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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/mdma-assisted-therapy-shows-promise-for-long-term-depression-relief/" 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;">MDMA-assisted therapy shows promise for long-term depression relief</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 20th 2026, 08:00</div>
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<p><p>A recent study conducted in Norway suggests that MDMA-assisted therapy may provide lasting relief for individuals suffering from major depressive disorder. The findings indicate that the clinical benefits observed immediately after treatment were largely sustained several months later. This research provides preliminary evidence that the intervention is feasible and generally safe for this patient population. The study was published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2025.11.030" target="_blank">Journal of Psychiatric Research</a></em>.</p>
<p>Major depressive disorder creates a significant burden on global health. It affects hundreds of millions of people and is a leading cause of disability. While current treatments such as antidepressants and standard psychotherapy are effective for many, they do not work for everyone. Approximately one-third of patients do not find relief even after trying multiple medication regimens.</p>
<p>Many patients who do improve eventually experience a return of their symptoms. Research indicates that maintaining a long-term response often requires ongoing therapy, which can be difficult to access or maintain. Past large-scale studies have shown that remission rates can be quite low for those with resistant forms of depression. Consequently, there is a pressing need for novel treatment approaches that offer durable efficacy.</p>
<p>MDMA, often referred to as ecstasy or molly when used recreationally, is a chemical compound known scientifically as 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine. It acts as a stimulant and has properties that can elevate levels of serotonin in the brain. In controlled clinical settings, the effects of the drug are notably different from its recreational use. The substance tends to enhance feelings of empathy and self-compassion.</p>
<p>These subjective effects are thought to create a favorable state for psychotherapy. They may allow patients to identify and regulate difficult emotions more effectively. The therapeutic approach used in conjunction with the drug is often described as “inner-directed.” This means the therapy relies on the patient’s innate capacity for recovery and processing.</p>
<p>“Major depressive disorder remains one of the most common and disabling mental health conditions, and many patients do not achieve lasting relief with existing treatments. While MDMA-assisted therapy has shown promising results in late-stage trials for PTSD, there has been very limited clinical research on MDMA-assisted therapy specifically for depression,” said study author <a href="http://linkedin.com/in/tor-morten-kvam-69aab9104" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tor-Morten Kvam</a>, a consultant psychiatrist at the Ketamine Unit at Østfold Hospital Trust and PhD candidate at <a href="https://www.sv.uio.no/psi/forskning/grupper/psykedelika-gruppen/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the University of Oslo</a>.</p>
<p>“We wanted to address this gap by exploring whether MDMA-assisted therapy could be delivered safely and feasibly to people with primary MDD, and whether potential benefits might persist beyond the immediate treatment period.”</p>
<p>To investigate this, the research team recruited twelve participants. All participants were eighteen years of age or older. They were all diagnosed with major depressive disorder of at least moderate severity. The participants had been experiencing their current depressive episode for more than three months but less than two years.</p>
<p>The study took place at a single hospital site in Norway. The researchers employed an open-label design. This means that both the medical staff and the patients were aware that the active treatment was being administered. There was no placebo control group in this specific trial.</p>
<p>The treatment protocol involved two medication dosing sessions. These sessions were spaced approximately one month apart. During the first session, participants received an initial dose of 80 mg of MDMA. A supplemental dose of 40 mg was offered about two hours later.</p>
<p>The second session utilized a slightly higher dosage. Participants received 120 mg initially, followed by a 60 mg supplemental dose. These dosing sessions were not standalone events. They were integrated into a broader course of psychotherapy.</p>
<p>Participants attended a total of nine 90-minute therapy sessions. These sessions served to prepare the patients for the experience and to help them integrate the psychological material that emerged. The follow-up assessment occurred seven months after the start of the study. This was four months after the entire treatment course had concluded.</p>
<p>The primary measure used to track progress was the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale. This is a clinician-rated tool designed to assess the severity of depressive symptoms. The raters were independent of the immediate study team to reduce bias, though they were not formally blinded to the treatment.</p>
<p>The secondary outcome measure was the Sheehan Disability Scale. This tool evaluates how much the patient’s condition impairs their daily functioning. It looks at occupational, social, and domestic areas of life. The researchers also used several exploratory measures to assess anxiety, sleep quality, and symptoms of trauma.</p>
<p>The results showed that all twelve participants completed the seven-month follow-up visit. The data indicated a significant reduction in depression scores at the follow-up point compared to the baseline. The improvement seen immediately after treatment appeared to be sustained over the longer term.</p>
<p>Specifically, nine of the twelve participants were classified as responders immediately after the treatment ended. At the seven-month mark, eight of those participants maintained that response. Similarly, nine participants were considered to be in remission after treatment. Eight of these individuals remained in remission at the follow-up.</p>
<p>“One striking aspect was how durable the improvements appeared to be for many participants, even six months after the final MDMA dosing session—lasting beyond the dosing sessions and the structured therapy period,” Kvam told PsyPost. “We also saw that while most participants improved, a small subset did not respond or experienced relapse, which highlights that this approach may not work for everyone.”</p>
<p>Only one participant who initially achieved remission experienced a relapse during the follow-up period. The three participants who did not respond to the treatment initially did not show spontaneous improvement later. The researchers found no significant changes in symptom scores between the immediate post-treatment assessment and the seven-month follow-up. This suggests that the therapeutic gains were stable during the period without active therapy.</p>
<p>In addition to depression symptoms, the participants reported improvements in other areas. The study found significant reductions in scores related to functional impairment. Participants also reported better sleep quality and lower levels of generalized anxiety.</p>
<p>Safety was a key focus of the study. The researchers closely monitored for suicidal ideation and behavior. They used the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale for this purpose. The results showed that mean scores for suicidal ideation did not exceed the levels observed before the study began.</p>
<p>No serious suicidal behavior occurred during the study or the follow-up period. However, two participants who did not respond to the treatment reported an increase in the intensity of suicidal thoughts at the follow-up. One participant with a history of suicide attempts reported preparatory behavior but did not make an attempt.</p>
<p>These findings regarding safety are consistent with observations from PTSD trials. The researchers suggest that a third dosing session might be beneficial for some patients. Additional sessions could allow for further processing of difficult material that arises during therapy.</p>
<p>There were no dropouts in the study. This retention rate is notably higher than what is often seen in standard depression trials. Typical studies of psychotherapy or medication for depression often see higher rates of participant attrition. The lack of dropouts may suggest that the treatment was well-tolerated by the participants.</p>
<p>“The main takeaway is that, in this small study, participants who received MDMA-assisted therapy showed preliminary evidence of sustained efficacy and longer-term safety at seven months after baseline in this clinical setting,” Kvam explained. “At the same time, this was an early-stage open-label study, so the findings are promising but need confirmation in larger randomized controlled trials.”</p>
<p>The most significant limitations are the small sample size and lack of a control group, which makes it difficult to draw definitive conclusions about efficacy. Without a placebo group, it is impossible to rule out the influence of participant expectations. It is also possible that some improvement was due to the natural course of the illness.</p>
<p>“A key caveat is that this was an open-label study without a control group, and participants entered the trial with at least moderate depression,” Kvam noted. “This means we can’t rule out natural symptom fluctuations over time — including ‘regression to the mean,’ where symptoms may improve simply by moving from an unusually severe period back toward a more typical level.”</p>
