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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/eating-ultra-processed-foods-is-not-linked-to-faster-mental-decline-study-finds/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Eating ultra-processed foods is not linked to faster mental decline, study finds</a>
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<p><p>A recent study suggests that eating ultra-processed foods does not lead to faster cognitive decline in older adults over a ten-year period. The research, published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-026-03896-x" target="_blank" rel="noopener">European Journal of Nutrition</a></em>, provides evidence that overall diet quality may matter more for maintaining brain health as we age than the specific level of food processing. These findings help clarify the complex relationship between what people eat and how their brains change over time.</p>
<p>As the global population ages, the number of people living with dementia is expected to increase dramatically in the coming decades. Because there is currently no cure for dementia, identifying lifestyle factors that can prevent or delay cognitive decline is highly important. Scientists are particularly interested in the role of diet, as healthy eating patterns have consistently been linked to better brain function.</p>
<p>Ultra-processed foods are items made from ingredients that have been heavily modified by chemical processes. They are typically assembled into ready-to-eat products that taste highly appealing, often using artificial flavors, colors, and cosmetic additives. Common examples include packaged cookies, ice cream, sugary drinks, hot dogs, and mass-produced breads.</p>
<p>In recent years, the amount of these heavily processed items in the average daily diet has increased significantly around the world. Scientists conducted the new study because the impact of these foods on brain health remains unclear. Some previous research links diets high in ultra-processed products to a higher risk of dementia and memory loss, while other studies find no such connection.</p>
<p>“Our study was motivated by growing concerns about the health effects of ultra-processed foods. While higher intake of these foods has been linked to various chronic diseases, evidence on cognitive ageing remains limited and inconsistent, particularly in European populations. We therefore examined whether ultra-processed food intake was associated with cognitive decline over time using several validated cognitive tests in a large sample of older Dutch adults,” said study author <a href="https://research.vu.nl/en/persons/hanneke-wijnhoven/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hanneke Wijnhoven</a>, an assistant professor in the Department of Health Sciences at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.</p>
<p>Because a healthy overall diet tends to protect the brain, scientists wanted to test whether the degree of food processing itself plays a distinct role in cognitive aging. To answer this question, researchers examined data from 1,371 older adults participating in the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam.</p>
<p>The participants were all 55 years of age or older, with an average age of about 67. The researchers analyzed data from a detailed dietary questionnaire that had been administered to these individuals between 2014 and 2015 as part of the broader ongoing study. This survey asked participants to recall how often and how much they ate 238 specific food items over the previous four weeks.</p>
<p>The scientists then categorized every food item from the survey based on its level of processing using a standard system called the NOVA classification. This system divides food into four categories, ranging from completely unprocessed items like fresh vegetables to heavily modified ultra-processed foods. They calculated the total daily intake of ultra-processed foods for each person by weight in grams rather than by calories.</p>
<p>This approach allowed the researchers to account for non-nutritional processing additives and zero-calorie items like artificially sweetened beverages. The participants were divided into four equal groups based on the percentage of ultra-processed foods in their daily diets. On average, ultra-processed items made up about 20 percent of the total food weight consumed by the participants each day.</p>
<p>To track brain health, the researchers looked at cognitive test scores that had been collected from the participants four different times over a ten-year period. The original ongoing project used five separate tests to evaluate different areas of brain function. These areas included global cognition, which is a general measure of overall brain health assessed through a common screening tool.</p>
<p>The dataset also included scores for information processing speed using a coding task, which tracks how quickly a person can understand and react to new information by matching symbols to letters. The records also contained tests of episodic memory, which involves the ability to remember specific past events or learn new lists of words. To measure this, participants in the original project had been asked to memorize and recall a list of fifteen words after a short delay.</p>
<p>Finally, the dataset included measurements of executive function, which covers mental skills like planning, focusing attention, and juggling multiple tasks at the same time. This had been tested by having participants list as many animals as they could think of in one minute and asking them to repeat sequences of numbers backwards. The current scientists then used statistical models on all this gathered information to look for patterns over time.</p>
<p>During this analysis, the researchers adjusted for various lifestyle factors that might affect brain health. These factors included age, sex, education, partner status, total energy intake, physical activity, body mass index, alcohol consumption, smoking, depression, and the presence of chronic diseases. They also factored in a score representing overall diet quality in a separate analysis, ensuring they could isolate the specific impact of ultra-processed foods on the brain.</p>
<p>The researchers found no link between the amount of ultra-processed food consumed and a person’s cognitive abilities over time. They also found no connection between a highly processed diet and faster cognitive decline as the participants aged.</p>
<p>Even the individuals in the group eating the highest percentage of ultra-processed foods experienced the same rate of mental aging as those in the group eating the lowest percentage. The researchers ran an additional test that excluded bread from the ultra-processed category, as Dutch adults eat a lot of mass-produced bread. This secondary analysis yielded the exact same results.</p>
<p>“In this group of older adults, we did not find clear evidence that higher consumption of ultra-processed foods based on the NOVA classification was associated with faster cognitive decline over a 10-year period,” Wijnhoven told PsyPost. “A possible explanation is that overall diet quality may be more important for cognitive health than the level of food processing. In <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40794204/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previous analyses</a> within the same cohort, we found that greater adherence to healthy dietary patterns, including the EAT-Lancet reference diet, was associated with less cognitive decline.”</p>
<p>As with all research, the study has some limitations. A primary limitation is that dietary habits were measured using a self-reported survey, which relies heavily on human memory. People might forget exactly what they ate or underreport less healthy food choices, which can affect the accuracy of the data.</p>
<p>Another potential misinterpretation is the idea that all ultra-processed foods are equal in nutritional value. Some processed foods might be fortified with vitamins and minerals, while others are entirely composed of empty calories.</p>
<p>“The NOVA classification has been criticized for not distinguishing between nutritionally poorer (such as sugar-sweetened beverages and processed meats) and more favourable ultra-processed foods (such as some whole-grain breads and certain fortified breakfast cereals), which may partly explain the largely null findings,” Wijnhoven noted.</p>
<p>Future research could focus on examining the exact nutritional profiles of different ultra-processed foods over longer periods of time. Scientists might also track how specific types of processed ingredients, rather than broad categories, interact with brain health over a person’s lifespan. By looking more closely at these individual components, researchers can gain a clearer understanding of how modern diets impact the aging brain.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-026-03896-x" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ultra-processed food intake and cognitive decline in older adults</a>,” was authored by Chantal Buis, Mary Nicolaou, Marjolein Visser, Margreet R Olthof, and Hanneke A H Wijnhoven.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/hypocrisy-and-intolerance-drive-religious-doubt-among-college-students/" 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;">Hypocrisy and intolerance drive religious doubt among college students</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Mar 8th 2026, 08:00</div>
