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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-research-reveals-a-subtle-and-dark-side-effect-of-belief-in-free-will/" 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 a subtle and dark side-effect of belief in free will</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Dec 24th 2025, 08:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.70045" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Applied Psychology</a></em> provides evidence that the belief in free will may carry unintended negative consequences for how individuals view gay men. The findings suggest that while believing in free will often promotes moral responsibility, it is also associated with less favorable attitudes toward gay men and preferential treatment for heterosexual men. This effect appears to be driven by the perception that sexual orientation is a personal choice.</p>
<p>Psychological research has historically investigated the concept of free will as a positive force in social behavior. Scholars have frequently observed that when people believe they have control over their actions, they tend to act more responsibly and helpfully. The general assumption has been that a sense of agency leads to adherence to moral standards. However, the authors of the current study argued that this sense of agency might have a “dark side” when applied to social groups that are often stigmatized.</p>
<p>The researchers reasoned that if people believe strongly in human agency, they may incorrectly attribute complex traits like sexual orientation to personal decision-making. This attribution could lead to the conclusion that gay men are responsible for their sexual orientation.</p>
<p>“I’m broadly interested in how beliefs that are typically seen as morally virtuous—like believing in free will—can, in some cases, have unintended negative consequences. Free-will beliefs are generally associated with personal agency, accountability, and moral responsibility,” said study author <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/shahin-sharifi-107a3049/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shahin Sharifi</a>, a senior lecturer in Marketing at <a href="https://scholars.latrobe.edu.au/ssharifi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">La Trobe Business School</a>.</p>
<p>“But from reviewing the literature, I began to wonder whether these beliefs might also create a sense of moral licensing—where people feel they’ve met their moral obligations simply by believing in responsibility, and therefore let their guard down in other ways. In this paper, we explored one potential manifestation of that: the subtle prejudice that can emerge when people assume sexual orientation is a matter of personal choice and hold others accountable for it.”</p>
<p>The researchers conducted five separate studies using different methodologies. The first study involved 201 adults recruited from the United States. Participants read a workplace scenario about an employee named Jimmy who was nominated for an “employee of the month” award. The researchers manipulated Jimmy’s sexual orientation by altering a single detail in the text. In one version, Jimmy mentioned his girlfriend, while in the other, he mentioned his boyfriend.</p>
<p>Participants in this first study also completed a survey measuring their chronic belief in free will. They rated their agreement with statements such as “People always have the ability to do otherwise.” The researchers then measured the participants’ attitudes toward Jimmy and their willingness to support his nomination. The results showed that participants with stronger free-will beliefs reported more favorable attitudes toward the heterosexual version of Jimmy. This positive association did not exist for the gay version of Jimmy.</p>
<p>The second study sought to establish a causal link by manipulating the belief in free will rather than just measuring it. The researchers recruited 200 participants and assigned them to one of two conditions. One group completed a writing task designed to promote a belief in free will by recalling experiences where they had high control over their lives. The other group wrote about experiences where they lacked control, effectively promoting disbelief in free will.</p>
<p>Following this manipulation, participants evaluated the same “Jimmy” scenario used in the first study. The data revealed that inducing a belief in free will led to divergent outcomes depending on the target’s sexual orientation. Participants primed with free-will beliefs expressed greater intentions to help the heterosexual employee. However, this same prime resulted in reduced intentions to help the gay employee. This finding suggests that free-will beliefs can simultaneously fuel favoritism toward the cultural majority and bias against a minority group.</p>
<p>The third study examined these dynamics in a more formal personnel selection context. The researchers recruited 310 participants who worked in healthcare and social assistance sectors. These industries were chosen because they typically have strong policies regarding workplace discrimination. Participants reviewed a resume for a psychologist position. The qualifications were identical across conditions, but the applicant’s personal interests differed.</p>
<p>In one condition, the applicant was listed as an active member of an LGBTQ+ support group. In the other, he was involved in a general community support group. Participants rated how much they liked the applicant, their expectations of his performance, and his likely organizational citizenship behavior.</p>
<p>The results mirrored the previous studies. Stronger endorsement of free will predicted higher likability ratings for the heterosexual applicant. This “liking” then mediated higher ratings for performance and citizenship. This positive chain of evaluation was significantly weaker or absent when the applicant was identified as gay.</p>
<p>“What surprised us most was how consistent the pattern was,” Sharifi told PsyPost. “We didn’t just find that free-will beliefs were linked to harsher views of gay men; we also found more favorable views of straight individuals. This suggests it’s not just about negativity toward a minority group, it’s also about a kind of favoritism toward the majority, which can be just as impactful.”</p>
<p>The fourth and fifth studies focused on identifying the specific psychological mechanism behind these biases. Study 4a surveyed 297 individuals to assess the relationship between free-will beliefs and perceptions of controllability. Participants rated the extent to which they believed people can freely control or shape their sexual orientation.</p>
<p>The analysis confirmed that belief in free will is strongly correlated with the belief that sexual orientation is controllable. This perception of control was, in turn, associated with more negative attitudes toward homosexuality.</p>
<p>Study 4b utilized an experimental design to verify this mechanism. The researchers recruited 241 participants and divided them into two groups. One group read a scientific passage explaining that sexual orientation is biologically determined and largely unchangeable. The other group read a neutral passage about the effects of classical music. Participants then completed measures of free-will beliefs and attitudes toward gay men.</p>
<p>The findings from this final experiment provided evidence for the researchers’ proposed mechanism. When participants were exposed to information that described sexual orientation as biological and uncontrollable, the link between free-will beliefs and anti-gay attitudes was significantly weakened. This suggests that the negative impact of free-will beliefs relies heavily on the assumption that being gay is a choice. When that assumption is challenged, the bias appears to diminish.</p>
<p>“The main takeaway is that even well-intentioned beliefs—like the idea that everyone has free will—can lead to biased or unfair attitudes, especially when applied to aspects of identity that people don’t actually choose, like sexual orientation,” Sharifi explained.</p>
<p>“Our findings suggest that when people strongly believe in free will, they may assume that being gay is a choice, and as a result, judge gay individuals more harshly. This isn’t always obvious or intentional—it can show up in subtle ways, like hiring preferences or gut-level reactions. The broader message is that we need to be thoughtful about how we apply our moral beliefs and recognize that not everything in life is under personal control.”</p>
<p>“The effects we found were small to moderate—but they matter, especially in real-world settings like job interviews or healthcare. Even subtle biases can add up and shape decisions that affect people’s lives. Our results suggest that moral beliefs like free will can quietly influence how we judge others, without us even realizing it.”</p>
<p>There are limitations to this research that provide directions for future inquiry. The studies focused exclusively on attitudes toward gay men. It remains unclear if similar patterns would emerge regarding lesbian women, bisexual individuals, or transgender people. The underlying mechanism of “controllability” might function differently for other identities within the LGBTQ+ community. Additionally, the samples were drawn entirely from the United States. Conceptions of free will and attitudes toward sexual orientation vary significantly across cultures.</p>
