<table style="border:1px solid #adadad; background-color: #F3F1EC; color: #666666; padding:8px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; line-height:16px; margin-bottom:6px;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:20px;font-weight:bold;">PsyPost – Psychology News</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/fake-medicine-yields-surprisingly-real-results-for-older-adults-memory-and-stress/" 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;">Fake medicine yields surprisingly real results for older adults’ memory and stress</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 9th 2026, 10:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>Taking a simple sugar pill can boost both the physical and mental health of older adults, even when they know the pill contains no active medicine. Research published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijchp.2026.100673" target="_blank" rel="noopener">International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology</a></em> shows that these transparently fake treatments can reduce stress and elevate short-term memory just as well as pills given under deception. These results point toward a highly ethical and side-effect-free way to help aging populations maintain their everyday capabilities.</p>
<p>Medical science frequently relies on the placebo effect to understand how new drugs work. A placebo is an inactive substance, such as a sugar pill or a saline injection. In typical clinical trials, researchers give some people the real medicine and others a placebo without telling them which one they received. The mere expectation of getting better often causes a real physical or psychological improvement in the patient.</p>
<p>For many years, doctors assumed that patients had to believe they were taking real medicine for a placebo to work. Deception seemed like a mandatory requirement for the mind to trigger the body’s internal healing responses. Recent studies have challenged that old assumption by testing entirely transparent treatments. Medical researchers refer to these transparent treatments as open-label placebos.</p>
<p>When a doctor hands a patient an open-label placebo, they clearly explain that the pill has no active medical ingredients. The doctor also explains that the human brain can still produce a healing response just by going through the familiar motions of taking daily medicine. Acknowledging this mind-body connection can activate automatic biological responses that improve a patient’s symptoms.</p>
<p>Prior tests of open-label placebos have mostly focused on specific medical conditions, like chronic joint pain or irritable bowel syndrome. Few researchers have looked at how these transparent pills might affect the natural physical and mental changes that come with getting older. Aging is heavily influenced by a person’s individual expectations and mindset. People who hold negative stereotypes about aging tend to experience much faster declines in their general health.</p>
<p>Diletta Barbiani, a psychology researcher at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, Italy, led a new investigation to see if transparent placebos could alter typical aging patterns. Barbiani worked with psychology professors Alessandro Antonietti and Francesco Pagnini, who are also based at the Università Cattolica. The research team wanted to see if an inactive pill could improve memory, attention, and physical mobility in older adults without relying on any form of deception.</p>
<p>Pagnini noted in a press release that the project fits into a broader scientific mission. “The study is part of an established line of research in which we analyze the role of the mind in aging processes, which is very important,” Pagnini said. The researchers designed a trial to see exactly how these mind-body connections manifest in older adults.</p>
<p>To test this idea, Barbiani and her colleagues recruited ninety healthy adults between the ages of 65 and 90 living in the community. They randomly divided these volunteers into three groups of thirty people each. The first group served as a control group and received no pills at all.</p>
<p>The researchers gave the second group a three-week supply of pills but used a classic deceptive approach. They told these participants that the pills were a daily multivitamin formulated specifically to boost cognitive abilities, reduce fatigue, and lower stress. The pills were entirely inactive, but the participants believed they were taking a helpful supplement.</p>
<p>The third group received the exact same inactive pills, but the researchers used an honest, open-label approach. They explicitly told these participants that the tablets were simply sugar pills with no therapeutic properties whatsoever. Along with the truth, the researchers gave this group a brief explanation of how the placebo effect works.</p>
<p>The team explained that taking a pill can act as a powerful psychological trigger. They compared it to the classical conditioning experiments of Ivan Pavlov, where dogs learned to salivate at the sound of a bell because they associated the sound with food. In the same way, the researchers explained, the daily ritual of taking a pill can train the human body to automatically release chemical responses that improve well-being.</p>
<p>All participants took a battery of tests before the three-week period began and again after it ended. The researchers measured subjective feelings using questionnaires about perceived stress, daytime sleepiness, and overall life satisfaction. They also measured objective skills using memory tests, attention tasks, and physical mobility exercises. The physical tests included measuring walking speed, standing balance, and the ability to stand up from a chair repeatedly.</p>