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<p><p>College students often question their faith because of the intolerant or hypocritical behaviors of religious groups, and while these doubts can increase emotional distress, they also frequently foster intellectual humility and an open-minded search for meaning. These nuanced effects of questioning one’s faith are detailed in newly published research in the journal <em><a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-99029-001" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Psychology of Religion and Spirituality</a></em>.</p>
<p>In the United States, religious affiliation has steadily declined over the past few decades. A growing number of young adults identify as nonreligious, often leaving the traditions in which they were raised. Sociologists and psychologists sometimes refer to this demographic of formerly religious individuals as the “Dones.”</p>
<p>Julie J. Exline, a researcher at the University of Virginia, led a team to investigate how questioning faith affects mental health and personal growth. Exline and her colleagues focused specifically on college students, as the transition to adulthood is typically a time of intense identity exploration. During this developmental window, young adults often encounter new ideas that challenge their childhood worldviews.</p>
<p>To understand this process, psychologists look at how people build their global meaning systems. A meaning-making system is essentially the mental framework a person uses to make sense of the world and their place in it. Deeply held religious beliefs often form the core of this orienting framework.</p>
<p>When people encounter information that contradicts their core beliefs, they experience psychological tension. To resolve this discomfort, individuals must engage in a process called accommodation. Accommodation involves putting in the mental effort to revise existing belief structures so that new, conflicting ideas can be integrated.</p>
<p>This tension frequently surfaces as religious doubt, which is a feeling of uncertainty about religious teachings. Psychologists separate general religious doubt from what they call doubt struggles. General doubt might simply be an intellectual questioning of a doctrine, like wondering if a specific historical event actually occurred.</p>
<p>Doubt struggles, on the other hand, involve deep worry, confusion, or emotional pain regarding those uncertainties. For an individual whose entire life and social circle revolve around a church, doubting God’s existence could trigger profound distress. Conversely, someone who is barely religious might have many doubts without experiencing any emotional turmoil.</p>
<p>To explore these dynamics, the researchers surveyed 3,953 undergraduate students across three different college campuses in the United States. These institutions included a private research university, a public state university, and a private Christian university. The participants answered extensive questionnaires about their religious background, current spiritual identity, and mental health.</p>
<p>The researchers categorized the students into six distinct groups based on their level of religious engagement. These categories ranged from students who were never religious to those who had completely disengaged, all the way to those who remained highly active in their faith. This allowed the team to see how current religious identity influenced a person’s reaction to skepticism.</p>
<p>Students were asked to rate twenty different reasons for religious doubt based on a psychological scale developed in the late 1990s. The survey also included measures of emotional distress, such as depression, anxiety, anger, and stress. To balance this out, the survey tested indicators of well-being like life satisfaction and self-compassion.</p>
<p>To measure the potential benefits of questioning faith, the team assessed participants on their quest orientation. Quest orientation is a psychological term for a mindset that views religion and spirituality as an ongoing, flexible search for truth. People with a high quest orientation embrace complexity and are willing to change their minds when presented with new evidence.</p>
<p>When the team analyzed the data, the most highly endorsed reasons for doubting religion were primarily social rather than theological. Students ranked the hypocrisy of religious people and intolerance toward gay and lesbian individuals as their top two reasons for questioning faith. Other highly rated factors included intolerance toward other religions and the tendency of religious groups to pressure outsiders.</p>
<p>While the problem of evil and unfair suffering was also a highly ranked reason for doubt, social grievances dominated the top of the list. The students were largely troubled by the negative behaviors of religious adherents rather than logical inconsistencies in sacred texts. This suggests that interpersonal friction is a primary driver of religious disengagement among young adults.</p>
<p>Different types of students did prioritize slightly different concerns. Highly religious students were more likely to report struggles with concepts like the afterlife or the conflict between evolutionary science and creationism. Still, across the board, the behavior of religious individuals proved to be a major stumbling block for the undergraduate population.</p>
<p>As the researchers anticipated, the presence of doubt was linked to negative mental health outcomes. Both general religious doubt and specific doubt struggles predicted greater emotional distress and lower overall well-being. Even when controlling for their overlapping similarities, both variables independently predicted negative mental health scores.</p>
<p>These negative mental health outcomes were most pronounced among students who were highly engaged with their religion. For highly religious students, having questions about their faith was tightly connected to internal turmoil and anxiety. Because their belief systems were central to their identity, cracks in that foundation caused intense worry.</p>
<p>In contrast, nonreligious students reported plenty of doubts but did not experience the same level of emotional distress over them. For students who had already left their faith, having many reasons for doubt simply validated their decision to exit the religion. The relationship between religious doubt and mental health challenges was also stronger at the Christian university compared to the secular institutions.</p>
<p>Although the mental health impacts seem discouraging, the data revealed a much brighter side to questioning one’s faith. Students who reported higher levels of religious doubt also scored highly on measures of quest orientation. They demonstrated a strong desire to search for meaning and a willingness to embrace nuanced worldviews.</p>
<p>In addition, the doubting students exhibited greater intellectual humility. Intellectual humility is the recognition that one’s own beliefs might be wrong, combined with a willingness to listen to opposing viewpoints. Students who identified as spiritual but not religious, or who had disengaged from organized religion entirely, showed elevated scores on these open-mindedness variables.</p>
<p>The research team determined that having doubts is not simply a mental health liability. Instead, experiencing religious uncertainty can serve as a catalyst for personal growth and deeper existential exploration. Wrestling with difficult questions often helps emerging adults build more flexible, compassionate, and resilient worldviews.</p>
<p>There are some limitations to this research that require consideration. The participants were mostly White, Christian, cisgender women, which means the results might not perfectly reflect the attitudes of the broader population. The data was also collected several years ago, meaning it does not capture the cultural shifts of the last decade.</p>
<p>The specific survey used to measure reasons for doubt was originally created in 1997. Because of this, it did not include political factors that might cause religious disillusionment today. Issues like reproductive rights, climate change, and the merging of religion with partisan politics are likely major sources of modern skepticism.</p>