<p>“A key point is that we’re not saying belief in free will is bad,” Sharifi noted. “It can promote responsibility and good behavior in many contexts. But when it’s applied to parts of people’s identity they don’t control—like sexual orientation—it can backfire. Also, most people in our studies didn’t show strong anti-gay attitudes overall. The effects we found were about subtle shifts, not overt prejudice.”</p>
<p>Regarding direction for future research, Sharifi said that “we want to explore how other beliefs that are seen as positive might also contribute to hidden biases. We’re especially interested in workplace settings and how to design training or policies that help reduce these effects without making people feel blamed or defensive.”</p>
<p>“This study reminds us how complex human judgment can be,” he added. “Even our most cherished values, like fairness or responsibility, can have unintended effects. Being aware of these blind spots is the first step toward creating more inclusive and equitable environments, for everyone.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.70045" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The dark side of free will: How belief in agency fuels anti-gay attitudes</a>,” was authored by Shahin Sharifi and Raymond Nam Cam Trau.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/misophonia-is-linked-to-broader-sensory-processing-sensitivities-beyond-sounds/" 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;">Misophonia is linked to broader sensory processing sensitivities beyond sounds</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Dec 24th 2025, 06:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2025.11.026" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Journal of Psychiatric Research</a></em> suggests that individuals with misophonia experience sensory sensitivities that extend beyond just sound. The findings suggest that this condition may involve a broader pattern of sensory processing differences, particularly regarding touch and smell, though these additional sensitivities rarely cause the same level of impairment as auditory triggers.</p>
<p>The motivation for this research emerged from clinical observations during trials for misophonia treatments. Lead researcher Mercedes Woolley noted that participants frequently described irritations with sensory inputs other than sound. Patients often mentioned discomfort with the feeling of clothing on their skin or specific odors.</p>
<p>“The idea for this study grew out of my work conducting interviews with adults enrolled in our clinical trial on the efficacy of acceptance and commitment therapy for misophonia. <a href="https://www.utahact.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Our lab at Utah State University</a> specializes in this form of cognitive‑behavioral therapy, and because misophonia is still relatively underexplored, our team wanted to gather as much information as possible about the lived experiences of people with misophonia,” explained Woolley.</p>
<p>“During the interviews, I asked participants about sensory sensitivities beyond sound, and I began noticing a pattern: many of them described additional sensitivities, especially tactile ones. One participant explained that it felt like being constantly aware of the sensation of wearing clothes, something that becomes irritating when your mind can’t shift attention away from it, especially when you need to focus on something else.”</p>
<p>“That comment resonated with me,” Woolley said. “I’ve always been sensitive to smells; certain odors can be overwhelming or frustrating. Personally, as a child, I strongly dislike particular smells, especially the smell of fruit and would go out of my way to avoid it and become irritated when my family disregarded my requests to avoid eating it in front of me. I made significant efforts to avoid anyone eating it, and sometimes I still do.”</p>
<p>“Hearing participants describe their reactions to specific trigger sounds reminded me of my own experiences, just in a different sensory domain. These observations made me wonder whether misophonia might be connected to broader sensory processing challenges or sensory overstimulation.”</p>
<p>“When I reviewed the existing literature, I found that a few researchers had already suggested that heightened sensory sensitivity could be correlated with, or even contribute to, misophonia. That gave me enough grounding to justify developing a study focused on this idea. We still don’t fully understand the underlying mechanisms of misophonia, but sensory processing clearly plays a role. Having data that allowed us to explore this connection was exciting, and publishing this paper felt like a meaningful step toward clarifying potential mechanisms and clinical correlates.”</p>
<p>To explore this, the researchers recruited 60 adults who met the clinical criteria for misophonia and 60 control participants who did not possess measurable traits of the condition. The groups were matched based on age and gender to ensure compatibility.</p>
<p>Participants in the clinical group underwent a detailed interview using the Duke Misophonia Interview to assess symptom severity and impairment. Both groups completed the Misophonia Questionnaire and the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile. This standardized measure evaluates how individuals respond to sensory experiences across categories like taste, smell, visual input, and touch.</p>
<p>The Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile assesses four distinct patterns of sensory processing. These patterns are based on a person’s neurological threshold for noticing a stimulus and their behavioral response to it. The four quadrants include low registration, sensation seeking, sensory sensitivity, and sensation avoidance.</p>
<p>Low registration refers to a tendency to miss sensory cues that others notice. Sensation seeking involves actively looking for sensory stimulation. Sensory sensitivity involves noticing stimuli more acutely than others. Finally, sensation avoidance involves actively trying to escape or reduce sensory input.</p>
<p>The researchers found distinct differences in how the two groups processed sensory information. Individuals with misophonia reported significantly higher levels of sensory sensitivity and sensation avoidance compared to the control group. They also reported lower levels of sensation seeking.</p>
<p>There was no statistical difference between the groups regarding low sensory registration. This indicates that people with misophonia do not lack awareness of sensory input. Instead, their systems appear to be highly reactive to the input they receive.</p>
<p>Within the misophonia group, 80 percent of participants endorsed sensitivity in at least one non-auditory domain. Sensitivity to touch was the most frequently reported non-auditory issue, affecting nearly 57 percent of the clinical group. Of those reporting tactile issues, close to half described their symptoms as moderate to severe. Olfactory sensitivities followed, while visual and taste sensitivities were less common.</p>
<p>Despite the high prevalence of these additional sensitivities, the participants reported that they caused relatively low impairment in their daily lives. This stands in contrast to the significant life disruption caused by their auditory triggers.</p>
<p>For example, 75 percent of participants reported no functional impairment related to their tactile sensitivities. The distress associated with misophonia appears to be tied specifically to the emotional nature of auditory triggers rather than general sensory over-responsivity.</p>
<p>The data indicated a positive association between the severity of misophonia and the intensity of other sensory issues. As misophonia symptoms became more severe, participants were more likely to report higher levels of sensory avoidance and sensitivity. This pattern was also observed in the control group among individuals with subthreshold symptoms. This suggests that sensory vulnerabilities may represent a general risk factor for the development of misophonia-like experiences.</p>
<p>“People with misophonia are most bothered by specific sounds, but many also have sensitivities in other senses, such as touch or smell,” Woolley told PsyPost. “This doesn’t mean they’re overwhelmed by everything; rather, their sensory processing system seems more reactive overall.”</p>
<p>“While many people with misophonia notice certain textures or smells more intensely, these sensitivities typically do not cause major life challenges in the same way misophonic sounds do. We also found that the more severe someone’s misophonia is, the more likely they are to have other sensory sensitivities as well. This doesn’t mean that sensitivities in other senses cause misophonia, but they may reflect a broader sensory processing vulnerability.”</p>
<p>These findings regarding sensory processing align with other recent investigations into the psychological profile of misophonia. A study published in the <em>British Journal of Psychology</em> indicates that the condition <a href="https://www.psypost.org/only-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-misophonia-may-reflect-deeper-psychological-realities/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">may reflect broader cognitive traits</a> rather than being limited to annoyance at noises.</p>