<p>To measure short-term working memory, the researchers used a number-recall test. The experimenter read a sequence of digits aloud, and the participant had to repeat them back in the exact same order or in reverse. To test selective attention, the participants completed a color-word task. They had to name the ink color of a printed word while ignoring the actual word itself, which was often the name of a different color.</p>
<p>At the end of the three weeks, the group that knowingly took the sugar pills reported a measurable drop in their stress levels. Their perceived stress scores were notably lower than both the control group and the group that took the deceptive placebo. The honest approach seemed to offer the absolute best relief for daily emotional tension.</p>
<p>The open-label placebo group also performed better on objective tests of short-term memory. When asked to remember and repeat the sequences of numbers, the participants who knew they were taking a placebo scored higher than the control group. Both groups taking pills showed clear improvements from their own starting scores on attention and physical performance tasks.</p>
<p>The objective improvements were quite pronounced across the board. The group that knew they were taking a placebo showed improved physical test scores and a noticeable jump in memory capacity. The deceptive placebo group also saw physical and cognitive gains, though the transparent group showed particularly strong effects. These results suggest that deception is not a strict requirement for older adults to experience the benefits of a placebo.</p>
<p>Being honest and explaining the underlying science seemed to foster a strong sense of trust between the researchers and the participants. The participants who knew the truth may have felt more engaged in the experimental process, which could have amplified their bodily response. A transparent explanation might give patients a greater sense of agency over their own health outcomes.</p>
<p>While the results show great promise, the researchers acknowledged several limitations to their experimental design. The sample size of ninety people was relatively small. A larger group of participants would be necessary to confirm these patterns and ensure the outcomes were consistent across different demographics. The small sample size might also explain why the differences between the groups were not statistically significant for other psychological measures, like optimism or daytime sleepiness.</p>
<p>The short time frame of the study also leaves several unanswered questions. The participants only took the pills for three weeks, which is a very brief window to track changes in aging. It remains unclear whether the benefits to memory, stress, and physical mobility would last over several months or years of taking an open-label placebo.</p>
<p>The researchers also noted that they did not conduct a formal medical screening for dementia or other cognitive impairments before the trial began. All participants appeared healthy and understood the instructions during the trial. However, standardized cognitive tests would help future researchers understand exactly who benefits most from these inactive treatments.</p>
<p>The team also hopes to track biological markers in future trials. Measuring heart rate, brain waves, or stress hormones like cortisol could reveal exactly how the body translates a known fake pill into a real physical benefit. Right now, the exact physiological pathways remain largely theoretical.</p>
<p>Despite these limitations, the concept of open-label placebos offers an exciting new tool for geriatric care. Doctors often face a dilemma when they suspect a patient might benefit from a placebo. Lying to patients violates ethical standards of medical transparency. The success of open-label placebos provides an ethical way out of this trap.</p>
<p>In the future, healthcare providers might prescribe a simple, honest placebo alongside standard treatments to help older adults manage the natural declines of aging. By harnessing the power of the mind in a completely transparent way, older adults could potentially improve their physical and mental independence. This approach offers a potential treatment that costs very little and has absolutely zero side effects.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijchp.2026.100673" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Placebo mechanisms in aging: A randomized controlled trial comparing deceptive and open-label placebos on psychological, cognitive, and physical functioning in older adults</a>,” was authored by Diletta Barbiani, Alessandro Antonietti, and Francesco Pagnini.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/people-view-coercive-control-in-relationships-as-less-harmful-when-the-victim-is-a-man/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">People view coercive control in relationships as less harmful when the victim is a man</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 9th 2026, 08:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>A recent study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-025-01616-z" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sex Roles</a></em> suggests that the general public often underestimates the dangers of controlling relationship behaviors when the victims are men. The research provides evidence that people tend to take emotional and psychological abuse more seriously when it is directed at women, leaving men and LGBTQ+ individuals at a higher risk of being overlooked. These findings indicate that societal stereotypes continue to shape how people perceive and respond to unhealthy relationship dynamics.</p>