<p>Future research could use open-ended questions to identify new reasons young people are stepping away from faith. Scientists might also incorporate updated tools to measure intellectual humility and spiritual yearning more precisely. Exploring how different demographic groups handle spiritual questions will help psychologists better support individuals navigating faith transitions.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/rel0000596" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Many Reasons for Religious Doubt: Links With Doubt Struggles, Mental Health, and an Open, Humble, Questing Orientation</a>,” was authored by Julie J. Exline, Yehudis Keller, Andrew C. Moffitt, Joshua A. Wilt, and Kenneth I. Pargament.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/a-single-dose-of-dmt-reverses-depression-like-symptoms-in-mice-by-repairing-brain-circuitry/" 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;">A single dose of DMT reverses depression-like symptoms in mice by repairing brain circuitry</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Mar 8th 2026, 06:00</div>
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<p><p>New research suggests that a single dose of the psychedelic compound DMT can reverse symptoms of depression, including loss of pleasure and cognitive decline, in mice subjected to chronic stress. The findings provide evidence that the drug helps repair brain circuitry by promoting the healthy growth and integration of new neurons. The study was published in the journal <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-026-03852-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Translational Psychiatry</a></em>.</p>
<p>Major depressive disorder is a leading cause of disability worldwide. Conventional antidepressants like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors often take weeks to work and fail to help a significant portion of patients. This delay and lack of efficacy highlight a need for faster and more reliable therapeutic options.</p>
<p>In recent years, scientists have noticed that classical psychedelics can rapidly alleviate depressive symptoms. One such compound is N,N-dimethyltryptamine, commonly known as DMT, which naturally occurs in various plants and animals. It is also the primary active ingredient in ayahuasca, a traditional brewed tea used in Amazonian ceremonies.</p>
<p>When administered on its own, DMT produces an intense but very short-lived psychedelic experience that alters perception and mood. The drug works primarily by interacting with specific serotonin receptors in the brain, which are cellular structures that help regulate emotions.</p>
<p>However, clinical enthusiasm for psychedelics is moving faster than the biological understanding of how they work. Much of the past animal research on DMT has focused on basic anxiety responses rather than the more complex and stubborn symptoms of depression.</p>
<p>“A major gap in psychedelic research is that clinical translation is moving faster than our understanding of the underlying biology and of the conditions under which these compounds actually help,” said study author Thiago C. Moulin, a researcher at Uppsala University in Sweden.</p>
<p>“In the DMT literature, many animal studies focus on anxiety-like outcomes, while major depression is also marked by anhedonia and cognitive deficits, which are often harder to treat. We designed this study to test pure DMT in a well-established chronic-stress model and to ask whether behavioral recovery goes together with measurable repair in adult hippocampal neurogenesis and circuit integration.”</p>
<p>For their new research, the scientists used a sample of 48 male mice that were genetically modified to allow researchers to visually tag and track newborn neurons. The mice were subjected to a prolonged stress model for 56 days. This model involves exposing the animals to unpredictable, mild daily stressors, such as tilted cages or changes in lighting, to induce a depressive-like state.</p>
<p>The researchers divided the mice into several experimental groups to test different treatment timings and conditions. One group received a single injection of DMT at a dose of 30 milligrams per kilogram of body weight after the stress period ended. Another group received the same dose of DMT midway through the stress protocol on day 28.</p>
<p>A third group received DMT while under isoflurane anesthesia to test whether a conscious psychedelic experience was required for the drug to work. For comparison, another group of stressed mice received daily doses of fluoxetine, a standard antidepressant, for 30 days. The scientists also maintained a control group of non-stressed mice and a group of stressed mice that only received an inactive saline injection.</p>
<p>To measure anhedonia, the scientists tracked the animals’ preference for drinking sweetened water over regular water. Stressed mice typically lose interest in the sugar water, indicating a loss of pleasure. To assess cognitive function, the researchers used a complex radial arm maze task that tests working memory and the ability to distinguish between different spatial patterns.</p>
<p>The scientists found that the mice given DMT after the stress period fully recovered their preference for sugar water. These animals also showed improved cognitive performance in the maze task. A single dose of DMT actually outperformed the standard 30-day fluoxetine treatment across most of the behavioral tests.</p>
<p>The mice treated with DMT also showed a marked reduction in behavioral despair. Researchers measured this by tracking how long the mice remained immobile when temporarily suspended by their tails. When looking at the brain tissue, the researchers observed changes that aligned with these behavioral improvements.</p>
<p>The stressed mice that received saline had fewer new neurons in the dentate gyrus, a specific subregion of the hippocampus. Many of these new cells had also migrated to the wrong locations. This abnormal ectopic integration of cells disrupts healthy brain signaling and contributes to depressive symptoms.</p>
<p>DMT treatment increased the production of new neurons in the hippocampus. It also reduced the number of abnormally placed cells, restoring proper structure to the brain circuitry. The mice that received DMT under anesthesia still showed behavioral and cellular benefits, which suggests that the conscious psychedelic experience might not be strictly necessary to trigger brain repair.</p>
<p>The timing of the dose appeared to dictate the specific benefits. The mice that received DMT midway through the stress protocol showed protected mood behaviors, but they still suffered from cognitive deficits. This indicates that the drug reopens a window of brain plasticity, making the environment and timing central to complete functional recovery.</p>
<p>“In mice exposed to prolonged, unpredictable stress, a single dose of DMT improved depression-relevant behaviors, including loss of pleasure and stress-related cognitive impairment,” Moulin told PsyPost. “Importantly, these behavioral improvements aligned with brain-level changes: we saw not only effects on newborn neurons, but also a reduction in their abnormal integration, which is consistent with circuit-level repair. This is preclinical work, but it supports the idea that psychedelics may reopen plasticity in ways that can be beneficial when the timing is right.”</p>
<p>There are a few potential misinterpretations to avoid. This preclinical work does not prove that a single dose of DMT will instantly cure depression in humans. Mouse models capture specific elements of mood and cognition, but they cannot represent the full complexity of human psychiatric conditions.</p>
<p>“In this model, the effects were large relative to a standard SSRI control (fluoxetine), especially for anhedonia and the cognitive readout we used (pattern separation),” Moulin explained. “However, mouse effects often don’t translate directly into clinical impact in humans, where dose, context, and patient heterogeneity matter. I would frame it as: the signal is strong and consistent enough to justify deeper mechanistic work and careful clinical testing, not as a claim of immediate clinical equivalence.”</p>
<p>The anesthesia results also require conservative interpretation. While the anesthetized mice still experienced benefits, the drug’s effects were somewhat attenuated, which implies that the subjective psychedelic experience may still play a role in maximizing therapeutic outcomes. Isoflurane anesthesia can also have its own independent effects on the brain, making it difficult to completely isolate the impact of DMT.</p>
<p>The study only used male mice because the specific stress model is less consistent in female mice of this genetic background. Future research will need to include female subjects to determine if these biological responses differ by sex. Scientists also hope to map out the exact molecular pathways the drug activates and explore alternative delivery methods for human patients.</p>
<p>“We are working to connect the dots from receptor activation to circuit changes and behavior, and to map the ‘plasticity window,’ which is when intervention helps the most,” Moulin said. “We also want better translational readouts of psychedelic-like states in animals using non-invasive behavioral tracking. In parallel, we are exploring delivery strategies that are more clinically relevant than injections.”</p>