<p>“The findings should also not be interpreted as evidence that MDMA is a stand-alone antidepressant, or that it is safe or effective to use outside a controlled clinical setting. We followed a strict protocol within a structured therapeutic framework—including preparation, monitoring, and integration—which likely plays a central role in both outcomes and safety.”</p>
<p>Despite these limitations, the study offers proof of principle. It indicates that MDMA-assisted therapy can be delivered safely to patients with major depression. The sustained nature of the improvements supports the potential of this treatment model.</p>
<p>“In the short term, our goal is to publish additional findings from this study, which should be available in the coming months,” Kvam said. “In the medium term, we plan to run another fully funded open label trial with a limited sample size to build on what we’ve learned so far. Over the longer term, we hope to conduct a randomized controlled trial to more clearly determine efficacy. Ultimately, our goal is to contribute high-quality evidence that can clarify whether and how MDMA-assisted therapy could fit into future care pathways for treatment-resistant depression.</p>
<p>“This study adds early clinical evidence to a rapidly developing field, but it also reinforces that careful screening, support, and follow-up are essential. If MDMA-assisted therapy is to have a role in depression treatment, it will need to be implemented with the same rigor and safeguards as any other specialized intervention. We hope these results contribute to a balanced discussion; recognizing both the potential and the uncertainties that remain.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2025.11.030" target="_blank">MDMA-assisted therapy for major depressive disorder: A seven-month follow-up proof of principle trial</a>,” was authored by Tor-Morten Kvam, Ivar W. Goksøyr, Justyna Rog, Inger-Tove Jentoft van de Vooren, Lowan Han Stewart, Ingrid Autran, Mark Berthold-Losleben, Lynn Mørch-Johnsen, René Holst, Jan Ivar Røssberg, Ingmar Clausen, and Ole A. Andreassen.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/neuroscience-study-reveals-that-familiar-rewards-trigger-motor-preparation-before-a-decision-is-made/" 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;">Neuroscience study reveals that familiar rewards trigger motor preparation before a decision is made</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 20th 2026, 06:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0414-24.2024" target="_blank">The Journal of Neuroscience</a></em> provides neural evidence regarding how environmental cues can bias human decision-making. The research demonstrates that stimuli associated with specific rewards can directly engage the brain’s premotor system to shape action selection, even before an opportunity to act arises. This finding suggests that external triggers in daily life, such as advertising or familiar branding, may influence behavior by pre-activating specific movement pathways in the brain.</p>
<p>“Neuroscience is advancing rapidly, yet decision making remains a domain with many open questions. Our interest stems from the need to understand how humans decide by integrating simple associative processes, such as stimulus-reward and action-reward learning, into coherent choices,” explained study author <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VH8y_gcAAAAJ&hl=it" target="_blank">Luigi Albert Enrico Degni</a>, a PhD student at the University of Bologna.</p>
<p>“While these learning processes are relatively well understood, how the brain combines them in real time is still fascinating and poorly explained. Building on recent work suggesting that decisions are strongly shaped by the environment, our study starts from the idea that the motor system, often viewed as an output of choice, may instead be an integral part of the decision-making process itself.”</p>
<p>Scientists have established that humans and animals typically make choices based on the value they assign to expected outcomes. However, learned associations between cues and rewards often exert a powerful, unconscious influence on these choices. This phenomenon is known as Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer.</p>
<p>Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer describes a situation where a stimulus previously paired with a reward prompts an action that earns that same reward. For example, hearing an ice cream truck music might trigger the action of reaching for a wallet. This process can be adaptive, promoting efficiency, but it can also become dysregulated in conditions like addiction.</p>
<p>There are two distinct forms of this transfer. General transfer occurs when a cue creates a non-specific state of excitement or motivation, causing an individual to work faster or harder for any reward. Specific transfer happens when a cue guides a choice toward the particular reward associated with that cue.</p>
<p>Prevailing scientific models assume that specific transfer relies on the brain retrieving detailed sensory information about the reward. Theories propose that this sensory recall subsequently triggers the motor plans necessary to obtain that specific reward. This implies a direct link between the motivational properties of a cue and the motor system.</p>
<p>Despite the acceptance of these theories, there has been a lack of objective physiological evidence in humans to confirm this mechanism. It remained unclear if reward-predictive cues actually reactivate specific instrumental actions in the brain’s motor cortex. The authors of the current study aimed to identify the neural signatures of this process.</p>
<p>They hypothesized that this reactivation would occur in the premotor system. To observe this, they focused on beta-band oscillations in the brain. These are electrical brain waves ranging from 12 to 30 Hz.</p>
<p>A decrease in the power of beta waves, known as desynchronization, is a well-documented marker of action selection and motor preparation. The researchers anticipated that if a cue triggered a specific action plan, they would see beta desynchronization in the hemisphere of the brain controlling that specific hand.</p>
<p>The study included 42 healthy adult participants. The sample consisted of 22 women and 20 men, with an average age of approximately 23 years. All participants had no history of neurological or psychiatric conditions.</p>
<p>The researchers utilized electroencephalography (EEG) to record brain activity. Participants wore a cap with electrodes that measured electrical signals from the scalp while they performed a computer-based task. The task was designed to simulate a slot machine interface.</p>
<p>The experiment progressed through several distinct phases. First, participants underwent a Pavlovian learning phase. They learned to associate four different colored squares with specific outcomes.</p>
<p>Three of the colors were paired with three distinct food snacks that the participant had previously rated as highly desirable. A fourth color was associated with no reward. This established the predictive value of the visual cues.</p>
<p>Next, the participants moved to an instrumental learning phase. During this stage, they learned to press a left button or a right button to earn rewards. Crucially, the left and right buttons earned two of the distinct snacks used in the previous phase.</p>
<p>This setup created a specific link between an action (pressing left or right) and a specific outcome (a particular snack). The third snack was never associated with a button press. This design allowed the researchers to test different types of transfer.</p>
<p>Finally, the participants entered the transfer phase. This was the critical testing period where the influence of the cues on action selection was measured. In each trial, one of the colored cues appeared on the screen for three seconds.</p>
<p>After this three-second delay, the two response buttons appeared. Participants were free to press either button. Importantly, this phase was conducted under nominal extinction. This means participants were told they were earning rewards, but the rewards were not displayed, preventing the immediate presence of food from affecting the results.</p>
<p>The three-second delay between the cue and the buttons was a key methodological feature. It allowed the researchers to separate the brain activity related to the decision process from the activity related to the actual movement. They examined the EEG data during this specific interval.</p>
<p>The behavioral results confirmed that the participants experienced both specific and general transfer. When a cue appeared that was associated with a specific snack, participants were significantly more likely to press the button that earned that same snack. This indicated specific transfer.</p>
<p>Additionally, participants reacted faster when they saw any cue associated with a reward compared to the cue associated with no reward. This general invigoration of behavior indicated general transfer. These findings validated that the experimental setup successfully induced the desired psychological effects.</p>
<p>The neural findings provided the core evidence for the study’s hypothesis. The EEG data revealed a distinct pattern of brain activity during the specific transfer trials. When a participant viewed a cue linked to a specific action, beta power decreased significantly.</p>
<p>This decrease was lateralized. The brain controls movement on the opposite side of the body. The researchers observed that beta power dropped more in the hemisphere contralateral to the hand associated with the reward. For example, if a cue predicted a snack earned by the right hand, beta power dropped in the left hemisphere.</p>
<p>This lateralized desynchronization began shortly after the cue appeared. It was maintained throughout the three-second waiting period before the buttons were even visible. This suggests the brain was selecting and preparing the specific motor response based solely on the visual cue.</p>
<p>In contrast, cues that promoted general transfer did not elicit this lateralized pattern. The cue associated with the third snack, which required no specific action, increased arousal but did not trigger the specific motor preparation signals. The neutral control cue also failed to produce this effect.</p>