<p>Researchers found that individuals with misophonia struggle with switching attention in emotionally charged situations. This suggests a pattern of mental rigidity that extends beyond the auditory system. Individuals with the condition often hyperfocus on specific sounds and find it difficult to shift their attention elsewhere.</p>
<p>Further evidence regarding attentional processing comes from research published in the <em>Journal of Affective Disorders</em>. This study examined young people and found that those with misophonia exhibit <a href="https://www.psypost.org/misophonia-linked-to-alterations-in-attentional-processing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">heightened attentional processing</a> compared to those with anxiety disorders.</p>
<p>The data supports the hypothesis that misophonia is linked to a state of increased vigilance. The affected individuals appear to be more aware of environmental stimuli in general. They performed better on tasks requiring the detection of subtle differences in stimuli, indicating a nervous system that is highly tuned to the environment.</p>
<p>The heightened state of arousal observed in misophonia patients also has associations with stress levels. Research published in <em>PLOS One</em> examined the relationship between misophonia severity and various forms of stress. The authors found that higher symptom severity was associated with greater levels of <a href="https://www.psypost.org/misophonia-severity-tied-to-higher-stress-and-trauma-study-shows/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">perceived stress and hyperarousal</a>.</p>
<p>This suggests that the condition involves transdiagnostic processes related to how the body manages stress and alertness. While the study did not find a direct causal link to traumatic history, the presence of hyperarousal suggests a physiological state similar to that seen in post-traumatic stress disorders.</p>
<p>The biological underpinnings of these traits have been explored through genetic analysis as well. A large-scale study published in <em>Frontiers in Neuroscience</em> utilized a Genome-Wide Association Study to identify genetic factors. The researchers found that <a href="https://www.psypost.org/misophonia-shares-genetic-links-with-depression-anxiety-and-ptsd/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">misophonia shares significant genetic overlap with psychiatric disorders</a> such as anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. The study identified a specific genetic locus associated with the rage response to chewing sounds.</p>
<p>Understanding misophonia as a condition involving multisensory and cognitive differences helps explain why treatments solely focused on sound often fall short. The combination of sensory avoidance, cognitive rigidity, and physiological hyperarousal points to a complex disorder. The new findings from Woolley and colleagues reinforce the idea that while sound is the primary trigger, the underlying mechanism involves a broader sensory processing vulnerability.</p>
<p>As with all research, the current study by Woolley and colleagues has certain limitations. The researchers did not screen participants for autism spectrum disorder, so it is possible that some reported sensory traits reflect undiagnosed autism. The study relied on a single clinician for interviews, and interrater reliability was not assessed. Additionally, the researchers were unable to compare specific sensory domains between the clinical and control groups due to data limitations in the control set.</p>
<p>Future research should aim to clarify the relationship between misophonia and broader sensory processing patterns using larger samples. Longitudinal designs could help determine how these sensory sensitivities develop over time. It remains to be seen whether these non-auditory sensitivities precede the onset of misophonia or develop concurrently. Further investigation into the mechanisms of sensory over-responsivity could lead to more effective, holistic treatment strategies for those suffering from this challenging condition.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2025.11.026" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sensory processing differences in misophonia: Assessing sensory sensitivities beyond auditory triggers</a>,” was authored by Mercedes G. Woolley, Hailey E. Johnson, Samuel J.E. Knight, Emily M. Bowers, Julie M. Petersen, Karen Muñoz, and Michael P. Twohig.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/researchers-identify-distinct-visual-cues-for-judging-female-attractiveness-and-personality-traits/" 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;">Researchers identify distinct visual cues for judging female attractiveness and personality traits</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Dec 23rd 2025, 18:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-03522-1" target="_blank">BMC Psychology</a></em> provides evidence that the way people judge a woman’s physical attractiveness differs fundamentally from how they judge her personality traits. The findings suggest that physical attractiveness is primarily evaluated based on static body features, such as body mass index, while traits like warmth and understanding are inferred largely through body motion and gestures. This research highlights the distinct roles that fixed physical attributes and dynamic movements play in social perception.</p>
<p>Previous psychological research has established that physical appearance substantially influences first impressions. People often attribute positive personality characteristics to individuals who are physically attractive, a phenomenon known as the halo effect. Despite this, there is limited understanding of how specific visual cues contribute to these different types of judgments. While static features like body shape are known to be important, the role of body motion is less clear.</p>
<p>A team from Shanghai International Studies University and McGill University conducted this research to disentangle these factors. They aimed to determine the relative contributions of unchanging body features versus dynamic movements when observers evaluate a woman’s attractiveness and her expressive character traits. They hypothesized that judgments of physical beauty would rely more on stable physical traits. On the other hand, they proposed that judgments of personality would depend more on transient movements.</p>
<p>To test this hypothesis, the researchers recruited fifteen female participants to serve as models, or posers. These women were photographed and filmed to create the visual stimuli for the study. The researchers took detailed physical measurements of each poser. These measurements included height, weight, waist-to-hip ratio, and limb circumference. This allowed the team to calculate body mass index and other anthropometric data points.</p>
<p>The researchers created two types of visual stimuli. For the static images, the posers stood in neutral positions and also adopted specific poses. Some poses were instructed. This means the models mimicked attractive stances shown to them by the researchers. Other poses were spontaneous. In these cases, the models were asked to pose in ways they personally considered attractive or unattractive without specific guidance.</p>
<p>For the dynamic stimuli, the researchers recorded the models delivering a short speech introducing their hometown. The models performed this speech under two conditions. In the first condition, they spoke in a neutral and emotionless manner. In the second condition, they were asked to speak with passion. The goal was to convince an audience to visit their hometown. The researchers then edited these videos. They isolated the first five seconds and the last five seconds of the clips to examine how impressions might change over time.</p>
<p>The study recruited fifty-four adults to act as perceivers. This group consisted of an equal split of twenty-seven men and twenty-seven women. None of the raters knew the models. They viewed the images and silent video clips to provide ratings. The participants rated the physical attractiveness of the women in the images and videos on a seven-point scale.</p>
<p>The participants also evaluated the models on feminine expressive traits. These traits included characteristics such as being understanding, sympathetic, compassionate, warm, and tender. The researchers coded specific body movements in the videos. They tracked variables such as the number of hand gestures used and whether the hands were kept close to the body or moved freely.</p>
<p>The results indicated a clear distinction in how different judgments are formed. When rating physical attractiveness, the statistical analysis showed that static body features were the strongest predictors. This held true for both the static photographs and the video clips. The Lasso regression analysis revealed that body features accounted for a large portion of the variance in attractiveness ratings.</p>
<p>Among the various body measurements, body mass index emerged as the most significant predictor of attractiveness ratings. Models with lower body mass index scores generally received higher attractiveness ratings. Other features like skin color and shoulder-to-hip ratio also played a role. However, body mass index was the most consistent and robust factor.</p>
<p>In contrast, body motion had a much smaller impact on judgments of physical attractiveness. The statistical models showed that while movement played a role, it was secondary to fixed physical attributes. For instance, in the video condition, body motions explained only a small fraction of the variance in attractiveness compared to body features.</p>