<p>“One point we think is important is that our findings suggest the benefits of the plasticity window depend on timing and context. In our model, DMT could prevent mood-related symptoms during ongoing stress, but the strongest cognitive rescue appeared when dosing occurred after the stress protocol ended. This reinforces the idea that increased plasticity creates an opportunity for change, but the surrounding conditions may shape whether that change translates into functional recovery.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-026-03852-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Single-dose DMT reverses anhedonia and cognitive deficits via restoration of neurogenesis in a stress-induced depression model</a>,” was authored by Rafael V. Lima da Cruz, Rêmullo B. G. de Miranda Costa, Gabriel M. de Queiroz, Tijana Stojanovic, Thiago C. Moulin & Richardson N. Leão.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/apocalyptic-views-are-surprisingly-common-among-americans-and-predict-responses-to-existential-hazards/" 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;">Apocalyptic views are surprisingly common among Americans and predict responses to existential hazards</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Mar 7th 2026, 18:00</div>
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<p><p>Many people believe the world will soon end, and these apocalyptic views shape how they react to real global threats like climate change and artificial intelligence. A new study published in the <em><a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2027-36275-001?doi=1" target="_blank">Journal of Personality and Social Psychology</a></em> reveals that these narratives dictate whether individuals want to prevent or ignore looming global crises. By mapping the specific features of these doomsday beliefs, researchers can predict public responses to the major hazards of our time.</p>
<p>People from varying backgrounds hold ideas about the apocalypse. Some individuals expect a religious prophecy to unfold, while others anticipate an environmental collapse. To understand these perspectives, researchers must look at how humans evaluate danger.</p>
<p>Risk perception is the psychological study of how people judge the severity of a hazard. Past research has examined how personal experiences or community standards influence these judgments. Yet, experts have rarely examined how deeply held convictions about the ultimate fate of humanity affect reactions to immediate crises.</p>
<p>Historically, apocalyptic ideas were primarily religious, focusing on supernatural battles between good and evil. Today, these narratives also appear in secular contexts, driven by anxieties over nuclear weapons, ecological collapse, and advanced technology. The atomic science community has even maintained a doomsday clock since the mid-twentieth century to symbolize the proximity of global destruction.</p>
<p>Matthew I. Billet led the new research as a doctoral candidate in psychology at the University of British Columbia. He is now a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Irvine. Billet and his colleagues wanted to understand the psychological structure of these apocalyptic narratives.</p>
<p>They noticed that previous studies usually treated doomsday beliefs as a single concept, mostly focusing on whether people thought the end was near. Billet’s team suspected that these views were more varied and contained multiple psychological dimensions. They hypothesized that the specific details of a person’s apocalyptic narrative would predict their willingness to tackle global problems.</p>
<p>A unidimensional approach might assume that anyone who thinks the world is ending will simply give up on the future. The researchers argued this view is incomplete, noting that historical doomsday movements have sometimes sparked political revolutions and other times encouraged passive waiting. They wanted to capture this variety in human behavior.</p>
<p>Understanding this dynamic is highly relevant today. Populations must coordinate across cultural divides to address shared problems like global pandemics or nuclear conflict. The researchers sought to uncover why different communities react with either urgency or indifference to the exact same global risks.</p>
<p>The research team began by conducting six pilot studies involving university students and the general public in Canada and the United States. These initial tests allowed the researchers to develop and validate a new psychological questionnaire. They called this tool the End of World Beliefs Scale.</p>
<p>The scale measures five distinct facets of how people view the apocalypse. The first facet is perceived closeness, which asks how soon the end will arrive. The second is anthropogenic causality, which asks whether human actions will bring about the destruction.</p>
<p>The third facet is theogenic causality, measuring whether people believe a divine or supernatural force is responsible. The fourth is personal control, which gauges how much influence an individual feels they have over the end times. The final facet is emotional valence, which captures whether a person believes the end of the world will ultimately be a good or bad thing.</p>
<p>After finalizing the scale, the researchers launched a large survey of 1,409 adults in the United States. This main study was pre-registered, meaning the scientists publicly documented their hypothesis and analysis plan before collecting the data. They recruited a sample with diverse religious affiliations to capture a wide range of perspectives.</p>
<p>The group included Catholics, Mainline Protestants, Evangelical Protestants, Jewish people, Muslims, and nonreligious individuals. The participants answered the End of World Beliefs Scale to outline their personal views. Then, they read about one of five global risk categories defined by the World Economic Forum.</p>
<p>These categories included economic dangers like supply chain collapses, as well as environmental threats like natural disasters. They also covered geopolitical risks like nuclear war, societal hazards like pandemics, and technological issues like unregulated artificial intelligence. Participants were randomly assigned to focus on just one of these areas.</p>
<p>Participants reported their perception of the assigned risk’s severity and their tolerance for its negative impacts. They also indicated their willingness to support extreme actions to address the threat. These extreme actions included devoting a massive portion of the national budget to the problem or instituting martial law.</p>
<p>The researchers found that apocalyptic expectations are incredibly common in the United States. Nearly one in three participants believed the world would end within their own lifetime. Most participants, regardless of their religious background, agreed that humans will play a role in the fate of our species.</p>
<p>However, the specific flavor of these beliefs varied widely among different religious groups. Evangelical Protestants and Muslims scored highly on the belief that a divine force will cause the end. They also tended to view the apocalypse with a more positive emotional valence, seeing it as a necessary step toward a better state.</p>
<p>Nonreligious participants scored very low on theogenic causality and emotional valence. They did not expect a divine entity to intervene, and they did not view the end of the world positively. They also felt the end was less imminent than the religious groups did.</p>
<p>When looking at the five facets, the researchers noticed clear patterns in how people responded to the global risks. People who felt the apocalypse was rapidly approaching perceived global threats as highly severe. They also supported extreme actions to address these looming disasters.</p>
<p>Belief in anthropogenic causality also predicted higher risk perception. When individuals believed human actions would cause the end, they took modern global threats very seriously. On the other hand, theogenic causality predicted lower support for extreme preventative actions.</p>
<p>“Someone who believes humans are causing the apocalypse through climate change will respond very differently to environmental policy than someone who believes the end times are controlled by divine prophecy,” Billet noted in a press release. Those expecting a divinely ordained conclusion were less willing to support measures meant to stop it.</p>
<p>Curiously, individuals who viewed the end of the world positively showed a high tolerance for risk. They also showed greater support for extreme actions to address the global threats. The researchers admitted this particular result is puzzling, as one might assume a positive view of the apocalypse would lead to total inaction.</p>
<p>To ensure their results were robust, the scientists controlled for other psychological traits, like neuroticism and general political conservatism. They even checked if general conspiratorial thinking or religious fundamentalism could explain the patterns. The specific facets of apocalyptic belief continued to predict risk responses independently of these other factors.</p>