<p>The analysis showed that this neural signature was specific to the beta frequency band. Alpha and theta frequencies did not show the same lateralized modulation during the specific transfer trials. This reinforces the link between beta waves and motor decision-making.</p>
<p>“One surprising aspect of our study was how pronounced the effect of reward-predictive cues was on motor system activity,” Degni told PsyPost. “Using electroencephalography, we measured beta oscillations, a type of brain rhythm linked to action preparation, and found that these subtle signals were strongly modulated by environmental cues. This highlights how sensitive the motor system is to predictive stimuli, showing that even fine-grained neural signals can be powerfully influenced by the environment in which decisions are made.”</p>
<p>These results provide the first neural evidence in humans favoring the theory that Pavlovian cues reactivate instrumental actions. The study corroborates the existence of two dissociable neural pathways. One pathway mediates specific transfer through the premotor system.</p>
<p>The other pathway appears to influence performance through general motivational arousal. This general pathway functions independently of the premotor activity seen in specific transfer. The separation of these mechanisms advances the understanding of how associative learning drives behavior.</p>
<p>“Many people have experienced starting to reach for a product in a supermarket as soon as they encounter a familiar cue associated with it, such as a song used in advertising, without fully evaluating alternative options,” Degni said. “Our study provides a neural explanation for this effect, showing that reward-predictive stimuli can directly engage the motor system and bias action selection toward specific rewards. In this way, the environment can shape behaviour by influencing how actions are selected, not just what we choose.”</p>
<p>As with all research, there are some limitations. The analysis focused only on trials where participants made the “congruent” choice, selecting the hand matching the cue. The researchers did not analyze trials where participants resisted the cue and chose the opposite hand.</p>
<p>The exclusion of these incongruent trials was necessary due to the low number of such responses. As a result, the study does not explain the neural mechanisms involved in overriding these automatic biases. It remains unknown if the same beta desynchronization occurs when a person ultimately decides to act against the cue.</p>
<p>The experimental setting was also highly controlled. “A potential caveat is that our experiments took place in a laboratory, which is simpler and more controlled than real-world settings,” Degni said. “At the same time, this could also highlight the potential impact of these effects outside the lab, where people are constantly exposed to cues that can influence the motor system and decision-making. If the effect is already strong in a controlled environment, it may be even more pronounced in the complex contexts of everyday life.”</p>
<p>Future research could investigate the mechanisms of resistance to these cues. Understanding how the brain overrides Pavlovian influences is important for studying self-control. The authors also suggest exploring how these processes might become maladaptive.</p>
<p>“Our research is part of a broader international project examining the role of the motor system in cue-guided decisions, with converging results from other imaging techniques, such as fMRI,” Degni explained. “Looking ahead, we plan to study maladaptive processes, focusing on situations where cues might steer decisions in unhelpful directions, interfering with motor system activity rather than facilitating it.”</p>
<p>“For a long time, decision-making was seen as a purely sequential, economic process in which each potential outcome has a value and we simply choose the best one. This perspective is limited, because many factors can bias our choices, sometimes helping us and sometimes leading to suboptimal decisions, often as a way to reduce cognitive load. The motor system may play an active role in this process, shaping which actions are more likely to be taken in a given context.” </p>
<p>“We hope that this emerging view, which treats decision-making as part of a complex and intertwined brain process rather than a linear computation, will continue to gain traction and inspire further research,” the researcher continued. “Our brain is highly intricate and non-sequential, and understanding how decisions arise from this complexity remains one of the most exciting challenges in neuroscience.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0414-24.2024" target="_blank">Cortical Beta Power Reflects the Influence of Pavlovian Cues on Human Decision-Making</a>,” was authored by Gianluca Finotti, Luigi A. E. Degni, Marco Badioli, Daniela Dalbagno, Francesca Starita, Lara Bardi, Yulong Huang, Junjie Wei, Angela Sirigu, Valeria Gazzola, Giuseppe di Pellegrino and Sara Garofalo.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/emotional-abuse-predicts-self-loathing-more-strongly-than-other-childhood-traumas/" 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;">Emotional abuse predicts self-loathing more strongly than other childhood traumas</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 19th 2026, 22:00</div>
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<p><p>A new psychological investigation suggests that emotional abuse in childhood serves as the primary driver for a debilitating form of personality pathology characterized by chronic shame and self-criticism. While various forms of mistreatment can leave lasting scars, this specific type of belittlement appears to predict a person’s tendency to view themselves with contempt more strongly than other trauma types. </p>
<p>The research further identifies a distinct pattern in men, for whom physical abuse also plays a major role in shaping this negative self-image. These findings were published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/26904586.2025.2575340" target="_blank">Journal of Family Trauma, Child Custody & Child Development</a></em>.</p>
<p>For decades, mental health professionals organized personality problems into distinct categories. A patient might receive a diagnosis of depressive personality disorder or narcissistic personality disorder. However, the field is currently undergoing a shift toward a dimensional model. In this newer framework, psychologists view personality issues as broad spectrums of dysfunction that can overlap. One such dimension is known as malignant self-regard.</p>
<p>Malignant self-regard represents a core component of several personality disorders. It describes a person who struggles with pervasive feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and depression. Individuals with high levels of this trait often possess an overly harsh inner critic. They may feel a deep sense of shame about who they are. This dimension is thought to underpin conditions such as vulnerable narcissism, where a person oscillates between feeling special and feeling worthless. It is also central to depressive and masochistic personality patterns.</p>
<p>Researchers have previously established a general link between childhood maltreatment and adult personality issues. Yet, the specific origins of malignant self-regard have remained less clear. Emily R. Barbera, a doctoral student at Palo Alto University, led a study to untangle these connections. She worked alongside Matthew M. Yalch, an associate professor of psychology at the same institution, and colleagues. The team sought to determine which specific forms of childhood adversity most accurately predict the development of this self-destructive worldview.</p>
<p>To conduct the study, the researchers recruited 278 adults through an online platform. The participants completed a battery of validated psychological assessments. One survey measured the presence and severity of malignant self-regard. It asked participants to rate their agreement with statements regarding feelings of pessimism, shame, and sensitivity to rejection.</p>
<p>Another survey assessed the participants’ history of childhood maltreatment. This tool broke down adverse experiences into five specific categories. These included physical abuse, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse. The measure also assessed physical neglect, such as not having enough to eat, and emotional neglect, such as feeling unloved or unimportant. Additionally, the researchers measured cumulative trauma exposure to account for other life-threatening events, such as natural disasters or accidents.</p>
<p>The researchers implemented strict quality control measures to ensure the data was reliable. They embedded attention-check questions, such as asking participants to solve simple math problems like “seven plus two.” Respondents who answered incorrectly were removed from the study. The team also used a scale designed to detect random or careless answering patterns. This rigorous screening process resulted in the exclusion of over one hundred initial participants, leaving a final sample of individuals who provided consistent and attentive responses.</p>
<p>The research team analyzed the data using a statistical method known as Bayesian regression. This approach allows scientists to estimate the probability that certain factors are related. It provides a more nuanced picture than traditional methods, especially when dealing with complex variables like human behavior and trauma. The analysis controlled for the overlap between different types of abuse to isolate the unique impact of each one.</p>
<p>The results revealed that trauma exposure in general explains a large amount of the variation in malignant self-regard. Among the different types of maltreatment, emotional abuse stood out as the strongest predictor. This association held true even when the researchers accounted for the effects of sexual abuse, physical neglect, and total lifetime trauma. The data suggests that the experience of being verbally degraded or humiliated by caregivers leaves a specific imprint on a developing personality. This imprint manifests later as the internalized self-hatred that defines malignant self-regard.</p>