<p>However, the researchers did find that posture style mattered in photographs. Spontaneous attractive poses were rated higher than instructed attractive poses. This suggests that the women had an intuitive understanding of how to present themselves to appear appealing. They were more effective when allowed to pose naturally than when mimicking a standard attractive pose.</p>
<p>A different pattern emerged for the evaluation of feminine expressive traits. In the video condition, body motion was a much stronger predictor of traits like warmth and compassion than static body features. The frequency of hand gestures and the use of open body language were positively associated with these traits. Body features alone were poor predictors of these personality characteristics.</p>
<p>The study found that neither body features nor body motions effectively predicted feminine traits in static images. This suggests that perceiving these personality attributes requires the observation of movement over time. A static image does not convey enough information for an observer to reliably infer warmth or sympathy.</p>
<p>The researchers also compared the neutral and passionate video conditions. The passionate presentations received higher ratings for both attractiveness and feminine traits. This effect was particularly strong in the final five seconds of the passionate videos. This finding suggests that positive body language accumulates to influence perception. As the observers watched the passionate clips for longer, they perceived greater levels of feminine expressive traits.</p>
<p>The results support the idea that humans use different visual channels for different types of social judgments. Physical attractiveness appears to be assessed rapidly based on stable biological signals. These signals may be associated with health and reproductive potential. In contrast, traits like warmth and understanding are social signals. These are inferred from behavioral cues that unfold during an interaction.</p>
<p>The study has certain limitations that affect the generalizability of the results. The sample size of fifteen posers is relatively small. This restricts the range of body types and movement styles represented in the stimuli. The distribution of body mass index among the posers was not perfectly balanced. There were fewer individuals in the overweight category compared to the healthy weight category.</p>
<p>Future research would benefit from a larger and more diverse group of models. This would allow for a more comprehensive analysis of how different body types interact with movement. The current study focused exclusively on female targets. Cultural norms regarding body language and ideal body types vary significantly. The participants in this study were from a specific cultural background. Future studies should investigate these dynamics across different cultures to see if the patterns hold true.</p>
<p>Another direction for future inquiry involves the interaction of other factors. The current study focused on silent videos to isolate body motion. However, voice and facial expressions are also potent social cues. Future research could examine how body motion interacts with vocal tone and facial expressions to form a holistic impression. It would also be useful to investigate how personality traits of the observer influence these ratings.</p>
<p>This research contributes to the understanding of nonverbal communication. It provides evidence that while we may judge beauty largely by what we see in a snapshot, we judge character by watching how a person moves. The distinction emphasizes that social perception is a complex process integrating multiple streams of visual information.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-03522-1" target="_blank">Perceiving female physical attractiveness and expressive traits from body features and body motion</a>,” was authored by Lin Gao, Marc D. Pell, Zhikang Peng, and Xiaoming Jiang.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/study-finds-links-between-personality-parenting-and-moral-emotions/" 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;">Study finds links between personality, parenting, and moral emotions</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Dec 23rd 2025, 16:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study suggests that the way young adults process moral emotions is shaped by a combination of their own personality traits and their memories of how they were raised. The research indicates that mothers and fathers may influence a child’s moral development in distinct ways, but these effects depend heavily on the child’s individual temperament. These findings regarding the roots of shame, guilt, and moral identity were published in the journal Psychological Reports.</p>
<p>To understand these findings, it is necessary to first distinguish between two powerful emotions: guilt and shame. While these feelings are often grouped together, psychologists view them as having different functions and outcomes. Guilt is generally considered a helpful moral emotion. It focuses on a specific behavior, such as realizing one has made a mistake or hurt someone.</p>
<p>Because guilt focuses on an action, it often motivates people to apologize or repair the damage. In contrast, shame is viewed as a negative evaluation of the self. Instead of feeling that they did something bad, a person experiencing shame feels that they are bad. This emotion often leads to withdrawal, avoidance, or hiding from others rather than fixing the problem.</p>
<p>Researchers have previously established that family environments play a major role in which of these emotions a person tends to feel. Warm parenting, characterized by affection and structure, generally helps children internalize morality and develop healthy guilt. Conversely, cold parenting, marked by hostility or rejection, is often linked to higher levels of shame.</p>
<p>However, parents are not the only factor in this equation. A theory known as the bidirectional model suggests that children also influence their parents and their own development through their innate personalities. Lead author CaSandra L. Swearingen-Stanbrough and her colleagues at Missouri State University sought to examine this two-way street. They investigated whether a child’s specific personality traits might change the way parenting styles affect their moral identity.</p>
<p>The researchers recruited ninety-nine undergraduate students from a university in the Midwest. The participants provided demographic information and completed a series of standardized psychological questionnaires. Most participants were white and female, with an average age of roughly 20 years.</p>
<p>The first step for the researchers was to assess the participants’ personalities using the “Big Five” model. This model evaluates traits such as agreeableness, which involves kindness and cooperation, and conscientiousness, which involves organization and reliability. It also measures neuroticism, a trait associated with emotional instability and a tendency toward anxiety.</p>
<p>Next, the students reflected on their upbringing. They completed surveys regarding the parenting styles of their mother and father figures. They rated statements to determine if their parents were perceived as “warm,” meaning supportive and affectionate, or “cold,” meaning harsh or chaotic.</p>
<p>Finally, the researchers measured the participants’ moral tendencies. They used the Moral Identity Questionnaire to assess how central morality was to the students’ self-image. They also used the Guilt and Shame Proneness Scale. This tool presents hypothetical scenarios, such as making a mistake at work, and asks how likely the person is to feel bad about the act (guilt) or feel like a bad person (shame).</p>
<p>The results revealed that mothers and fathers appear to influence different aspects of moral development. The study showed that perceiving a mother as warm was strongly linked to a tendency to feel guilt rather than shame. This connection suggests that affectionate maternal figures help children focus on their behavior rather than internalizing failures as character flaws.</p>
<p>However, this effect was not uniform for everyone. The researchers found that the participant’s personality acted as a moderator. The link between a warm mother and the tendency to feel healthy guilt was strongest in participants who scored high on agreeableness. This means that an agreeable child might be more receptive to a warm mother’s influence in developing reparative moral emotions.</p>
<p>The study also examined “shame withdrawal,” which is the urge to hide or pull away from others when one has done something wrong. Generally, having a warm mother reduced this unhealthy reaction. Yet, this relationship was moderated by neuroticism. For individuals with different levels of emotional stability, the protective effect of a warm mother against shame withdrawal manifested differently.</p>
<p>The findings regarding father figures presented a different pattern. The researchers found that fathers had a stronger statistical connection to “moral integrity” than to the emotional processing of guilt or shame. In this specific study, moral integrity referred to behavioral consistency, such as doing the right thing even when no one is watching.</p>