<p>The study relies on observational survey data. This means the researchers cannot prove that apocalyptic views directly cause specific behaviors. The researchers also noted that their sample was limited to the United States and Canada.</p>
<p>Additionally, the religious groups surveyed were restricted to Abrahamic traditions and secular individuals. A fuller understanding of human psychology requires looking beyond these populations. Future studies should explore a wider array of global cultures and religious traditions.</p>
<p>For instance, researchers could examine societies that view time as cyclical rather than linear. They could also look at cultures with widespread beliefs in reincarnation, which might alter how people conceptualize the end of days. Exploring these alternative cultural frameworks would provide a broader understanding of how humans evaluate existential threats.</p>
<p>Additional research might also investigate why apocalyptic narratives spread so easily across different societies. Scientists could explore the specific psychological traits that make these ideas so appealing to the human mind. They could also use historical data to link the rise of doomsday movements with specific ecological shocks in the past.</p>
<p>Answering these questions could help policymakers bridge cultural divides when coordinating public responses to real global emergencies. Today, differing worldviews can create friction that stalls mass vaccination efforts or climate change mitigation. Recognizing the psychological roots of these disagreements is a necessary step for navigating the major hazards of the current century.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/pspi0000519" target="_blank">End of world beliefs are common, diverse, and predict how people perceive and respond to global risks</a>,” was authored by Matthew I. Billet, Cindel J.M. White, Azim Shariff, and Ara Norenzayan.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/a-psychological-need-for-certainty-is-associated-with-radical-right-voting/" 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;">A psychological need for certainty is associated with radical right voting</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Mar 7th 2026, 16:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in the journal <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2025.113449" target="_blank">Personality and Individual Differences</a></em> suggests that a person’s ability to handle uncertain situations plays a role in their political choices. The research provides evidence that people who struggle with ambiguity tend to favor rigid ideologies, which in turn increases their likelihood of supporting radical right political parties. These findings highlight how basic psychological responses to an increasingly complex world can shape broader political movements.</p>
<p>Past research hints that broad personality traits influence voting behavior, but the exact pathway has remained somewhat unclear. To explore this dynamic, the researchers focused on a psychological concept called tolerance for ambiguity.</p>
<p>Tolerance for ambiguity refers to how well a person can process complex, contradicting, or unfamiliar information without feeling threatened. People with a high tolerance for ambiguity generally accept that the world is messy and complicated. Those with a low tolerance for ambiguity tend to prefer black-and-white thinking, seeking out clear rules and simple answers. The scientists proposed that this specific psychological trait acts as a bridge between foundational personality traits and political ideology. </p>
<p>“This study was inspired by both a theoretical gap and real-world developments. While previous research suggested that personality traits are indirectly related to support for radical right parties, the psychological mechanism behind this link remained unclear,” said study authors Almuth Lietz, a research associate at the German Center for Integration and Migration Research and a doctoral candidate at Goethe University Frankfurt, and <a href="https://sabrinajmayer.de/" target="_blank">Sabrina Jasmin Mayer</a>, a political sociology professor at the University of Bamberg.</p>
<p>“We aimed to address this by proposing tolerance for ambiguity as a mediating factor. At the same time, the rise of radical right parties such as the Alternative for Germany (AfD) highlights the societal importance of understanding how people cope with uncertainty in complex social and political contexts.”</p>
<p>They based their work on the psychological entropy theory. This scientific theory suggests that human personality is deeply shaped by how individuals manage uncertainty and the anxiety it brings. According to this framework, an unpredictable world creates a sense of psychological disorder. People are motivated to reduce this disorder to feel secure. The researchers hypothesized that individuals who are less tolerant of ambiguity develop a strong need for certainty.</p>
<p>This desire for clarity might make right-wing authoritarianism, anti-immigrant sentiments, and populist attitudes highly appealing to them. Right-wing authoritarianism is an ideological stance characterized by strict obedience to traditional authorities, aggressive feelings toward those who break social norms, and a strong preference for conventional morals. Populist attitudes involve a specific worldview that favors popular sovereignty and sees society as divided into two warring groups.</p>
<p>These populist groups are typically viewed as the pure, homogeneous ordinary people and a corrupt elite class. Anti-immigrant sentiment provides a simplified way to view marginalized groups as a source of societal problems. The researchers wanted to test if low tolerance for ambiguity leads to these three ideological views.</p>
<p>Ultimately, they sought to determine if these views drive votes for the Alternative for Germany, a prominent radical right party. To test these ideas, the scientists used data from an online panel survey conducted in Germany between November 2020 and June 2021. The sample consisted of 1,635 adults ranging in age from 18 to 74.</p>
<p>The group was selected using mathematical quotas based on age, gender, and geographic region to approximate the general German population. The researchers also intentionally included a high percentage of people with a migration background to ensure diverse perspectives. Participants then completed several standardized psychological questionnaires.</p>
<p>First, they answered questions designed to measure the fundamental Big Five personality traits. These traits include openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Next, the survey assessed the participants’ tolerance for ambiguity by asking how they felt about unfamiliar situations and challenging perspectives.</p>
<p>The researchers also measured the participants’ individual levels of right-wing authoritarianism, populist attitudes, and anti-immigrant sentiment. Finally, participants rated how likely they were to vote for the Alternative for Germany on a mathematical scale. This scale ranged from zero, meaning very unlikely, to ten, meaning very likely.</p>
<p>The scientists used statistical models to analyze the relationships between these different survey responses. They found that a lower tolerance for ambiguity is strongly associated with higher levels of right-wing authoritarianism. People who struggled with uncertainty were also noticeably more likely to express populist attitudes and negative feelings toward immigrants.</p>
<p>“We were particularly surprised by the comparatively strong association between low tolerance for ambiguity and right-wing authoritarianism, compared to the more moderate associations with populist attitudes and anti-immigrant sentiment,” Lietz and Mayer told PsyPost. “This suggests that right-wing authoritarianism may be especially closely linked to epistemic motivations related to uncertainty reduction.”</p>
<p>These rigid ideological views were linked to voting preferences. Stronger right-wing authoritarianism, populist attitudes, and anti-immigrant sentiments all predicted a higher likelihood of voting for the Alternative for Germany. Populist attitudes showed an especially strong connection to supporting this specific radical right party.</p>
<p>The scientists also examined how foundational personality traits fit into this picture. They found that people who scored higher in openness to experience and extraversion tended to have a higher tolerance for ambiguity. People who scored higher in neuroticism, which involves a tendency to experience anxiety, showed a lower tolerance for ambiguity.</p>
<p>These personality associations align with the idea that outgoing and open individuals actively explore unknown situations. This exploration may help build their tolerance for complexity over time. However, the researchers noted that the effect sizes connecting basic personality traits to ambiguity tolerance were quite small.</p>