<p>When the researchers separated the data by biological sex, they found that the link between emotional abuse and malignant self-regard was consistent for both men and women. However, a divergence appeared regarding physical abuse. For the male participants, childhood physical abuse emerged as a strong additional predictor of the condition. This correlation was not observed in the female participants. For men, being the victim of physical violence in the home appears to contribute to the development of shame and self-criticism in a way that it does not for women.</p>
<p>The authors offer several interpretations for why emotional abuse appears so potent. Malignant self-regard essentially involves a person repeating a toxic narrative to themselves. If a child is constantly told they are stupid, lazy, or unwanted, they may internalize these messages. In adulthood, the voice of the abusive caregiver becomes the person’s own inner voice. This creates a cycle of shame that is difficult to break. The researchers note that emotional abuse attacks the core of the self, which may explain why it is so closely tied to personality pathology.</p>
<p>The specific findings regarding men and physical abuse also prompt interesting theories. The researchers suggest that physical abuse may threaten a boy’s developing sense of masculinity and physical prowess. Men may also be more likely to perceive physical abuse as something they should have been able to withstand. This can lead to increased self-blame. If a man believes he was at fault for the abuse or was “weak” for suffering it, this could fuel the feelings of inadequacy central to malignant self-regard.</p>
<p>There are limitations to the study that provide context for the findings. The sample was predominantly White and recruited from the United States. This means the results may not fully represent the experiences of people from other racial or cultural backgrounds. Additionally, the participants were recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk platform. Previous research indicates that samples from this source often report higher rates of trauma than the general community. While this provided a large number of people with relevant experiences for the study, it may not reflect the average population.</p>
<p>Another limitation involves the method of data collection. The study relied entirely on self-report surveys. People with personality pathology often have distorted perceptions of themselves and others. Their current state of mind can influence how they recall childhood events. Future research could benefit from using additional sources of information. Interviews with family members or clinical evaluations by professionals could provide a more objective perspective.</p>
<p>The researchers also note that the majority of research on malignant self-regard has been conducted by a single research group. While this study helps build a foundation, replication by other independent teams is necessary to confirm the validity of the concept. Expanding the research to include international samples would also help determine if these patterns hold true across different cultures.</p>
<p>Despite these caveats, the study offers practical implications for mental health treatment. The strong link between trauma and malignant self-regard suggests that therapy should focus on processing past abuse. Psychodynamic therapy, which explores how past relationships shape current behavior, is the primary treatment for this condition. The authors suggest that integrating trauma-focused techniques into this therapy could prove beneficial. Helping patients understand that their harsh self-criticism is a remnant of past emotional abuse may be a key step toward recovery.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/26904586.2025.2575340" target="_blank">Influence of childhood maltreatment on malignant self-regard</a>,” was authored by Emily R. Barbera, Dominic B. Ceroni, Wilma Peters, and Matthew M. Yalch.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/sycophantic-chatbots-inflate-peoples-perceptions-that-they-are-better-than-average/" 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;">Sycophantic chatbots inflate people’s perceptions that they are “better than average”</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 19th 2026, 20:00</div>
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<p><p>Results of three experiments indicate that sycophantic AI chatbots inflate people’s perceptions that they are “better than average” on a number of desirable traits. Furthermore, participants viewed sycophantic chatbots as unbiased, but viewed disagreeable chatbots as highly biased. The paper was published as a preprint in <a href="https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/vmyek_v1"><em>PsyArXiv</em></a><em>.</em></p>
<p>AI chatbots are computer programs designed to simulate human conversation using artificial intelligence techniques. They can interpret user input in text or speech and generate responses that appear natural and contextually appropriate. Modern AI chatbots are powered by large language models trained on vast amounts of text data. They are used in customer support, education, healthcare, personal assistance, and many other fields to provide information or perform tasks.</p>
<p>Recent years have seen a large increase in the use of AI chatbots. However, there is a growing concern that artificial intelligence chatbots are “sycophantic,” meaning that they are excessively agreeable and validating. A recent incident resulting in the rollback of a popular AI model further raised these concerns.</p>
<p>AI sycophancy might have a number of undesirable consequences. For example, sycophantic chatbots may validate users’ harmful ideas (e.g., telling a former drug addict to take small amounts of heroin throughout the day) or delusions. They can also mirror users’ political beliefs and ingroup bias**,** amplifying political polarization in this way.</p>
<p>Study author Steve Rathje and his colleagues conducted three experiments in which they examined the psychological consequences of AI sycophancy. In the first experiment, they examined the impact of interacting with sycophantic and non-sycophantic AI chatbots based on GPT-4o on attitude extremity and certainty when talking about a polarizing political issue (gun control). They also examined user enjoyment and perceptions of AI bias.</p>
<p>The second experiment extended this to three new polarizing topics (abortion, immigration, and universal healthcare), with a new AI model (GPT-5). This experiment also included a measure of AI engagement. The third experiment explored whether the obtained effects of sycophancy were primarily driven by the one-sided presentation of facts or by validation. It also used three different AI models (GPT-5, Claude, and Gemini) to test the generalizability of findings.</p>
<p>In the first experiment, participants were 1,083 U.S. individuals recruited via Prolific. They were divided into four groups, all participating in a short discussion with GPT-4o about gun control. One group interacted with an unprompted GPT chatbot (i.e., study authors did not give any prior instructions to the chatbot). In the second group, the chatbot was instructed to validate and affirm the participants’ perspective. </p>
<p>In the third condition, the chatbot was prompted to question participants’ beliefs and open them up to alternate perspectives. There was also a control condition in which the chatbot talked to participants about owning dogs and cats. Before and after the interaction, participants rated their agreement with gun control and their certainty in their attitude on this topic.</p>
<p>The second experiment replicated the first one and the number of participants was similar (1,019 participants), but participants were assigned different political issues to discuss. The third experiment also followed the procedure of the first one, but there was no unprompted chatbot condition, and the sycophantic AI and disagreeable AI conditions were further subdivided into those where the AI chatbot provided facts about the topic and those where it was just validating or disagreeing without providing any facts. They also interacted with three different AI chatbot models.</p>
<p>The third experiment involved 1,183 participants. Study authors took care to make participants’ political views in each experiment relatively balanced (i.e., ensuring that the number of Democrat and Republican supporters was not too dissimilar).</p>
<p>Results showed that conversations with sycophantic AI chatbots made participants’ attitudes more extreme and increased their certainty in those attitudes. Interactions with disagreeable chatbots, on the other hand, reduced both attitude extremity and certainty. Sycophantic chatbots inflated people’s perceptions that they are better than average on a number of desirable traits.</p>
<p>Participants tended to view sycophantic chatbots as unbiased, while viewing disagreeable chatbots as highly biased. The results of the third experiment indicated that sycophantic chatbots’ impact on attitude extremity and certainty was primarily driven by a one-sided presentation of facts, whereas their impact on user enjoyment was driven by validation.</p>
<p>“Altogether, these results suggest that people’s preference for and blindness to sycophantic AI may risk creating AI ‘echo chambers’ that increase attitude extremity and overconfidence,” the study authors concluded.</p>
<p>The study contributes to the scientific understanding of the psychological effects of interactions with AI chatbots. However, at the moment this article was written, this study has only been published as a preprint, meaning that it has not undergone peer review. The contents of the final paper might change during the peer review process.</p>