<p>The data indicated that perceiving a father as cold—characterized by rejection or coercion—was actually associated with higher reported moral integrity. This counter-intuitive finding suggests that strict or harsh paternal environments might sometimes prompt young adults to strictly adhere to rules. However, this relationship was also dependent on personality.</p>
<p>Conscientiousness moderated the link between a cold father and moral integrity. While the general trend showed a link between cold fathers and higher reported integrity, this dynamic changed based on how conscientious the student was. The results imply that highly conscientious individuals process harsh parenting differently than those who are less organized or self-disciplined.</p>
<p>The authors note that these distinct roles align with previous theories about family dynamics. Mothers are often viewed as the primary source of emotional warmth and acceptance. Consequently, their parenting style has a greater impact on emotional responses like guilt and shame. Fathers, who may exhibit more variable interactions or rougher play, appear to influence the behavioral enforcement of moral rules.</p>
<p>There are limitations to this research that affect how the results should be interpreted. The study relied entirely on self-reported data from the students. This means the results represent the participants’ perceptions of their parents, which may not match what actually occurred during their childhood.</p>
<p>Additionally, the sample size was relatively small and lacked diversity. The participants were primarily white, female college students. This specific demographic does not represent the broader population. Cultural differences in parenting styles and moral values could lead to different results in other groups.</p>
<p>The study is also correlational, meaning it cannot prove that the parenting styles caused the moral outcomes. It is possible that other unmeasured factors influenced the results. Future research would benefit from observing actual moral behavior rather than relying on hypothetical survey questions.</p>
<p>The researchers suggest that future studies should include the parents’ perspectives as well. Comparing what parents believe they did with what children perceived could offer a more complete picture of the family dynamic. Despite these caveats, the study highlights that moral development is not a one-size-fits-all process.</p>
<p>The authors conclude that children are active participants in their own upbringing. A child’s personality filters the parenting they receive. This helps explain why siblings raised in the same household can grow up to have very different emotional and moral responses to the world.</p>
<p>The study, “Mom, Dad, and Me: Personality Moderates the Relationships Between Parenting Traits, Shame, and Morality,” was authored by CaSandra L. Swearingen-Stanbrough, Lauren Smith, and Olive Baron.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/new-research-uncovers-a-seemingly-universal-preference-for-lower-quality-news-on-social-media/" 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 uncovers a seemingly universal preference for lower-quality news on social media</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Dec 23rd 2025, 14:00</div>
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<p><p>A new analysis of millions of social media posts across seven different platforms reveals that the relationship between political content and user engagement is highly dependent on the specific digital environment. The findings suggest that while users tend to engage more with news that aligns with the dominant political orientation of a specific platform, there appears to be a consistent pattern regarding the quality of information. </p>
<p>Across all examined sites, users tended to engage more with lower-quality news sources compared to high-quality sources shared by the same individual. The study, which highlights the fragmented nature of the modern online landscape, was published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2425739122" target="_blank">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a></em>.</p>
<p>The motivation for this research stems from a need to update the scientific understanding of social media dynamics. For many years, academic inquiry into online behavior relied heavily on data derived from a single platform, most notably Twitter (now X). </p>
<p>This concentration occurred largely because Twitter provided an application programming interface that made data collection relatively accessible for scholars. As a result, many assumptions about how misinformation spreads or how political biases function were based on a potentially unrepresentative sample of the internet. The research team sought to correct this by broadening the scope of analysis to include a diverse array of newer and alternative platforms.</p>
<p>The study was conducted by a collaborative group of researchers from several institutions. The team included Mohsen Mosleh from the University of Oxford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Jennifer Allen from New York University, and David G. Rand from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Cornell University. </p>
<p>Their goal was to determine if phenomena such as the “right-wing advantage” in engagement or the rapid spread of falsehoods were universal truths or artifacts of specific platform architectures. They also aimed to understand whether the rise of alternative social media sites has led to the creation of “echo platforms,” where entire user bases segregate themselves by political ideology.</p>
<p>To achieve this, the researchers collected data during January 2024. They focused on seven platforms that allow for the public sharing of news links: X, BlueSky, Mastodon, LinkedIn, TruthSocial, Gab, and GETTR. This selection represents a mix of mainstream networks, professional networking sites, decentralized platforms, and sites that explicitly cater to specific political demographics. </p>
<p>The final dataset included nearly 11 million posts that contained links to external news domains. This large sample provided a comprehensive cross-section of online sharing behaviors.</p>
<p>The researchers employed a rigorous set of measures to evaluate the content within these posts. To assess the quality of the news being shared, they did not rely on their own subjective judgments. Instead, they utilized a set of reliability ratings for 11,520 news domains. These ratings were generated through a “wisdom of crowds” methodology that aggregated evaluations from professional fact-checkers, journalists, and academics. This system allowed the team to assign a quality score to the publisher of each link, serving as a proxy for the likely accuracy of the content.</p>
<p>In addition to quality, the team needed to quantify the political leaning of the news sources. They utilized a sophisticated large language model to estimate the political alignment of each domain. The model was asked to rate domains on a scale ranging from strongly liberal to strongly conservative. </p>
<p>To ensure the validity of these AI-generated estimates, the researchers cross-referenced them with established political benchmarks and found a high degree of correlation. This allowed them to categorize content as left-leaning, right-leaning, or neutral with a high degree of confidence.</p>
<p>The primary statistical method used in the study was a linear regression analysis that incorporated user fixed effects. This is a statistical technique designed to control for variables that remain constant for each individual. By comparing a user’s posts only against other posts by the same user, the researchers effectively removed the influence of popularity. It did not matter if a user had ten followers or ten million. The study measured whether a specific user received more engagement than usual when they shared a specific type of content.</p>
<p>The results regarding political polarization challenged the idea of a universal advantage for conservative content. The data indicated that the political lean of the most engaging content generally matched the political lean of the platform’s user base. </p>
<p>On platforms known for attracting conservative users, such as TruthSocial, Gab, and GETTR, right-leaning news sources garnered significantly more engagement. On platforms with more liberal or neutral populations, such as BlueSky, Mastodon, and LinkedIn, left-leaning news attracted more likes and shares.</p>
<p>This finding supports the hypothesis of “echo platforms.” In the past, researchers worried about echo chambers forming within a single site like Facebook. The current landscape suggests a migration where users choose entire platforms that align with their views. </p>
<p>The researchers found a strong correlation between the average political lean of a platform and the type of content that gets rewarded with engagement. This implies that the “right-wing advantage” observed in earlier studies of Twitter and Facebook may have been a product of those specific user bases rather than an inherent property of social media.</p>
<p>While political engagement varied by platform, the findings regarding news quality were remarkably consistent. The researchers discovered that on all seven platforms, posts containing links to lower-quality news domains received more engagement than posts linking to high-quality domains. This pattern held true regardless of whether the platform was considered left-leaning, right-leaning, or neutral. It was observed on sites with complex algorithmic feeds as well as on Mastodon, which displays posts in chronological order.</p>