<p>This suggests that while personality plays a role, it does not dictate a person’s ability to handle uncertainty on its own. The most robust finding remains the strong link between low ambiguity tolerance and the adoption of rigid political ideologies. These ideologies ultimately predict higher support for radical right candidates.</p>
<p>“Our findings suggest that support for radical right parties is not only about ideology itself, but also about how individuals cope with uncertainty,” Lietz and Mayer explained. “Lower tolerance for ambiguity is associated with a stronger preference for clear, unambiguous answers and structured worldviews. This heightened need for certainty is, in turn, linked to higher levels of right-wing authoritarianism, populist attitudes, and anti-immigrant sentiment, which ultimately relate to a greater propensity to vote for radical right parties such as the Alternative for Germany (AfD).”</p>
<p>While these findings provide insights into political behavior, the scientists caution against certain misinterpretations. First, the study relies on observational data, meaning it does not prove a direct cause-and-effect relationship. It is entirely possible that holding rigid political ideologies also reduces a person’s tolerance for ambiguity over time.</p>
<p>Additionally, having a low tolerance for ambiguity is a perfectly normal psychological disposition. The researchers emphasize that this trait should not be treated as a psychological defect. Similarly, the fundamental Big Five personality traits are neither inherently good nor bad.</p>
<p>“In line with psychological entropy theory, the associations between personality traits and tolerance for ambiguity can be understood as reflecting differences in motivational tendencies,” the researchers said. “Certain traits may make individuals more likely to enter and engage with novel, or uncertain situations, thereby increasing opportunities to develop greater tolerance for ambiguity over time. In this sense, personality traits may shape the opportunity to learn tolerance for ambiguity rather than directly determining it.”</p>
<p>The data was also collected during the early stages of the global pandemic, a period marked by unusually high levels of societal uncertainty. This unique historical context might have intensified the relationships between the desire for certainty and political ideology. The study also relied on a quota-based online sample. </p>
<p>Looking ahead, scientists plan to use longitudinal studies that track individuals over many years to better understand the causal dynamics at play. They also hope to test these psychological models in other countries to see if the same patterns hold true across different cultures. </p>
<p>“Understanding how people cope with uncertainty remains central to explaining contemporary political polarization and ideological shifts,” Lietz and Mayer added. “This study bridges personality psychology and political behavior research by highlighting epistemic motivations, particularly the need for certainty, as a key link between personality and ideology. It underscores the importance of psychological responses to uncertainty in understanding democratic resilience and the functioning of societies in complex times.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2025.113449" target="_blank">Navigating Uncertainty: The Role of Tolerance for Ambiguity in Linking Personality Traits to Ideological Variables and Radical Right Voting</a>,” was authored by Almuth Lietz and Sabrina Jasmin Mayer.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/blocking-a-common-brain-gas-reverses-autism-like-traits-in-mice/" 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;">Blocking a common brain gas reverses autism-like traits in mice</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Mar 7th 2026, 14:00</div>
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<p><p>A newly discovered biological chain reaction explains how high levels of a common brain chemical can lead to cellular overdrive in autism spectrum disorder. By tracing how nitric oxide disables a protective protein to accelerate cell growth pathways, researchers have identified a specific target that might one day yield new therapies. The findings were recently published in the journal <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-026-03514-6" target="_blank">Molecular Psychiatry</a></em>.</p>
<p>Autism spectrum disorder involves differences in brain development that affect social communication and routine behavior. The biology behind these changes involves many genes and environmental factors. Researchers have observed that a signaling pathway called mTOR often runs unusually fast in the brains of autistic individuals.</p>
<p>The mTOR pathway acts as a central control center for cell growth, protein production, and energy use. When it functions properly, it helps brain cells build the connections needed for learning and memory. Yet the exact steps connecting autism risk factors to this hyperactive growth pathway have remained a mystery.</p>
<p>A team of scientists suspected that nitric oxide might be a missing link. Nitric oxide is a simple gas that helps brain cells communicate and regulates blood flow. High amounts of nitric oxide are often found in the brains and blood of people with autism.</p>
<p>When nitric oxide levels rise too high, the gas can attach directly to various proteins and alter how they work. This chemical tagging process is called S-nitrosylation. The research team wanted to see if this specific chemical tagging was responsible for pushing the cell growth pathways into overdrive.</p>
<p>The investigation was led by Shashank Kumar Ojha, a doctoral student, and Haitham Amal, a professor of brain sciences. Both researchers are based at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. They designed a series of tests to map out exactly how nitric oxide interacts with the proteins that control cell growth.</p>
<p>The research team started by examining two different types of laboratory mice. These mice were genetically modified to lack either the Shank3 or Cntnap2 genes. Both gene mutations are associated with autism in humans and cause the mice to display similar behavioral traits.</p>
<p>Using specialized chemical tracking tools, Ojha and his colleagues looked at the proteins inside the brains of these mice. They focused on a specific protein called TSC2. In a healthy cell, TSC2 acts like a brake pedal for the mTOR growth pathway.</p>
<p>The researchers discovered that the mutant mice had unusually high amounts of nitric oxide attached to their TSC2 proteins. This nitric oxide tag acted like a signal that marked the brake protein for the cellular recycling center. As a result, the cells destroyed their own TSC2 proteins.</p>
<p>Without the TSC2 brake pedal, the mTOR growth pathway accelerated out of control. This overdrive forced the brain cells to manufacture proteins at an abnormal rate. This altered protein production disrupted normal brain cell function in both excitatory and inhibitory neurons.</p>
<p>To confirm this chain of events, the scientists treated the genetically modified mice with a drug that stops the brain from making nitric oxide. The results showed a clear mechanical link. Blocking nitric oxide prevented the destruction of the TSC2 brake protein.</p>
<p>With the brake protein intact, the cell growth pathway slowed down to a normal pace. The brain cells stopped overproducing proteins. The treatment successfully restored a natural balance to the cellular environment.</p>
<p>Ojha and his team then conducted a reverse experiment using normal mice without any genetic mutations. They gave these healthy mice a chemical that artificially activated the mTOR growth pathway. These mice soon began showing behavioral traits linked to autism.</p>
<p>The researchers placed the mice in a three-chambered box to test their sociability. The healthy mice treated with the pathway activator lost interest in interacting with unfamiliar mice. They preferred to spend time alone in an empty chamber.</p>
<p>The scientists also tested the mice in an elevated maze to measure anxiety levels. The mice with the activated growth pathway avoided the open areas of the maze. This behavioral shift confirmed that an overactive growth pathway alone can cause social deficits and anxiety.</p>
<p>The researchers also wanted to prove that the specific nitric oxide attachment point on the TSC2 protein was the root of the issue. They used a genetic technique to alter the brake protein in a way that prevented nitric oxide from attaching to it. They then injected this modified protein into the prefrontal cortex of the mutant mice.</p>
<p>This tiny genetic edit successfully protected the brake protein from being destroyed by nitric oxide. Consequently, the cell growth pathway returned to normal. The mice also became more social and spent more time exploring the open arms of the elevated maze.</p>