<p>Coercive control is an ongoing pattern of behavior where one person tries to dominate, isolate, or intimidate their partner. This concept goes beyond a single argument, instead describing a sustained campaign to restrict a person’s freedom and independence. Most public awareness campaigns and previous scientific studies have focused heavily on women experiencing this type of abuse from men in heterosexual relationships.</p>
<p>As a result of this narrow focus, scientists noticed a significant gap in understanding how society views other victims. Men and LGBTQ+ individuals also experience high rates of intimate partner violence, yet they often face unique barriers when seeking help. Certain controlling behaviors even target minority identities directly, such as a partner threatening to reveal someone’s sexual orientation to family members without their consent.</p>
<p>The researchers wanted to understand if the gender or sexual orientation of the people involved changes how the public views the severity of the abuse. They designed the study to test whether everyday people recognize controlling behavior when it happens to men or individuals in same-sex relationships. By exploring these attitudes, the scientists hoped to identify gaps in public knowledge and improve future support systems for all victims.</p>
<p>“I have been working with Dr. Susan Lagdon of Ulster University in this area since 2020. Previously, when we presented the Northern Ireland public with scenarios describing coercive control, we found that they were much more knowledgeable about obvious coercive control (e.g. making threats of violence towards the victim) than more subtle forms (e.g. encouraging the victim to dress or eat in a certain manner),” said study author Julie-Ann Jordan, a senior researcher at <a href="https://www.impactresearchcentre.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the IMPACT Research Centre/Forensic Managed Care Network</a>.</p>
<p>“We also found that, when asked to read scenarios describing heterosexual relationships, the public were less good at recognizing associated risks and support needs of male victims compared to female victims. Following this preliminary study, many people asked us why we didn’t look at LGBTQ+ relationships. It was pointed out that it is already well documented that in LGBTQ+ relationships specific coercive control tactics are often used such as threatening to disclose a person’s LGBTQ+ status without consent or isolating a person from the LGBTQ+ community.”</p>
<p>“We had originally wanted to cover a broader range of relationship types in our first study; however, due to survey running costs, we had to limit the focus to scenarios describing male and female perpetrators in heterosexual relationships. Fortunately, in 2022, we were able to get some money to run a study with a broader focus spanning attitudes towards coercive control in both heterosexual and LGBTQ+ relationships – that’s what the present study is about.”</p>
<p>For the study, the scientists recruited a sample of 1,872 adults living in the United States using an online survey platform. The participants had an average age of forty, and the group included slightly more men than women. The respondents were randomly assigned to read text-based scenarios describing different types of fictional couples.</p>
<p>These scenarios varied the gender of the victim and the perpetrator, creating four distinct relationship pairings. Participants read about a woman abused by a man, a man abused by a woman, a woman abused by a woman, or a man abused by a man. For each pairing, the participants read one scenario describing obvious coercive control and another scenario describing less obvious coercive control.</p>
<p>Obvious coercive control included extreme behaviors like making death threats, blocking a partner from going to work, and taking over their finances. Less obvious coercive control involved subtle manipulation, like replacing a partner’s wardrobe, ordering their meals for them, and discouraging them from speaking to certain friends. Participants in the same-sex relationship groups read an additional scenario detailing forms of abuse specific to the LGBTQ+ community, like isolating the victim from LGBTQ+ social circles.</p>
<p>After reading the stories, the respondents rated their agreement with ten specific statements using a five-point scale. These statements asked if the victim was in danger of physical or mental harm, and if the victim should seek outside help. They also asked participants to evaluate whether the actions constituted domestic abuse and if the behaviors should be classified as a crime. The researchers then compared the responses across the different groups to see how the demographic details of the fictional couples influenced public opinion.</p>
<p>The results suggest that the gender of the victim heavily influences how people view controlling behavior. When the scenarios described obvious abuse, participants showed stronger agreement that women would feel frightened and should report the behavior to the police, compared to when the victims were men.</p>
<p>The differences in public opinion became even wider when the scenarios described less obvious forms of control. In situations involving subtle abuse, participants were much more likely to recognize the emotional and physical dangers when the victim was a woman. When a man was the victim of subtle control, participants tended to view the behavior as more commonplace and less worthy of police intervention.</p>