<p>The magnitude of this effect was notable. The analysis showed that a user’s posts linking to the lowest-quality sites received approximately seven percent more engagement than their posts linking to high-quality sites. This effect was robust even when controlling for the political slant of the article. This suggests that the engaging nature of low-quality news is not solely driven by partisanship. The authors propose that factors such as novelty, negative emotional valence, and sensationalism likely contribute to this phenomenon.</p>
<p>The study also clarified the relationship between the volume of content and engagement rates. In terms of absolute numbers, users shared links to high-quality news sources much more frequently than they shared low-quality sources. High-quality news dominates the ecosystem in terms of prevalence. However, the engagement data indicates a discrepancy. While reputable news is shared more often, it generates less excitement or interaction per post compared to low-quality alternatives.</p>
<p>The inclusion of Mastodon in the dataset provided a significant control condition for the study. Because Mastodon does not use an engagement-based ranking algorithm to sort user feeds, the results from that platform suggest that algorithms are not the sole driver of the misinformation advantage. The fact that low-quality news still outperformed high-quality news on a chronological feed points to human psychology as a primary factor. Users appear to naturally prefer or react more strongly to the type of content found in lower-quality outlets.</p>
<p>But as with all research, there are some caveats. The data collection was restricted to a single month, which may not capture seasonal variations or behavior during major political events. The researchers were also unable to include data from Meta platforms like Facebook and Instagram, or video platforms like TikTok, due to data access restrictions. This means the findings apply primarily to text-heavy, link-sharing platforms and may not perfectly translate to video-centric environments. </p>
<p>Additionally, the study is observational, meaning it identifies associations but cannot definitively prove causation beyond the controls applied in the statistical models.</p>
<p>Future research directions could involve expanding the scope of platforms analyzed as data becomes available. Investigating the specific psychological triggers that make low-quality news more engaging remains a priority. The researchers also suggest that further work is needed to understand how the migration of users between platforms affects the spread of information. As the social media landscape continues to fracture, understanding these cross-platform dynamics will become increasingly important.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2425739122" target="_blank">Divergent patterns of engagement with partisan and low-quality news across seven social media platforms</a>,” was authored by Mohsen Mosleh, Jennifer Allen, and David G. Rand.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/distinct-personality-traits-found-in-those-who-use-sex-to-cope/" 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;">Distinct personality traits found in those who use sex to cope</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Dec 23rd 2025, 12:00</div>
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<p><p>Recent psychological research has identified distinct personality profiles that shed light on why some individuals turn to sexual behavior to manage emotional distress while others do not. The findings suggest that hostility, impulsivity, and deep-seated self-criticism are key factors that distinguish hypersexual coping mechanisms from other forms of emotional insecurity. This research was published in the journal <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10720162.2025.2542141" target="_blank">Sexual Health & Compulsivity</a></em>.</p>
<p>Psychologists classify hypersexuality as a condition involving excessive sexual fantasies, urges, and behaviors. While high sexual desire is natural for many, hypersexuality becomes a clinical concern when it causes distress or disrupts daily life. Many experts view this behavior not merely as a drive for pleasure but as a coping strategy.</p>
<p>Individuals may engage in sexual activity to escape negative emotions such as anxiety, depression, boredom, or loneliness. This creates a cycle where the temporary relief provided by sexual activity reinforces the behavior. Eventually, this pattern can lead to feelings of guilt or shame, which may trigger further urges to cope through sex.</p>
<p>To understand this dynamic, researchers look to attachment theory. This psychological framework describes how early bonds with caregivers shape the way adults relate to others and regulate their emotions. People with secure attachment styles generally feel comfortable with intimacy and trust others.</p>
<p>Those with insecure attachment styles often struggle with these bonds. Anxious attachment involves a fear of abandonment and a constant need for approval. Avoidant attachment involves a discomfort with closeness and a desire for emotional distance.</p>
<p>Prior studies have linked insecure attachment to difficulties in regulating emotions. When individuals cannot manage their feelings effectively, they may seek external ways to soothe themselves. For some, this external method becomes sexuality.</p>
<p>However, not everyone with an insecure attachment style develops hypersexual behaviors. Camilla Tacchino and her colleagues at Sapienza University of Rome sought to understand what separates these groups. They aimed to identify specific psychological profiles based on attachment, self-criticism, and personality traits.</p>
<p>The researchers recruited 562 participants from the general population in Italy. The group was predominantly female and had an average age of roughly 31 years. The participants completed a series of detailed self-report questionnaires.</p>
<p>One survey measured the tendency to use sex as a coping mechanism to deal with emotional pain. Another assessed attachment styles, looking for signs of anxiety or avoidance in relationships. Additional surveys evaluated pathological personality traits and levels of self-criticism.</p>
<p>The team used a statistical method known as latent profile analysis. This technique allows researchers to group participants based on shared patterns across multiple variables. Instead of looking at averages for the whole group, this method identifies distinct “types” of people within the data.</p>
<p>The analysis revealed three specific profiles. The largest group, comprising 50% of the sample, was labeled “Secure without Sexual Coping.” These individuals showed low levels of attachment anxiety and avoidance. They also reported very low reliance on sex to manage their emotions.</p>
<p>Demographically, this secure group tended to be older than the other groups. They were also more likely to be in romantic relationships and to have children. Psychologically, they displayed the highest levels of emotional stability.</p>
<p>The second profile was labeled “Insecure with Sexual Coping.” This group made up about 13% of the sample. These participants exhibited high levels of attachment insecurity, characterized by both a fear of intimacy and a strong need for approval.</p>
<p>The defining feature of this second profile was their high score on using sex to cope. They frequently reported engaging in sexual acts to deal with life problems or negative feelings. This group was generally younger and less likely to be in a committed relationship.</p>
<p>The third profile was labeled “Insecure without Sexual Coping.” Comprising 37% of the sample, these individuals also scored high on attachment insecurity. They experienced significant worries about relationships and discomfort with closeness. However, unlike the second group, they did not use sex as a coping strategy.</p>
<p>The researchers then compared the personality traits and self-criticism levels of these three groups. The “Secure” group scored the lowest on all measures of pathology. They were generally less self-critical and had fewer negative personality traits.</p>
<p>The “Insecure with Sexual Coping” group displayed a specific set of personality markers. They scored highest in the domains of Antagonism and Disinhibition. Antagonism refers to behaviors that put an individual at odds with others, such as hostility or grandiosity.</p>
<p>Disinhibition involves an orientation toward immediate gratification and impulsive behavior. This suggests that for this group, the drive to use sex as a coping mechanism is linked to difficulties in impulse control. They may act on their urges without fully considering the long-term consequences.</p>
<p>This group also reported high levels of self-hatred. They experienced feelings of disgust and aggression toward themselves. The authors suggest that this self-loathing may be both a cause and a result of their compulsive sexual behavior.</p>
<p>The “Insecure without Sexual Coping” group presented a different psychological landscape. While they shared the attachment insecurities of the second group, they did not exhibit the same levels of impulsivity or hostility. Instead, they scored highest on a dimension called “Negative Affect.”</p>