<p>To expand their research beyond animal models, the scientists grew human nerve cells in the laboratory. They engineered these human cells to carry the Shank3 genetic mutation. Just like the mouse models, these human cells showed a loss of the TSC2 brake protein and an overactive growth pathway.</p>
<p>Treating these human nerve cells with the nitric oxide blocker produced a familiar result. The drug protected the brake protein and calmed the cellular overdrive. This confirmed that the nitric oxide mechanism operates similarly in human tissues.</p>
<p>Finally, the researchers looked for this same pattern in actual patients. They analyzed blood plasma samples from autistic children alongside samples from neurotypical children. Some of the autistic children had specific Shank3 genetic mutations, while others had autism with no known genetic cause.</p>
<p>The human blood tests mirrored the laboratory experiments perfectly. The samples from the autistic children contained much lower levels of the TSC2 brake protein. Their blood also showed clear signs of an overactive mTOR growth pathway.</p>
<p>While these experiments provide a clear map of a cellular malfunction, the researchers note some limitations. The human blood samples came from a relatively small group of participants. Future studies will need to involve much larger groups of people to see if this pattern holds true across different types of autism.</p>
<p>Additionally, nitric oxide interacts with many different proteins in the body, not just the TSC2 brake protein. The researchers acknowledge that other chemical pathways might also play a role in the biological development of autism. They plan to investigate these other potential connections in upcoming projects.</p>
<p>Still, the discovery that blocking nitric oxide can restore normal cell function offers a tangible target for drug development. Scientists can now focus on creating medications that protect the TSC2 protein or safely reduce nitric oxide levels in the brain. This could eventually lead to interventions for individuals with specific genetic mutations.</p>
<p>As Amal explained in a press statement about the research: “Autism is not one condition with one cause, and we don’t expect one pathway to explain every case. But by identifying a clearer chain of events, how nitric oxide-related changes can affect a key regulator like TSC2 and, in turn, mTOR, we hope to provide a more precise map for future research and, eventually, more targeted therapeutic ideas.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-026-03514-6" target="_blank">Nitric Oxide-Mediated S-Nitrosylation of TSC2 Drives mTOR dysregulation across Shank3 and Cntnap2 Models of Autism Spectrum Disorder</a>,” was authored by Shashank Kumar Ojha, Maryam Kartawy, Wajeha Hamoudi, Manish Kumar Tripathi, Adi Aran, and Haitham Amal.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/new-psychology-research-sheds-light-on-why-empathetic-people-end-up-with-toxic-partners/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">New psychology research sheds light on why empathetic people end up with toxic partners</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Mar 7th 2026, 12:00</div>
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<p><p>A recent study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/pere.70058" target="_blank">Personal Relationships</a></em> provides evidence that individuals with exceptionally trusting and kind personalities do not actively seek out manipulative or cruel partners. Instead, they simply tend to be less likely to reject these types of people compared to the average person. This dynamic suggests that a strong tendency to see the good in others can sometimes reduce a person’s selectivity in romantic contexts.</p>
<p>The authors behind the new study sought to better understand how contrasting personality traits interact during the very early stages of romantic attraction. In the study of relationships, there is an idea known as complementarity. This concept suggests that people might be drawn to partners who possess different characteristics than their own, such as a submissive person seeking a dominant partner.</p>
<p>“Finding the ‘perfect match,’ a romantic partner, is something many people aspire to. One might assume that we all simply want to be happy and, ideally, not alone. A substantial body of research shows that similarity in certain traits (e.g., values, beliefs, etc.) is beneficial for long-term relationship satisfaction. At the same time, dissimilarity in other traits, such as social dominance, may also have advantages,” said study author <a href="https://www.uibk.ac.at/en/peak/peak-experts/jana-sophie-kesenheimer/" target="_blank">Jana Sophie Kesenheimer</a>, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Innsbruck.</p>
<p>The researchers aimed to test whether this idea of opposites attracting applies to extreme personality profiles. Specifically, they looked at the interaction between the dark tetrad and the light triad of personality. The dark tetrad is a group of four traits associated with manipulation, callousness, and a desire for power.</p>
<p>The four dark traits are narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and everyday sadism. Narcissism involves a sense of superiority and a need for admiration, while Machiavellianism describes emotionally distant people who use strategic manipulation to exploit others. Psychopathy is characterized by impulsive behavior and a lack of empathy, and sadism involves experiencing pleasure from inflicting harm on other people.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the light triad consists of three positive traits that focus on altruism and empathy. These include humanism, which means valuing the dignity of others, and a belief in the basic goodness of people, known as faith in humanity. The third trait is Kantianism, which involves a preference for honesty and treating people with inherent worth rather than as tools for personal gain.</p>
<p>“We wanted to examine the ‘extremes’ of human personality (though still within the subclinical range): the dark and the light sides,” Kesenheimer explained. “Kaufman and colleagues (2019) proposed that individuals with light personalities may be particularly vulnerable to exploitation by those with dark traits. Bringing these assumptions together, we aimed to test whether this dynamic would emerge in a real dating context.”</p>
<p>To investigate these dynamics, the researchers organized six speed-dating sessions in May 2023. The sample included 128 participants, consisting of 66 men and 62 women. The participants had an average age of about 24 years, and the vast majority reported being single.</p>
<p>Before the dates began, participants filled out questionnaires to measure their dark and light personality traits. They rated how much they agreed with statements assessing their levels of manipulation, empathy, and other related characteristics. Following the surveys, they took part in a series of three-minute dates.</p>
<p>In total, the scientists analyzed 1,429 heterosexual speed dates, with each person going on an average of 11 dates. After each brief interaction, participants indicated their dating interest. They answered questions about whether they wanted to meet the specific person again, as well as their interest in short-term sexual encounters or long-term relationships.</p>
<p>The researchers evaluated physical attractiveness as a control measure. Both the participants themselves and independent observers rated physical appearance. This allowed the scientists to account for the known effect that physical beauty has on initial romantic attraction, ensuring that personality effects could be seen clearly.</p>
<p>The findings revealed that Machiavellianism and sadism generally reduced a person’s dating success. Participants who scored high in Machiavellianism were chosen less frequently as potential partners for both short-term and long-term relationships. Similarly, participants with sadistic tendencies were less likely to be selected by their dating partners.</p>
<p>Narcissism and psychopathy did not show this negative relationship with dating outcomes. People with these traits were not rejected by the general pool of daters at a higher rate. In fact, narcissists, psychopaths, and sadists tended to show a higher overall interest in pursuing short-term mating opportunities compared to the rest of the group.</p>
<p>Machiavellian individuals displayed a heightened interest in both short-term and long-term relationships. This pattern suggests that their manipulative goals might find fulfillment in a variety of relationship types. In contrast, people with light personalities showed less interest in short-term encounters and preferred to focus on meeting their dates again.</p>
<p>When the researchers looked at how specific pairs interacted, they noticed a clear pattern regarding Machiavellianism and sadism. The dating success of people with these specific dark traits depended heavily on the light personality traits of their partners. When their dating partner scored low on light traits, the Machiavellian and sadistic individuals were strongly rejected.</p>