<p>The preprint, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/vmyek_v1">Sycophantic AI increases attitude extremity and overconfidence,</a>” was authored by Steve Rathje, Meryl Ye, Laura K. Globig, Raunak M. Pillai, Victoria Oldemburgo de Mello, and Jay J. Van Bavel.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/preschool-gardening-helps-young-children-eat-better-and-stay-active/" 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;">Preschool gardening helps young children eat better and stay active</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 19th 2026, 18:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2025.105723" target="_blank">Acta Psychologica</a></em> suggests that getting young children involved in gardening at preschool may help them eat better, move more, and develop a stronger connection to nature, even over just a few months.</p>
<p>Gardening has long been seen as a calming and educational hobby for adults, but in recent years, educators and researchers have begun to explore its benefits for young children. With many children spending more time indoors, using screens, and eating processed foods, concerns have grown about declining physical activity and limited contact with the natural world. Schools and childcare centers are increasingly seen as important places to reintroduce nature-based learning.</p>
<p>Led by Sunjin Jeong from the National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science in Korea, the researchers behind the new study were interested in whether gardening could support children’s overall development during early childhood—a period when lifelong habits around food, movement, and social interaction begin to form. They focused on preschool-aged children, an age group that has been less studied than older students.</p>
<p>The study involved 30 five-year-olds (16 females, 14 males) attending kindergartens in Seoul, Korea. Half of the children took part in a gardening program, while the other half continued their usual school routine without gardening. For 16 weeks, the gardening group spent one hour each week planting seeds, watering plants, watching them grow, and harvesting vegetables such as lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and herbs. Teachers guided the activities using child-friendly tools and age-appropriate lessons.</p>
<p>To measure the impact, researchers assessed children before and after the program. Teachers and parents reported on eating habits and behavior, while teachers also evaluated social skills and physical activity. Children themselves answered simple questions about their familiarity with plants.</p>
<p>The results revealed that children who gardened developed healthier eating habits at school, according to teacher observations. Teachers noted better table manners and more positive attitudes toward food, even though parents did not report similar changes at home. This difference may reflect the structured mealtime environment at kindergarten compared to family settings.</p>
<p>One of the strongest effects was seen in children’s familiarity with plants. Children in the gardening group showed a large increase in their understanding of plants and where food comes from. They were more curious, knowledgeable, and comfortable interacting with plants than children who did not garden.</p>
<p>Physical activity levels also increased more in the gardening group. Gardening naturally involves digging, carrying, bending, and moving around, which may explain why children became more active overall. While both groups showed some improvement—possibly due to seasonal changes or normal development—the gardening group showed greater gains.</p>
<p>Social skills improved in both groups, but there was no difference between children who gardened and those who did not. The researchers suggest this may be because social skills naturally improve at this age, or because both groups engaged in other group activities at school.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the study did not find any changes in sleep quality. The researchers note that changes in sleep may take longer to appear and could require longer or more intensive programs.</p>
<p>Jeong and colleagues concluded, “From an applied perspective, integrating gardening into early childhood curricula may serve as an effective strategy to promote holistic development, aligning with the goals of the Korean Nuri Curriculum and similar frameworks worldwide.”</p>
<p>The authors caution that the study was small and not randomized, meaning the results should be interpreted carefully due to potential selection bias.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2025.105723" target="_blank">Effect of gardening activities in early childhood education institutions</a>,” was authored by Sunjin Jeong, Jiwon Moon, Eunha Yoo, Yongku Kang, Daesung Park, and Merve Nur Uygun.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/fda-cleared-brain-stimulation-device-fails-to-beat-placebo-in-adhd-trial/" 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;">FDA-cleared brain stimulation device fails to beat placebo in ADHD trial</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 19th 2026, 16:00</div>
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<p><p>A large-scale clinical trial has determined that a specific brain stimulation device, previously cleared by regulators for treating attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, does not effectively reduce core symptoms in children and adolescents. The study suggests that positive outcomes reported in earlier, smaller trials were likely driven by the placebo effect rather than the electrical stimulation itself. These findings were published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-025-04075-x" target="_blank">Nature Medicine</a></em>.</p>
<p>The rationale for this study stems from the significant demand for non-pharmacological treatments for neurodevelopmental conditions. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder impacts a substantial percentage of school-age youth and often persists into adulthood. While stimulant medications are generally effective, they can produce unwanted side effects and some families prefer to avoid drug-based interventions.</p>
<p>In 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared the Monarch external Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation system for use in children. This decision was based largely on a pilot study involving 62 participants. That initial study used a control condition that did not involve any active electrical stimulation, which may have allowed participants to guess their treatment assignment.</p>
<p>To address the limitations of previous research, a collaborative team designed a more rigorous confirmation trial. The study was led by first authors Aldo Alberto Conti, Natali Bozhilova, and Irem Ece Eraydin, who are affiliated with King’s College London and the University of Southampton. Senior authors Samuele Cortese and Katya Rubia oversaw the project, aiming to provide definitive evidence regarding the device’s efficacy.</p>
<p>The scientific premise behind this treatment involves the anatomy of the trigeminal nerve. This nerve has branches across the forehead and connects directly to the brainstem. Stimulation of this nerve is thought to activate the locus coeruleus, a brain region involved in regulating arousal and attention.</p>
<p>The researchers hypothesized that activating this pathway would increase the release of neurotransmitters like noradrenaline. Deficiencies in these chemical messengers are often associated with the symptoms of inattention and impulsivity. The team sought to verify if this biological mechanism translates to observable behavioral improvements in a large, diverse group.</p>
<p>The trial included 150 children and adolescents aged 8 to 18 years who had a confirmed diagnosis of the disorder. The participants were recruited from multiple sites in the United Kingdom, ensuring a representative sample. Approximately 40 percent of the participants continued taking their prescribed stimulant medication during the trial, while the rest were unmedicated.</p>
<p>The study employed a randomized, double-blind design, meaning neither the families nor the researchers knew who received the active treatment. Participants were assigned effectively by chance to either the active group or the sham group. The intervention period lasted for four weeks and required nightly use of the device.</p>
<p>The active treatment involved wearing a patch on the forehead that delivered electrical pulses at a frequency of 120 Hertz. Parents or caregivers applied the device at bedtime, and it remained operational for roughly eight hours during sleep. The electrical current was adjusted to a level that was perceptible but comfortable for the child.</p>
<p>To ensure the control group remained unaware of their status, the researchers designed a sophisticated sham protocol. The sham device looked identical to the active one and delivered electrical pulses for 30 seconds at the start of every hour. This intermittent pulsing mimicked the physical sensation of the treatment without delivering the continuous therapeutic frequency.</p>
<p>This specific design feature was intended to maintain “blinding” throughout the study. Surveys conducted during the trial confirmed that this strategy worked. The majority of parents and children in both groups could not accurately guess which treatment they were receiving.</p>
<p>The primary measure of success was the ADHD Rating Scale, a standardized tool used to assess symptom severity. Parents completed this assessment weekly to track changes in inattention and hyperactivity. The researchers also collected data on secondary outcomes, including sleep quality, emotional regulation, and anxiety levels.</p>
<p>The team also utilized objective measures to complement the subjective parent ratings. Participants wore wrist-based activity trackers to measure physical restlessness and hyperactivity. Additionally, the researchers used eye-tracking technology to measure pupil size, which can serve as a physiological marker for arousal and attention levels.</p>