<p>Negative Affect involves the frequent experience of unpleasant emotions like sadness, worry, and anxiety. This group also reported the highest levels of feeling “inadequate.” They viewed themselves as inferior or flawed but did not turn to impulsive behaviors to manage these feelings.</p>
<p>The researchers interpreted this distinction as a difference in how these groups process distress. The group that uses sex to cope appears to “externalize” their pain. They act out through impulsive and potentially risky behaviors.</p>
<p>In contrast, the insecure group that avoids sexual coping appears to “internalize” their distress. They may be more prone to rumination, depression, or self-blame. Their feelings of inadequacy might paralyze them or lead to withdrawal rather than active coping strategies like sex.</p>
<p>The study highlights that attachment insecurity is a vulnerability factor but does not guarantee hypersexuality. The presence of specific personality traits determines the direction that insecurity takes. Impulsivity and antagonism seem to steer individuals toward hypersexual coping.</p>
<p>Conversely, feelings of deep inadequacy and sadness may steer individuals away from sexual coping. It is possible that their low self-esteem inhibits sexual pursuit. They may fear rejection too deeply to engage with others sexually, even for coping purposes.</p>
<p>There are limitations to this study that contextualize the results. The participants were drawn from the general population rather than a clinical setting. This means the findings describe trends in everyday people rather than patients diagnosed with hypersexual disorders.</p>
<p>Additionally, the data relied entirely on self-report questionnaires. Participants may not always assess their own behaviors or feelings accurately. Social desirability bias could lead some to underreport sexual behaviors or negative traits.</p>
<p>The cross-sectional nature of the study is another consideration. The researchers collected data at a single point in time. This prevents them from determining causality. It is unclear if personality traits cause the sexual coping or if the behavior influences personality over time.</p>
<p>Future research could address these gaps by studying clinical populations. Investigating individuals who are seeking treatment for compulsive sexual behavior would provide a clearer picture of severe cases. Longitudinal studies could also track how these profiles develop over time.</p>
<p>The authors also suggest investigating the role of guilt and shame more deeply. While self-criticism was measured, the specific emotions following sexual acts could offer further insight. Understanding the cycle of shame is essential for treating hypersexuality.</p>
<p>These findings have implications for mental health treatment. They suggest that therapy for hypersexuality should not focus solely on the sexual behavior itself. Clinicians should also address the underlying attachment insecurities and personality traits.</p>
<p>For patients fitting the “Insecure with Sexual Coping” profile, interventions might focus on impulse control. Therapies that target emotion regulation and reduce antagonism could be beneficial. Helping patients find healthier ways to soothe themselves is a primary goal.</p>
<p>For those in the “Insecure without Sexual Coping” profile, treatment might differ. Although they do not present with hypersexuality, their high levels of negative affect require attention. Therapy for this group might focus on building self-esteem and combating feelings of inadequacy.</p>
<p>This study provides a nuanced view of the relationship between personality and sexual behavior. It challenges the idea that hypersexuality is simply a matter of high sex drive. Instead, it frames the behavior as a complex response to emotional and relational deficits.</p>
<p>By identifying these distinct profiles, the researchers have offered a roadmap for better assessment. Mental health professionals can use this information to tailor their approaches. Understanding the specific psychological makeup of a patient allows for more precise and effective care.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10720162.2025.2542141" target="_blank">Decoding Hypersexuality: A Latent Profile Approach to Attachment, Self-Criticism, and Personality Disorders</a>,” was authored by Camilla Tacchino, Guyonne Rogier, and Patrizia Velotti.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/childhood-maltreatment-linked-to-difficulty-updating-beliefs-about-strangers/" 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 maltreatment linked to difficulty updating beliefs about strangers</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Dec 23rd 2025, 10:00</div>
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<p><p>A study conducted in Israel found that survivors of childhood maltreatment showed impaired belief updating when interacting with strangers. Moreover, in individuals with impaired belief updating, childhood maltreatment severity was associated with the severity of PTSD symptoms, while those with better updating showed low levels of PTSD symptoms regardless of the severity of childhood maltreatment they experienced. The research was published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2025.104902"><em>Behaviour Research and Therapy</em></a>.</p>
<p>Childhood maltreatment occurs when caregivers fail to provide safety, care, or emotional support, or actively cause harm to the child. Such experiences can disrupt normal emotional, cognitive, and social development. Childhood maltreatment is strongly associated with an increased risk for mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance use disorders. It can also affect stress regulation systems, leading to long-term alterations in brain development and stress hormone functioning.</p>
<p>Individuals exposed to maltreatment often show difficulties with emotion regulation, self-esteem, and interpersonal relationships. Cognitive effects include problems with attention, memory, and executive functioning. Childhood maltreatment is also linked to a higher risk of physical health problems later in life, such as cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, and chronic inflammation. The impact of maltreatment varies depending on its type, severity, duration, and the presence of protective factors like supportive relationships.</p>
<p>Study author Shir Porat-Butman and her colleagues note that, among other issues, survivors of childhood maltreatment show greater interpersonal distance. The authors reason that this might be because of their inability to distinguish between friends and strangers, due to a rigid interpersonal style that fails to adapt flexibly to varying levels of relational closeness.</p>
<p>With this in mind, the researchers conducted a study aiming to test whether adults with a history of childhood maltreatment show alterations in learning new positive and negative information about friends and strangers. They also wanted to see whether childhood maltreatment was associated with difficulties in updating social beliefs about friends and strangers when confronted with inconsistent information.</p>
<p>Study participants were 114 individuals recruited from the general population. The authors note that the study was conducted during an ongoing war, meaning that all participants were exposed to additional trauma. Participants’ average age was 28 years**, and** 70% were female.</p>
<p>Participants completed assessments of childhood maltreatment (the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire), PTSD symptoms (the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist), social anxiety symptoms (the Mini Social Phobia Inventory), anxiety and depression symptoms (the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), and cumulative traumatic exposure (the Cumulative Traumatic Exposure Questionnaire).</p>
<p>They also completed the Friend-Stranger Social Updating task. In this task, participants are shown pictures of faces labeled either “friends” or “strangers.” Participants have to decide whether to approach or avoid the person.</p>
<p>If they decide to approach, they can either gain or lose points. If they decide to avoid, they neither lose nor gain points. Half of the faces (of both “strangers” and “friends”) are associated with gaining points after approaching them, and approaching the other half of faces loses points.</p>
<p>Crucially, the task includes a second phase (the updating phase). After participants learn these associations, the outcomes are reversed without warning: faces previously associated with gains result in losses, and vice versa. Participants must realize this change and adjust their choices. In this way, the assessment tests participants’ capacity to update beliefs about other people when provided with new, contradictory information.</p>
<p>Results showed that, in general, participants were better at learning after receiving points than after losing them. They were also better at learning when pictures were labeled as “friends” than when they were labeled as “strangers.”</p>
<p>Childhood maltreatment experiences were not associated with the initial formation of beliefs (learning who to avoid or approach in the first phase). However, participants with more severe childhood maltreatment history tended to show impaired updating of beliefs when interacting with strangers. In other words, once the rules changed, they were less efficient in updating their beliefs about which of the “stranger” pictures were now safe or unsafe.</p>