<p>However, when their dating partner scored high on light traits, this rejection essentially disappeared. Individuals with light personalities did not show a heightened attraction to these manipulative or cruel dates. They simply did not dislike them as intensely as the other participants did.</p>
<p>The scientists also found that this dynamic was not reciprocal. People with Machiavellian or sadistic traits did not show any special preference for daters with light personalities. This lack of mutual interest provides evidence that there is no specific attraction between dark and light profiles, ruling out the idea that these opposites naturally seek each other out.</p>
<p>“Based on our findings, there does not appear to be a specific attraction between light and dark personalities,” Kesenheimer told PsyPost. “Rather, individuals with light personalities are more likely to place trust in people who are typically rejected by others.”</p>
<p>“Given that people may pursue different goals in dating (for some, finding love; for others, perhaps trolling, manipulating, or controlling others, as individuals with sadistic or Machiavellian tendencies might) one should maintain a healthy level of caution, even when someone appears charming. When falling in love, however, this may be particularly difficult.”</p>
<p>These findings come with a few limitations. First, the researchers noted that the effect sizes were relatively small, meaning that personality traits are just one piece of the complex puzzle of romantic attraction. Additionally, because the study relied on self-reported questionnaires, participants might have underreported their dark tendencies to appear more socially acceptable.</p>
<p>The scientists also pointed out that the exact psychological mechanism remains unclear. It is not known whether individuals with light personalities recognize the manipulative traits and consciously choose to overlook them. It is equally possible that their trusting nature simply prevents them from noticing the warning signs in the first place.</p>
<p>Future research could explore these interactions over a longer period of time. Tracking couples could help determine if these initial matches eventually lead to emotional abuse or toxic relationship dynamics. Scientists also suggest looking at online dating platforms and exploring these interactions among queer individuals to see if the patterns hold true in different contexts.</p>
<p>“It is important to clarify that light personalities – loving and trusting individuals – do not actively choose dark personalities (nor is the reverse true),” Kesenheimer added. “Instead, the key finding is that individuals with light personalities are less likely to reject those whom others tend to reject. This highlights how a general tendency to see the good in people, while often positive, may also reduce selectivity in romantic contexts.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/pere.70058" target="_blank">Shedding Light on Dark Romance: Light Personalities’ Reduced Rejection of Machiavellian and Sadistic Partners</a>,” was authored by Jana Sophie Kesenheimer, Amadeus Angermann, Lucia Maria Raschel, and Tobias Greitemeyer.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/cognitive-deficits-underlying-adhd-do-not-explain-the-link-with-problematic-social-media-use/" 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;">Cognitive deficits underlying ADHD do not explain the link with problematic social media use</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Mar 7th 2026, 10:00</div>
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<p><p>A study by researchers in the Netherlands found that individuals with higher levels of ADHD symptoms are more prone to problematic social media use and problematic gaming. However, this link is not mediated by the cognitive deficits underlying ADHD, such as inhibitory control deficits, reward sensitivity, or temporal processing deficits. The paper was published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2026.108608"><em>Addictive Behaviors</em></a>.</p>
<p>Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by persistent patterns of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that interfere with daily functioning. It typically begins in childhood, but for many individuals, it continues into adulthood. Most often, it is first diagnosed when children start school and ADHD symptoms come into conflict with school roles.</p>
<p>Studies have indicated that certain cognitive deficits might underlie ADHD symptoms. One core cognitive deficit associated with ADHD is impaired inhibitory control, meaning a difficulty suppressing automatic or inappropriate responses. This can manifest as interrupting others, acting without thinking, or struggling to resist distractions.</p>
<p>Another important feature of ADHD is altered reward sensitivity, where individuals show a strong preference for immediate rewards over delayed but larger rewards. Temporal processing deficits are also common, involving difficulties in accurately perceiving and estimating time intervals. As a result, people with ADHD tend to struggle with planning, time management, and waiting.</p>
<p>Lead author Luka Todorovic and his colleagues note that, according to the Triple-Pathway Model, ADHD symptoms arise from three neuropsychological pathways: an inhibitory control pathway, a reward sensitivity pathway, and a temporal processing pathway.</p>
<p>Alterations in these pathways give rise to the types of cognitive deficits described above. The researchers wanted to explore whether those cognitive deficits explain the association between ADHD symptoms and behavioral addictions such as problematic social media use or problematic gaming.</p>
<p>The study included 111 emerging adults with an average age of 21. Fifty-three percent of the participants were of European origin, while 41% were Asian, and 84% of the overall sample were women. Because some participants failed specific attention checks, the authors ultimately analyzed the data of 109 participants for associations with problematic social media use, and 87 participants for problematic gaming.</p>
<p>Study participants completed self-report assessments of problematic social media use (the Social Media Disorder Scale), problematic gaming (the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale), ADHD symptoms (the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale), inhibitory control (the Inhibition Subscale of the Teenage Executive Functioning Inventory), reward sensitivity (the Delay Discounting Subscale of the Quick Delay Questionnaire), and temporal processing (the Individual Time Span Scale). They also underwent behavioral assessments of inhibitory control, reward sensitivity, and temporal processing by completing computerized cognitive tasks.</p>
<p>Results showed that 41% of study participants had elevated ADHD symptom levels. Twenty-seven percent of participants had symptoms of problematic social media use, while 9% had symptoms of problematic gaming.</p>
<p>As expected, individuals with higher levels of ADHD symptoms tended to self-report higher levels of the assessed cognitive deficits—inhibitory control, reward sensitivity, and temporal processing. However, these associations were absent when the computerized behavioral measures of these deficits were used.</p>
<p>Individuals with more severe ADHD symptoms also tended to report higher levels of problematic social media use and problematic gaming symptoms. However, contrary to the researchers’ expectations, these links were not mediated by the three assessed cognitive deficits (reward sensitivity, inhibitory control, and temporal processing).</p>
<p>Exploratory analyses revealed that it is possible that inhibitory control and temporal processing deficits mediate the link between hyperactivity/impulsivity (a specific dimension of ADHD symptoms) and problematic social media use.</p>
<p>“These findings indicate that cognitive deficits alone are unlikely to account for problematic digital media use, and that PSMU [problematic social media use] and PG [problematic gaming] may rely on partly distinct mechanisms. Inhibitory control deficits may be particularly relevant to address for individuals with concurrent ADHD symptoms and PSMU,” the study authors concluded.</p>
<p>The study contributes to the scientific knowledge about the neuropsychological bases of ADHD. However, it should be noted that the cross-sectional design of the study does not allow any causal inferences to be derived from the results.</p>
<p>The paper, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2026.108608">ADHD symptoms and problematic digital media use in emerging adults: Investigating the role of cognitive deficits as mediators,</a>” was authored by Luka Todorovic, Janina Baumer, and Helle Larsen.</p></p>
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
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