<p>The results indicated that symptoms decreased in both the active and the sham groups over the course of the four weeks. However, the statistical analysis revealed no significant difference between the two groups on the primary outcome. The magnitude of improvement was nearly identical for those receiving real stimulation and those receiving the sham.</p>
<p>This finding implies that the perceived benefits were likely the result of the placebo response. In trials involving medical technology, the expectation of benefit can be particularly strong, a phenomenon sometimes called “neuro-enchantment.” The families’ belief that the device would help likely contributed to the reported symptom reduction in both groups.</p>
<p>Regarding secondary outcomes, the study found no significant differences for most measures. Sleep patterns, anxiety levels, and objective hyperactivity scores were similar between the active and control groups. The physiological pupil measurements also failed to show the expected changes in brain arousal systems.</p>
<p>There was one specific area where the active treatment showed a statistical advantage. Participants in the active group reported a greater reduction in “mind-wandering” compared to the control group. This was measured using a specific scale designed to assess unrelated internal thoughts.</p>
<p>The safety profile of the device was found to be excellent. Adverse events were generally mild and included issues such as headaches, fatigue, or skin irritation at the patch site. These side effects occurred at similar rates in both the active and sham groups, confirming the device is well-tolerated.</p>
<p>Adherence to the treatment protocol was notably high. Over 93 percent of the participants used the device for the required amount of time each night. This high level of compliance suggests that the treatment is acceptable to families and easy to integrate into a nightly routine.</p>
<p>A potential misinterpretation of these results would be to dismiss the technology entirely. The reduction in mind-wandering suggests that the stimulation may be having some effect on specific brain networks. However, this isolated finding is not sufficient to support the device as a standalone treatment for the broad clinical syndrome.</p>
<p>The study does have certain limitations that warrant mention. The analysis relied heavily on parent ratings, which can be influenced by caregiver stress or expectations. The researchers attempted to gather teacher ratings to provide an external perspective, but the response rate from schools was too low to be included.</p>
<p>Another limitation involves the self-reported nature of the adherence data. While families reported high usage, the device logs were not reliable enough to verify the exact duration of stimulation for every participant. Future studies would benefit from more robust automatic data logging to ensure treatment fidelity.</p>
<p>The inclusion of medicated participants might be seen as a confounding factor. However, the researchers conducted a separate analysis of only the unmedicated participants. This sub-analysis produced the same result, confirming that medication status did not mask the device’s lack of efficacy.</p>
<p>These findings present a challenge to the current regulatory status of the device. The study provides evidence that the specific stimulation parameters used do not offer a clinical benefit over a placebo. The authors suggest that clinical guidelines and regulatory clearances may need to be revisited in light of this new, higher-quality data.</p>
<p>Future research could investigate if different stimulation frequencies or longer treatment durations might yield different results. It is also possible that specific subgroups of patients might respond better than others. For now, the evidence indicates that external trigeminal nerve stimulation should not be recommended as a primary treatment for this condition.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-025-04075-x" target="_blank">External trigeminal nerve stimulation in youth with ADHD: a randomized, sham-controlled, phase 2b trial</a>,” was authored by Aldo Alberto Conti, Natali Bozhilova, Irem Ece Eraydin, Dominic Stringer, Lena Johansson, Robert Marhenke, Andrea Bilbow, Sahid El Masri, Joshua Hyde, Giovanni Giaroli, Holan Liang, Federico Fiori, Mitul Ashok Mehta, Paramala Santosh, Ben Carter, Samuele Cortese and Katya Rubia.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/study-finds-education-level-doesnt-stop-narcissists-from-believing-conspiracy-theories/" 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 education level doesn’t stop narcissists from believing conspiracy theories</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 19th 2026, 14:00</div>
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<p><div class="theconversation-article-body">
<p>If there are two things the internet loves talking about, it’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/conspiracy-theories-how-social-media-can-help-them-spread-and-even-spark-violence-209413">conspiracy theories</a>, and who may or may not <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-makes-somebody-a-narcissist-mounting-evidence-suggests-links-to-insecure-attachment-styles-257468">be a narcissist</a>.</p>
<p>Misinformation and conspiratorial thinking are long-running concerns, while narcissism has become TikTok’s <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2023/01/narcissism-tiktok-abuse-gaslighting.html">favourite armchair diagnosis</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352250X22001051">Research</a> shows the two concepts, though seemingly separate, may actually be closely linked.</p>
<p>In my <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2025.113567">new research</a> published in the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/personality-and-individual-differences">Journal of Personality and Individual Differences</a>, more than 600 people completed surveys, and the findings show higher scores on measures of narcissism were linked to belief in conspiracy theories and misinformation.</p>
<p>Importantly, this result held true regardless of how educated the participants were.</p>
<h2>Head vs heart</h2>
<p>Scholarly evidence shows people with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3301">lower levels of education</a> are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories. But that’s only part of the story.</p>
<p>We also know that historically, conspiracy theories <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2023.2286592">have done well</a> in times of uncertainty, including during war, economic downturn and widespread hardship (such as the COVID pandemic).</p>
<figure></figure>
<p>A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/096372141771826">prominent explanation</a> for this is that conspiracy beliefs serve underlying psychological needs. These include providing answers when things are unclear or uncertain, providing a sense of control by identifying a powerful group to take action against, and for social reasons, such as showing others which political groups you belong to and signalling loyalty to those groups.</p>
<p>I wanted to find out when educated people might also “fall down the rabbit hole”, and learn more about which psychological needs lead them to do so.</p>
<h2>The research</h2>
<p>Over <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2025.113567">two studies</a>, 660 adults were asked to complete a series of questionnaires to measure narcissistic traits. These included:</p>
<ul>
<li>having a sense of superiority or entitlement (grandiosity)</li>
<li>needing to be unique (wanting to be special and stand out from others)</li>
<li>and a need for “cognitive closure”: a desire for concrete answers and viewing things as black and white.</li>
</ul>
<p>The participants then answered how much they believed in certain conspiracy theories. One example put to them was: “the assassination of John F. Kennedy was not committed by the lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald, but was rather a detailed, organised conspiracy to kill the President”.</p>
<p>They also attempted to distinguish true statements from misinformation, including “Ebola Virus Caused by US Nuclear Weapons Testing, New Study Says”.</p>
<p>The participants had varying levels of education, ranging from high school or less through to having a masters or doctorate. They also had a variety of political beliefs.</p>
<p>People who scored higher in narcissistic traits were more accepting of conspiracy theories and misinformation.</p>
<p>Importantly, this was true regardless of how educated the person was.</p>
<p>The results showed these traits might offset the differences linked to education. When these traits were above average, highly educated people were just as likely to endorse these beliefs as those without any formal education.</p>
<h2>Why might this be?</h2>
<p>Education often provides people with skills in evaluating evidence, critical thinking and a shared understanding of how we can find truth.</p>
<p>However, humans are quite good at “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.108.3.480">motivated reasoning</a>”: using reasoning skills to come to pleasing conclusions because we want to believe something.</p>
<figure></figure>
<p>This type of reasoning is often linked to unfounded beliefs – those without evidence. When people feel superior to experts, want to feel special, or need a concrete answer during uncertain times, they might use their reasoning to hold certain beliefs despite a lack of evidence.</p>
<p>My research suggests educated people are not immune to this.</p>
<h2>What can we do with this information?</h2>
<p>It’s important to recognise there’s a variety of factors that determine people’s beliefs and which ones they hold most dear. These include the above personality traits and thinking styles, as well as factors like identity, how people view themselves and show support for the groups they belong to.</p>