<p>Moreover, this impaired updating of beliefs moderated the association between childhood maltreatment and PTSD symptom severity. In individuals with impaired updating of beliefs, more severe childhood maltreatment was associated with more severe PTSD symptoms. On the other hand, participants with flexible updating of beliefs reported low PTSD symptom levels regardless of childhood maltreatment severity.</p>
<p>“These findings suggest that CM [childhood maltreatment] may disrupt adaptive belief updating in interpersonal contexts, contributing to later vulnerability to psychopathology. The results highlight the potential value of targeting social cognitive processes, particularly belief updating, in interventions aimed at improving social functioning and psychological resilience among individuals with a history of CM,” the study authors concluded.</p>
<p>The study contributes to the scientific understanding of the consequences of childhood maltreatment. However, it should be noted that the assessment of childhood maltreatment used in this study was based on the recall of childhood experiences when the participants were already adults. This means that results might have been affected by recall and reporting bias.</p>
<p>The paper, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2025.104902">From maltreatment to mistrust: Impaired belief updating as a mechanism linking childhood maltreatment to interpersonal and clinical outcomes,</a>” was authored by Shir Porat-Butman, Görkem Ayas, Stefanie Rita Balle, Julia Carranza-Neira, Natalia E. Fares-Otero, Alla Hemi, Billy Jansson, Antonia Lüönd, Tanja Michael, Dany Laure Wadji, Misari Oe, Roxanne M. Sopp, Tanya Tandon, Ulrich Schnyder, Monique Pfaltz, and Einat Levy-Gigi.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/playing-super-mario-bros-and-yoshi-games-may-reduce-burnout-risk-in-young-adults-stud-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;">Playing Super Mario Bros. and Yoshi games may reduce burnout risk in young adults, stud finds</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Dec 23rd 2025, 08:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.2196/84219" target="_blank">JMIR Serious Games</a></em> suggests that playing whimsical video games may help young adults manage the symptoms of burnout. The research indicates that titles like Super Mario Bros. can foster a sense of “childlike wonder” that boosts happiness and lowers emotional exhaustion. This effect offers a potential mental health tool for students facing high levels of stress and anxiety.</p>
<p>Young adults today are navigating a developmental period often referred to as “emerging adulthood.” This stage involves identity exploration but also brings specific types of instability and anxiety. Rising costs of living and competitive academic environments contribute to a high risk of burnout among this demographic. The digital world often exacerbates these pressures through constant social media comparisons and an “always-on” work culture.</p>
<p>These cumulative stressors can lead to a state of chronic exhaustion and cynicism. Researchers Winze Tam, Congcong Hou, and Andreas Benedikt Eisingerich sought to understand if specific digital games could offer a solution. They focused on whether the lighthearted nature of Nintendo platformers could provide a necessary mental reset. The team hypothesized that the specific design of these games might counteract the negativity associated with burnout.</p>
<p>The researchers employed a mixed-methods approach to explore this theory. First, they conducted detailed interviews with 41 university students. These participants had experience playing Super Mario Bros. or Yoshi games. The goal was to understand the subjective emotional experience of gameplay in a natural setting. The researchers asked students to reflect on how the games affected their daily lives and emotional states.</p>
<p>During these interviews, students described the bright colors and optimistic music as creating a safe atmosphere. One respondent compared the experience to being “wrapped in a cozy, warm blanket.” Others noted that the games allowed them to appreciate small details, like the animation of clouds or the sounds of jumping. This shift in perspective helped them detach from real-world cynicism. The games offered clear, achievable goals, which stood in contrast to the ambiguous challenges of adult life.</p>
<p>Following the interviews, the team administered a survey to 336 students. This quantitative phase measured three specific variables: burnout risk, overall happiness, and the experience of childlike wonder. The researchers defined childlike wonder as a state of openness, curiosity, and delight in discovery. They used statistical modeling to analyze the relationships between these factors.</p>
<p>The data revealed a positive association between the game-induced wonder and general life happiness. The results indicated that happiness fully mediated the relationship between wonder and burnout. This means that the games appear to reduce burnout specifically by increasing happiness through the mechanism of wonder. The findings were consistent across genders.</p>
<p>Eisingerich noted the implications of these results for mental health strategies. He stated, “This study suggests that the path to combating burnout in young adults may lie not just in traditional wellness but also in reclaiming joy.” The authors argue that these games act as a “vacation for the mind.”</p>
<p>This research adds a new dimension to existing knowledge about how video games affect the brain. Previous studies have largely focused on cognitive skills or physiological stress rather than emotional restoration. For instance, a study published in <em>Experimental Brain Research</em> found that 3D platformers <a href="https://www.psypost.org/playing-super-mario-video-game-can-improve-executive-functioning-in-older-adults/" target="_blank">could improve memory and focus in older adults</a>. That work highlighted the cognitive demands of navigating virtual spaces to improve executive function.</p>
<p>The current study also contrasts with research that focuses solely on the physiological effects of gaming. A study in the <em>International Journal of Psychophysiology</em> <a href="https://www.psypost.org/video-games-calm-the-body-after-stress-even-when-players-feel-on-edge/" target="_blank">showed</a> that while gaming generally lowered physiological stress markers, violent sections of a game could increase self-reported aggression. The Super Mario study differs by focusing on non-violent content that promotes positive emotions. It suggests that the aesthetic and tone of the game are vital components of its psychological impact.</p>
<p>Recent work from the University of Oxford challenged the idea that the amount of time spent playing matters most. Published in <em>Royal Society Open Science</em>, that study found that the sheer number of hours played <a href="https://www.psypost.org/nintendo-just-helped-scientists-blow-up-a-major-gaming-myth/" target="_blank">did not predict mental well-being</a>. Instead, the player’s perception of how gaming fit into their life was the deciding factor. The current findings support this by emphasizing the quality of the experience—specifically the feeling of wonder—over the duration of play.</p>
<p>Additionally, a longitudinal analysis of PowerWash Simulator players published in <em>ACM Games</em> found that <a href="https://www.psypost.org/gaming-for-mental-health-new-study-links-playing-powerwash-simulator-to-mood-improvement/" target="_blank">mood improves slightly</a> within the first 15 minutes of play. This aligns with the idea that games can provide immediate emotional uplift. The Super Mario study extends this by linking that uplift to a reduction in long-term burnout symptoms. It identifies a specific emotional pathway involving wonder, rather than just general relaxation.</p>
<p>While the results are promising, the authors note that video games are not a cure-all for systemic issues like financial hardship or workplace inequity. The study relied on self-reported data, which depends on participants accurately assessing their own feelings. It is also possible that people who are already happier are more prone to experiencing wonder.</p>
<p>The researchers also point out that the benefits are likely contingent on moderate, voluntary play. Compulsive gaming used solely to avoid real-world problems could potentially have negative effects. The study focused specifically on university students, so the results may not apply to all age groups.</p>
<p>Future research is needed to track these effects over a longer period to see if the reduction in burnout is sustained. Scientists also need to determine if other genres of games can produce similar benefits or if this effect is unique to the whimsical style of Nintendo platformers. Exploring how these effects vary across different cultures and demographics would also be beneficial.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.2196/84219" target="_blank">Super Mario Bros. and Yoshi Games’ Affordance of Childlike Wonder and Reduced Burnout Risk in Young Adults: In-Depth Mixed Methods Cross-Sectional Study</a>,” was authored by Winze Tam, Congcong Hou, and Andreas Benedikt Eisingerich.</p></p>
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
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