<p>The gender of the perpetrator had a smaller effect on public opinion than the gender of the victim. People did, however, perceive a slightly higher risk of physical harm when the abuser was a man. The scientists noted that this combined effect means a man experiencing subtle abuse from a woman receives the lowest level of public concern and recognition.</p>
<p>“In our research, the public were less likely to think that males experiencing coercive control would be negatively affected and should seek help compared to female victims,” Jordan told PsyPost. “Yet, coercive control negatively affects people of all genders and sexual orientations – anyone can be a victim.”</p>
<p>When examining the sexual orientation of the survey respondents, the researchers observed that individuals identifying as LGBTQ+ expressed lower levels of concern about coercive control compared to heterosexual respondents. LGBTQ+ participants were more likely to view controlling behaviors as commonplace and less likely to view them as criminal acts.</p>
<p>“We were surprised and concerned that members of the LGBTQ+ community appear to be less aware of the risks associated with coercive control,” Jordan said. “This may be because public messaging campaigns have historically portrayed domestic abuse as being a ‘heterosexual’ issue. In the absence of clear information about what is appropriate in relationships, individuals from the LGBTQ+ community may have limited knowledge about what to expect in relationships and inappropriate behaviors may be ‘normalized.'”</p>
<p>The findings highlight that “anyone can be a victim of coercive control, this includes men and LGBTQ+ individuals,” Jordan said. “If you are concerned that you might be experiencing control yourself, or are worried that a friend or family member might be a victim of coercive control please reach out to local domestic violence support organizations for advice.”</p>
<p>The study does have a few limitations. Because the research relied on self-reported surveys, some participants might have altered their answers to appear more socially acceptable. Additionally, the study scenarios only featured individuals whose gender identity matched the sex they were assigned at birth.</p>
<p>Because gender identity and sexual orientation are complex, the scientists could not include all subgroups of the LGBTQ+ community within a single study. Future research should aim to include scenarios featuring transgender and non-binary individuals to see how the public views abuse in those specific relationships. Gathering larger samples of specific minority groups will help clarify how different communities understand and experience domestic abuse.</p>
<p>Moving forward, the researchers plan to use this information to create better educational resources. They are currently developing a training program designed to teach young adults about healthy relationship dynamics. By equipping young people with a better understanding of coercive control, the scientists hope to prevent future abuse and ensure all victims know how to find help.</p>
<p>“I am a team member on a research program led by Dr. Susan Lagdon which aims to develop a Healthy Young Adult Relationship (HYAR) educational program,” Jordan told PsyPost. “The educational program will be designed to be delivered by community organizations and include an app to reinforce weekly content, with content covering a diverse range of relationships.”</p>
<p>“We have already received advice from young people, parents and professionals about the content and format of this training program (MRC- PHIND; £150,000 awarded in 2022), and are in the process of applying for money to run a trial evaluating the effectiveness of the HYAR educational program. Ultimately our goal is to use HYAR to equip young people with the skills and confidence they need to have healthy relationships and avoid becoming victims of coercive control.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-025-01616-z" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Attitudes of U.S. Adults Towards Coercive Control as a Function of Victim and Perpetrator Gender and Respondent Sexual Orientation</a>,” was authored by Julie-Ann Jordan, Niamh Hurst, Claire McCartan, Daniel McFadden, Ciaran Shannon, Kevin F. W. Dyer, and Susan Lagdon.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/casual-sex-is-linked-to-lower-self-esteem-and-weaker-moral-orientations-in-women-but-not-men/" 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;">Casual sex is linked to lower self-esteem and weaker moral orientations in women but not men</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 9th 2026, 06:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>A recent study published in the journal <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2026.113697" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Personality and Individual Differences</a></em> provides evidence that a person’s willingness to engage in casual sex is linked to different psychological traits depending on their gender. For men, this trait is mostly unrelated to how they view themselves or their morals, but for women, it tends to be associated with lower self-esteem and weaker moral orientations.</p>
<p>Sociosexuality is a psychological concept describing a person’s willingness to engage in sexual activity outside of a committed romantic relationship. People with unrestricted sociosexuality are comfortable with casual sex and do not require love or emotional closeness before becoming physically intimate. On the other hand, people with restricted sociosexuality prefer to establish a strong emotional bond and commitment before having sex.</p>