<p>These findings suggest even highly educated people can be resistant to changing their mind if underlying psychological needs are threatened. It’s important to keep these in mind when discussing controversial topics. This is true whether talking with friends, family, or those with opposing political views to our own.</p>
<p>We should also take into consideration our own motivations and needs, and how these might influence our points of view. Doing so might help in finding common ground and improve social discourse on a larger scale.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/270169/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1"><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-educated-people-fall-for-conspiracy-theories-it-could-be-narcissism-270169">original article</a>.</em></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/frequent-pornography-use-does-not-always-indicate-a-problem-new-study-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;">Frequent pornography use does not always indicate a problem, new study suggests</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 19th 2026, 12:00</div>
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<p><p>New research published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19317611.2025.2605517" target="_blank">International Journal of Sexual Health</a></em> suggests that the reasons why individuals watch pornography are more predictive of their sexual health than how often they watch it. The study provides evidence that viewing pornography for enjoyment or curiosity is linked to adaptive sexual functioning, while viewing it to cope with stress is associated with problematic use and emotional withdrawal. These findings challenge the common assumption that frequent pornography consumption is inherently harmful.</p>
<p>Pornography use is a widespread activity among adults in the modern digital age. Despite its prevalence, public discourse and clinical assessments often prioritize the frequency of consumption as the primary indicator of potential issues. This focus on quantity can overlook the psychological context of the behavior. The authors of the new study sought to address this gap by investigating the specific functions pornography serves for different individuals.</p>
<p>“A major gap in the literature is that pornography use is often evaluated mainly by how frequently people use it, even though frequency alone tells us very little about whether use is actually harmful,” explained <a href="https://www.meskonorbert.com/" target="_blank">Norbert Meskó</a>, a professor at the Institute of Psychology at the University of Pécs.</p>
<p>“We wanted to understand the psychological function of pornography use — in other words, what people are trying to achieve with it. For example, some people use it out of curiosity or for sexual enjoyment, while others mainly use it to cope with stress, loneliness, or negative emotions. We were interested in whether these different motivations are linked to different patterns of sexual and emotional functioning.”</p>
<p>The study included 890 Hungarian adults. The participants ranged in age from 18 to 64 years, with an average age of approximately 34. The sample consisted of 600 individuals assigned female at birth and 290 individuals assigned male at birth. Regarding gender identity, the majority identified as women or men, with a very small percentage identifying as non-binary or choosing not to disclose.</p>
<p>Data collection occurred through an anonymous online survey. The researchers utilized several standardized psychological scales to measure the variables of interest. To assess the reasons behind viewership, they used the Pornography Use Motivations Scale. This instrument asks participants to rate how often various reasons apply to their pornography consumption.</p>
<p>The motivations were categorized into two broad types. Positive motivations included reasons such as seeking sexual pleasure, satisfying curiosity, or exploring fantasies. Negative motivations included using pornography to reduce stress, avoid boredom, or distract oneself from negative emotions.</p>
<p>The frequency of pornography use was measured by a single item asking participants to report their viewing habits over the past year. Responses ranged from “never” to “at least once a day.” To assess potential dysfunction, the researchers used the Problematic Pornography Consumption Scale. This measure looks for signs of addiction-like symptoms, such as an inability to control use, feelings of distress regarding use, or neglect of other important life activities.</p>
<p>The research team also evaluated the participants’ broader sexual functioning using the Sexual System Functioning Scale. This scale assesses how the sexual system operates, specifically looking for signs of hyperactivation or deactivation. Sexual deactivation is characterized by suppressing sexual needs, avoiding physical intimacy, and feeling emotionally detached during sexual interactions.</p>
<p>Finally, the survey included the Reasons for Having Sex Questionnaire. This measure explores why individuals engage in partnered sexual activity. It distinguishes between seeking personal goals, such as pleasure and intimacy, versus using sex as a coping mechanism to manage problems or emotions.</p>
<p>The results revealed two distinct psychological profiles associated with pornography use. The first profile involved individuals driven by positive motivations. These participants tended to report higher frequencies of pornography consumption. However, this frequent use was not associated with problematic outcomes.</p>
<p>Instead, positive motivations were linked to adaptive sexual regulation. These individuals were more likely to engage in partnered sex for relational reasons and personal goal attainment. Their frequent use of pornography appeared to be a form of sexual exploration or enhancement rather than a symptom of dysfunction.</p>
<p>The second profile involved individuals driven by negative motivations. These participants used pornography primarily as a coping strategy to manage stress or avoid difficult feelings. The data showed a strong association between negative motivations and problematic pornography use.</p>
<p>The researchers found that problematic use served as a bridge between negative motivations and sexual deactivation. Individuals who used pornography to cope were more likely to experience symptoms of problematic use. In turn, high levels of problematic use predicted a tendency to emotionally withdraw from sexual intimacy with partners.</p>
<p>The analysis indicated that frequency alone did not predict these negative outcomes. Frequent use only led to sexual deactivation if the use was also problematic and driven by negative motives. This suggests that high-frequency viewing is not necessarily a sign of emotional withdrawal or relationship issues on its own.</p>
<p>“One somewhat surprising finding was that frequent use, when driven by positive motivations, was linked to less sexual deactivation — meaning less emotional withdrawal from sexuality,” Meskó told PsyPost. “In contrast, only problematic use — not frequent use — was associated with these kinds of disengaged or avoidant sexual patterns.”</p>
<p>Another finding was related to “sex as coping.” The researchers observed that individuals who used pornography to cope with negative emotions were also more likely to use partnered sex for the same purpose. This implies a broader pattern of emotion regulation where sexual activity, whether solitary or partnered, is used to manage distress.</p>
<p>“The effects are moderate in size, which is typical for psychological motivation research, but they are consistent and meaningful,” Meskó said. “Importantly, problematic use showed much stronger links to difficulties in sexual and emotional functioning than simple frequency did. This suggests that from a practical standpoint, it is more useful to look at whether someone feels out of control or distressed by their use than at how often they watch pornography.”</p>
<p>“The main takeaway is that frequent pornography use is not automatically a sign of a problem. What seems to matter much more is why someone is using it. For instance, using pornography as part of sexual exploration or fantasy is psychologically very different from using it primarily to escape distress after a bad day, relationship conflict, or feelings of emptiness.”</p>
<p>There are some limitations that should be considered. The research relied on self-reported data, which can be influenced by memory errors or a desire to present oneself in a favorable light. Additionally, the study was cross-sectional, meaning it captured data at a single point in time.</p>
<p>“We would caution against thinking of pornography as either simply ‘good’ or ‘bad,'” Meskó noted. “Our results suggest that it is better understood as something that can serve very different psychological roles. For some people, it may be part of healthy sexual expression, while for others it may function as a way to avoid emotional problems or relationship difficulties.”</p>
<p>Because the data is not longitudinal, it is not possible to determine causality. The study shows that negative motivations and problematic use are linked, but it cannot prove that one causes the other. It is possible that existing emotional difficulties lead to both avoidance-based pornography use and sexual withdrawal.</p>
<p>“A key next step is to study these processes over time, to see how motivations and sexual regulation influence each other across months or years,” Meskó explained. “We are also interested in how relationship factors, attachment patterns, and psychological flexibility shape whether pornography use becomes a coping strategy or remains a recreational activity. Ultimately, we hope this work can inform clinical approaches that focus more on emotional regulation and personal goals, rather than simply on reducing behavior.”</p>
