants were instructed to use this keyboard as their default during the study.</p>
<p>Each person completed two in-person sessions at least two weeks apart. During these visits, they underwent standardized cognitive tests. These included four tests from the NIH Toolbox, which measured skills such as attention, working memory, and mental flexibility, and a paper-based Trail Making Test Part B, which assesses executive function and speed in connecting numbers and letters in alternating order.</p>
<p>The researchers applied statistical techniques to reduce the large number of keyboard variables into core components. They then used structural equation modeling to see if the typing data collected between the two lab visits could predict performance on the cognitive tests at each time point.</p>
<p>The main keyboard features extracted were typing speed and overall keyboard usage. Typing speed was based on the delay between consecutive key presses, while usage captured how often participants typed and how much that varied over time.</p>
<p>In healthy participants, slower typing was linked to lower performance on the NIH Toolbox tasks. More frequent typing was associated with better performance. Together, typing patterns accounted for a substantial portion of the differences in thinking ability across these individuals—over 40% at the second lab visit.</p>
<p>However, in individuals with mood disorders, typing patterns were not as strongly related to their scores on the NIH Toolbox tests. These findings suggest that in this group, the relationship between everyday smartphone behavior and these types of thinking skills is either more complex or more variable.</p>
<p>“Measuring cognition using only the NIH Toolbox showed that the relationship between typing measures and cognition was driven by healthy controls subject, not subjects with mood disorders,” Ajilore told PsyPost.</p>
<p>The results were different for the Trail Making Test Part B. Typing patterns predicted performance on this test equally well in both healthy individuals and those with mood disorders. People who typed more slowly or more frequently tended to take longer to complete the trail-making task, regardless of diagnosis. This task relies heavily on mental flexibility and quick decision-making, which are known to be affected in mood disorders.</p>
<p>Follow-up analyses showed that this link between slower typing and poorer trail-making performance became stronger as depressive symptoms increased. In other words, as people felt more depressed, the connection between their typing speed and their executive functioning became clearer.</p>
<p>“Typing speed reliably predicts processing speed and executive function and focusing on the Trail Making Test Part B, the relationship gets stronger with more depressive symptoms,” Ajilore said.</p>
<p>These findings suggest that passively collected data from smartphones may help detect changes in certain aspects of cognitive functioning, particularly executive function and mental flexibility. The fact that typing behavior predicted performance on the Trail Making Test across all groups suggests this measure may be especially well-suited to real-world monitoring of cognitive health.</p>
<p>In contrast, the weaker relationship between typing behavior and performance on the NIH Toolbox tasks in mood disorder participants points to challenges in using passive data to measure all types of thinking skills. One possibility is that people with mood disorders show more variability in cognitive functioning due to fluctuating symptoms, medication use, or other personal factors.</p>
<p>The study also highlights the potential value of tracking continuous symptom severity instead of relying only on diagnostic categories. For example, the strength of the link between typing speed and cognitive performance grew with increasing depression severity, even when comparing people within the same diagnosis.</p>
<p>While the results are promising, the study had some limitations. The time between the two lab visits—around two weeks—was relatively short. This made it harder to capture meaningful changes in cognition over time. In clinical populations, changes in thinking skills often occur over months rather than weeks. </p>
<p>“The main limitation is the relatively short time we monitored participants for (just 30 days),” Ajilore noted. “Future studies will focus on longer term assessment of participants to understand the predictive power of our digital monitoring tool.”</p>
<p>The sample was also relatively well-educated, which may have provided some protection against cognitive decline. Including participants with a broader range of educational backgrounds could help determine how generalizable the findings are.</p>
<p>Additionally, although typing behavior predicted cognitive performance on some tasks, it was not useful across all types of thinking. The NIH Toolbox includes a range of skills, some of which may not be strongly reflected in typing patterns. This suggests that passive typing data may be most helpful for measuring specific cognitive domains rather than overall mental ability.</p>
<p>The researchers hope that one day this approach could help clinicians and patients monitor cognition more easily and in real time. Subtle changes in typing patterns might provide an early signal that a person is experiencing cognitive difficulties or is at risk of a depressive or manic episode.</p>
<p>Using smartphone data in this way could reduce the need for frequent in-person testing and allow for more timely interventions. Because typing is something people do many times a day, it offers a natural and unobtrusive way to gather information.</p>
<p>“Ultimately, we would like to use this technology as an early warning detection system for mood episodes by detecting subtle changes in cognitive function that may precede depressive or manic episodes in patients with mood disorders,” Ajilore explained.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0001052" target="_blank">Predicting Cognitive Functioning in Mood Disorders through Smartphone Typing Dynamics</a>,” was authored by Emma Ning, Ryne Estabrook, Theja Tulabandhula, John Zulueta, Mindy K. Ross, Sarah Kabir, Faraz Hussain, Scott A. Langenecker, Olusola Ajilore, Alex Leow, and Alexander P. Demos.</p></p>
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
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