<p>While men tend to report higher unrestricted sociosexuality on average, there is a massive amount of variation within each gender. This wide variation led scientists to wonder if sociosexuality carries different psychological associations for men than it does for women. Specifically, scientists wanted to know if an openness to casual sex relates differently to how men and women judge their own self-worth and moral character.</p>
<p>Some past evidence suggests that society judges women much more harshly than men for having multiple sexual partners. Because of these cultural pressures, scientists suspected that women who engage in casual sex might experience more negative feelings about themselves. They also wondered if these differing social expectations might cause sociosexuality to connect differently to moral and immoral tendencies in men and women.</p>
<p>“While it’s well established that men tend to score higher than women on sociosexuality (the willingness to engage in sex outside a committed relationship), within-sex variation is actually much larger than the average difference between sexes. That means there’s more differences in sociosexuality within men and women than between men versus women,” said study author Charlotte Kinrade, an assistant professor of psychology at Kennesaw State University.</p>
<p>“What we noticed was a lack of research asking whether that within-sex variation means different things for men versus women, particularly when it comes to how people feel about themselves and how they orient toward moral or immoral behavior. A few studies had hinted at possible sex differences, but the evidence was scattered and inconclusive, so we wanted to address the question more comprehensively.”</p>
<p>The scientists recruited 295 adult participants from the United States through an online survey platform. The sample included 120 women and had an average age of about 37 years old. The participants completed a series of randomized questionnaires designed to measure their sexual attitudes, self-judgments, and moral orientations.</p>
<p>The scientists measured sociosexuality by asking participants about their past sexual behaviors, their attitudes toward casual sex, and their desire for short sexual encounters. To assess core self-judgments, the survey included questions about self-esteem, authenticity, and a general sense of purpose in life. Authenticity refers to how much a person feels their actions align with their true inner self, rather than feeling controlled by outside forces.</p>
<p>The scientists also measured several moral and immoral orientations using validated psychological scales. They evaluated moral orientations by asking about personal integrity, the frequency of recent helping behaviors, and altruistic reasons for volunteering. They assessed immoral orientations by measuring tendencies to lie, the justification of unethical behaviors, and moral disengagement, which is a cognitive habit of ignoring moral standards to excuse bad behavior.</p>
<p>When looking at the data, the scientists found distinct patterns for men and women. For the men in the sample, sociosexuality was largely unrelated to their self-esteem, their sense of authenticity, or their sense of purpose. A man’s willingness to engage in casual sex also had no significant relationship with his moral orientations, like personal integrity or a tendency to help others.</p>
<p>However, the men who reported higher sociosexuality did show a weak positive relationship with some immoral orientations. Specifically, these men tended to be slightly more prone to everyday lying and justifying immoral actions. Beyond this slight increase in certain dishonest behaviors, a man’s sexual strategy did not seem to heavily influence his broader psychological or moral profile.</p>
<p>For women, the relationships between sociosexuality and psychological traits were noticeably different. Women who reported higher levels of sociosexuality tended to have lower self-esteem, a reduced sense of authenticity, and a lower sense of purpose in life. These negative connections to self-judgments were mostly small to medium in size, but they were statistically significant.</p>
<p>In addition to lower self-judgments, higher sociosexuality in women was connected to weaker moral orientations. Women who were more open to casual sex reported lower levels of personal integrity and fewer recent helping behaviors. They also scored higher on measures of immoral orientations, meaning they showed stronger tendencies toward moral disengagement, everyday lying, and justifying bad behavior.</p>
<p>The scientists verified that these differences between men and women were statistically significant and not caused by restricted statistical ranges or low measurement reliability. They also confirmed that the differences were not simply due to the age of the participants or the specific ways the measurements were recorded. The data clearly provides evidence that sociosexuality holds a different psychological weight for women than it does for men.</p>
<p>“The correlations we found for women were generally small to medium in size, which is actually meaningful in personality research,” Kinrade told PsyPost. “The pattern mattered more than any single effect size: across many different measures of self-judgment, moral orientation, and immoral orientation, the direction was remarkably consistent for women and notably absent for men.”</p>
<p>“The main takeaway is that sociosexuality doesn’t seem to carry the same psychological associations for men and women. For men in our sample, higher sociosexuality was largely unrelated to how they felt about themselves or their moral orientations. For women, higher sociosexuality was associated with lower self-esteem, reduced sense of authenticity and purpose, weaker moral orientations (like integrity and prosocial behavior), and stronger tendencies toward things like moral disengagement and lying.”</p>