<p>“One important point is that many people report mixed motives — for example, seeking pleasure but also trying to distract themselves from stress at the same time. This motivational ambivalence may help explain why pornography use can shift from harmless to problematic for some individuals, especially during difficult life periods. Understanding these shifts may be more informative than labeling people based on how often they use pornography.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19317611.2025.2605517" target="_blank">Motivational Pathways Diverge Between Frequent and Problematic Pornography Use</a>,” was authored by Edit Csányi, Martina D. Veszprémi, András N. Zsidó, and Norbert Meskó.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/psilocybin-microdosing-fails-to-boost-cognitive-performance-in-rigorous-trials/" 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;">Psilocybin microdosing fails to boost cognitive performance in rigorous trials</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 19th 2026, 10:00</div>
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<p><p>A popular modern trend involves taking tiny amounts of psychedelic mushrooms to boost brain power, but new evidence suggests the benefits may be largely imaginary. A rigorous scientific investigation found that consuming small amounts of psilocybin offered no measurable improvements in cognitive function or mood compared to a dummy pill. These results come from a comprehensive report published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2025.110722" target="_blank">Neuropharmacology</a>. The findings challenge the growing industry built around the alleged benefits of sub-perceptual psychedelic use.</p>
<p>The practice is known as microdosing. It typically involves ingesting about one-tenth to one-twentieth of a standard recreational dose of a psychedelic substance. Users aim to sharpen their minds or brighten their moods without experiencing the hallucinations or disorientation associated with a full trip. Proponents and media reports often claim this regimen enhances creativity, focus, and general productivity.</p>
<p>However, much of the existing praise for microdosing comes from personal stories rather than strict science. Past research often failed to account for the placebo effect. This occurs when people feel better simply because they expect a treatment to work. Without a control group, it is impossible to separate chemical effects from psychological expectations. Observational studies have reported benefits ranging from better social skills to reduced anxiety. Yet these studies relied on participants who knew they were taking a drug.</p>
<p>Luisa Prochazkova of Leiden University led a team to investigate these claims using a more skeptical approach. They designed their experiment around a concept known as the metacontrol state model. This psychological theory suggests the human brain balances two modes of processing. One mode is persistence, which allows a person to stay focused on a specific goal and ignore distractions. This is often called proactive control.</p>
<p>The other mode is flexibility. This mode helps a person switch tasks, adapt to new information, or think outside the box. Theoretical models suggest that pharmacological interventions often force a trade-off between these two styles. For example, a drug that improves focus might make a person less flexible. The researchers hypothesized that psilocybin might shift the brain toward flexibility. They suspected this shift might come at the cost of reduced focus. To test this, they needed to see if the drug changed how people solved specific types of problems.</p>
<p>The investigation consisted of two separate experiments conducted in the Netherlands. The researchers used psilocybin-containing truffles for the active doses. They recruited healthy volunteers who were screened for mental health issues. The study used a design considered the gold standard in medical research. This design is called a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.</p>
<p>Participants were randomly assigned to receive either the truffles or a harmless placebo. Neither the volunteers nor the researchers knew who received which pill until the study ended. This precaution prevented expectations from influencing the results. The researchers employed a longitudinal approach, meaning they tracked the participants over several weeks rather than just looking at a single day.</p>
<p>In the first experiment, participants consumed about 0.65 grams of fresh truffles. They followed a schedule of taking a dose every few days for roughly four weeks. During this time, they completed a battery of computer tests. These tests measured memory, the ability to ignore distractions, and social insight. One of the primary tools used was the AX-Continuous Performance Task.</p>
<p>This task measures the balance between maintaining a goal and reacting to new inputs. A participant sees a sequence of letters and must press a button only when a specific pair appears. It requires sustained attention. The researchers also used a “multi-armed bandit” task. This game tests whether a person prefers to stick with a known reward or explore new options. This helps measure the trade-off between exploitation and exploration.</p>
<p>The results from the first experiment revealed no consistent differences between the two groups. The microdosing group did not perform better on memory tasks. They showed no advantage in their ability to focus or switch between tasks. The researchers observed a slight improvement in recognizing emotions in the microdosing group during a social cognition test. However, this finding was not statistically significant after adjusting for the number of tests run. It was likely a random fluctuation in the data.</p>
<p>To ensure the dose was strong enough to elicit a response, the team conducted a second experiment. They increased the truffle amount to one gram per dose. They also extended the total duration of the study to eight weeks. This second trial introduced different cognitive challenges to cast a wider net. The team wanted to ensure they were not missing effects simply because they chose the wrong tasks.</p>
<p>One challenge in the second experiment measured working memory using a task called the N-back. This requires a participant to remember a letter presented several steps earlier in a sequence. It is a demanding test of mental holding power. Another task assessed visual attention capabilities through an “attentional blink” test. This measures the ability to notice a second target image that appears rapidly after a first one.</p>
<p>The researchers also included games designed to measure trust and social closeness. One such game involved exchanging money with a virtual partner to test interpersonal trust. Once again, the data showed that the drug did not outperform the placebo. Both groups reported feeling more trusting and closer to others over time. This suggests that the passage of time or the study environment caused the change. The chemical content of the truffles was not the cause.</p>
<p>Self-reported questionnaires about mood and mindfulness yielded similar results across both experiments. Participants in the psilocybin group did not report higher levels of well-being than those taking the placebo. They did not show greater increases in psychological flexibility. The team checked to see if the blinding procedure was successful. They asked participants to guess whether they had taken the active drug or the placebo.</p>
<p>The volunteers could not guess their group assignment better than chance. This confirms that the doses were small enough to avoid obvious psychedelic effects. It also validates the comparison between the groups. If participants had known they were medicated, their expectations might have skewed the data. The study also analyzed open-ended text reports from the participants.</p>
<p>Even in these qualitative reports, the benefits were not evident. Participants in the placebo group were just as likely to report positive emotional changes as those in the active group. This strongly implies that the “microdosing glow” often reported in anecdotal accounts is driven by the placebo effect. People expect to feel better, so they do.</p>
<p>There was one area where the groups differed. Participants taking the real truffles reported more negative physical sensations. These included feelings of nausea, temperature changes, or general bodily discomfort. The placebo group experienced these physical symptoms less frequently. This suggests the drug was pharmacologically active in the body, even if it did not change the mind. The most consistent effect of the drug was a slight increase in negative bodily awareness.</p>
<p>These findings present a challenge to the popular narrative around microdosing. However, the study does have limitations. The experiments took place in a controlled laboratory setting. Standardized computer tests might not capture subtle changes in creativity or insight. It is possible that the benefits of microdosing are not apparent in rigid tasks.</p>
<p>Real-world scenarios might reveal effects that laboratory tests miss. Additionally, the participants were healthy individuals. A person functioning at a high level may have little room for improvement. This is often referred to as a ceiling effect. A drug might help someone with a deficit return to normal, but it might not make a healthy person “better than normal.”</p>
<p>Future research could focus on different populations. People suffering from depression or anxiety might respond differently than healthy volunteers. The researchers suggest that future studies should examine whether specific groups benefit more than others. They also recommend using more naturalistic assessments to measure daily functioning. For now, the scientific evidence suggests that for healthy people, microdosing psilocybin is unlikely to provide the cognitive boost that users seek.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2025.110722" target="_blank">Cognitive and subjective effects of psilocybin microdosing: Results from two double-blind placebo-controlled longitudinal trials</a>,” was authored by Luisa Prochazkova, Josephine Marschall, Dominique Patrick Lippelt, Neil R. Schon, Martin Kuchař, and Bernhard Hommel.</p></p>
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
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