<p>While the data shows clear patterns, the scientists ask the public to avoid misinterpreting these findings as an attack on women. Because the study relies on self-reported surveys taken at a single point in time, the exact causal relationship remains unknown.</p>
<p>“We can’t say whether higher sociosexuality leads to lower self-regard in women or whether pre-existing lower self-regard predisposes women toward short-term mating as both pathways are theoretically plausible,” Kinrade said. “Importantly, we’re not saying women who are more sociosexual are worse people. The data reflect correlations, not causes, and one explanation is sociocultural: women face harsher social judgments for the same sexual behaviors, and those external pressures may get internalized.”</p>
<p>Moving forward, scientists suggest conducting longitudinal studies, which track the same people over a long period of time. This approach would help determine whether changes in self-esteem and moral orientations happen before or after a person engages in casual sex. Future research should also involve more diverse, global samples to see if these gender differences exist in cultures with more equal sexual standards.</p>
<p>“One direction we’re interested in is the role of autonomy: do women who feel genuinely self-directed in their sexual choices show the same patterns as those who feel socially pressured?” Kinrade explained. “Longitudinal work would help clarify the causal story.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2026.113697" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sociosexuality in men and women: Considering core self-judgments and (im)moral orientations</a>,” was authored by William Hart, Charlotte Kinrade, Braden T. Hall, and Danielle E. Wahlers.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/the-closing-gap-in-online-appearance-preoccupation-among-youth-2026-03-26/" 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;">Young men steadily catch up to young women in online appearance anxiety</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 8th 2026, 20:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>Young people who spend a lot of time comparing their bodies and faces to others on the internet often maintain high levels of these appearance concerns throughout their teens and into young adulthood. While those who engage less with social media start out with lower levels of appearance preoccupation, their concerns tend to rise over time until almost all youth share similar burdens. These patterns were detailed in a recent study published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000587">Psychology of Popular Media</a>.</p>
<p>The visual nature of the modern internet has created a continuous stream of idealized imagery. From heavily edited photos of friends to curated videos of celebrities, young people face a barrage of content that encourages them to evaluate their own looks. This behavior is called online appearance preoccupation.</p>
<p>Online appearance preoccupation involves frequently comparing one’s physical traits to people deemed more attractive. It also includes spending excessive time managing one’s own digital self-presentation. This might mean repeatedly checking photos, using filters to hide perceived flaws, or constantly seeking validation through likes and comments.</p>
<p>Previous research has linked this digital fixation to a host of mental health struggles. Symptoms of depression, social anxiety, and disordered eating tend to be higher among people who heavily curate their online presence. Researchers wanted to know how these thought patterns evolve as teenagers grow into adults.</p>
<p>A key goal was to identify whether foundational emotional struggles or existing social media habits shape the trajectory of a person’s digital appearance concerns. Most prior inquiries into this topic captured just a single snapshot in time. A snapshot cannot reveal whether a teenager’s intense focus on online aesthetics fades or hardens into a permanent fixture of their adult psychology.</p>
<p>To answer these questions, Griffith University psychology researcher Melanie J. Zimmer-Gembeck led an investigation that tracked the same group of young people over five years. Zimmer-Gembeck and her colleagues sought to understand how gender, emotional health, and technology habits influence how appearance concerns develop. They also wanted to know if certain groups of young people are more vulnerable to escalating anxieties than others.</p>
<p>The researchers recruited 565 Australian students for the project. The participants were between the ages of thirteen and twenty-two when the data collection began. Approximately sixty percent of the participants were young women, and forty percent were young men. The adolescents and young adults completed three comprehensive surveys distributed over a five-year period.</p>
<p>During each survey phase, the students answered questions about their social media habits and emotional wellbeing. They rated how strongly they agreed with statements assessing their daily social media usage frequency. The participants also completed questionnaires designed to identify symptoms of social anxiety, such as a fear of negative evaluation by peers.</p>
<p>Other sections of the survey measured feelings of depression, such as persistent loneliness and sadness. To quantify online appearance preoccupation, the youth reported how much their feelings about their bodies were influenced by the pictures other people posted online. They also indicated how much effort they put into their own online appearance.</p>
<p>When looking at the baseline data collected in the first year, certain patterns emerged immediately. Young women reported higher levels of online appearance preoccupation compared to young men. Higher levels of digital preoccupation were also closely tied to intense social media use among all participants. Participants who reported more depressive symptoms and higher social anxiety scores during the initial survey similarly demonstrated an intense focus on their digital presentation.</p>
<p>As the researchers analyzed the data across the full five years, the changes over time revealed two distinct trajectories. For participants who exhibited an initially high level of online appearance preoccupation, those concerns remained steadily high as the years passed. This highly preoccupied group largely consisted of young women, intense social media users, and those with higher baseline anxiety or depression scores.</p>
<p>Their focus on digital aesthetics did not fade as they matured. Instead, for youth already grappling with mental health challenges or heavy internet usage, a high degree of digital body anxiety appears to become a stable trait. Their preoccupation remained consistent through late adolescence and into early adulthood.</p>
<p>A quite different pattern appeared among the participants who started the study with relatively little concern about their digital appearance. This group initially included many of the young men and the individuals with low baseline social media usage. Over the five-year tracking period, this initially unbothered group experienced a steady increase in online appearance preoccupation.</p>
<p>As these youths progressed through adolescence and into emerging adulthood, their focus on digital comparisons grew. Their efforts to curate a perfect online image steadily rose to match the habits of their highly preoccupied peers. The researchers noted that this created a closing gap between the demographic groups.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the two distinct trajectories meant that nearly all the participants converged on a similar mindset. The young adults who started with low concern steadily caught up to those who started with high concern. By the final wave of the study, the vast majority of the participants reported a moderate to high degree of online appearance preoccupation.</p>
<p>The behavior became almost universal across the sample. It did not matter whether a participant was male or female, or whether they had started the tracking period with perfect mental health. A moderate level of online appearance preoccupation simply became the typical experience by later adolescence.</p>
<p>Gender differences were present at the start, but gender did not significantly alter the actual pace of change. Young men started at a lower baseline than young women, but their concern rose at a similar speed over time. This suggests that young men are not immune to digital image anxieties.</p>
<p>Psychologists believe that societal pressures placed on young women might trigger an earlier onset of appearance anxieties. Young women are frequently exposed to cultural messages that link their personal worth directly to their physical beauty. For young men, similar pressures regarding muscularity and grooming seem to arrive slightly later in their social development.</p>
<p>The same principle applied to mental health and technology habits. A high level of social media usage or emotional distress at the study’s onset reliably predicted who would start with the highest appearance concerns. Yet it was the youth with the lowest initial risk factors who experienced the most rapid growth in online appearance anxiety as they aged.</p>
<p>The findings offer a clear view of how appearance concerns develop over time. The researchers did acknowledge a few limitations in their approach. The final data collection point took place after a three-year gap, which coincided with the peak of the global pandemic. The unique social restrictions during that era might have heavily influenced how the participants engaged with the internet.</p>
<p>Tracking the youth across only three specific points in time also limited the researchers. It prevented them from detecting mild or temporary fluctuations in the data. With more frequent surveys, the scientists might have seen whether appearance anxieties dip and rise based on specific life events.</p>
<p>The study also focused on the general frequency of social media usage rather than its specific features. Different digital elements might shape appearance anxiety in varied ways. A focus on interactive features like follower counts, or exposure to specific aesthetic filters, could yield more detailed results in future projects.</p>
<p>The demographic makeup of the participants also presented a limitation. The sample was predominantly composed of teenagers of white European descent from one specific region of Australia. The trajectories observed in this group might not perfectly mirror the experiences of youth from other cultural backgrounds or geographic locations.</p>
<p>Future projects could track these digital behaviors starting from an even younger age to capture the earliest signs of anxiety. Researchers hope to measure body dissatisfaction directly alongside internet habits to see how the two interact in early childhood. It would also help to test the relationship in reverse, investigating whether early internet focus actually causes the onset of clinical depression.</p>
<p>Understanding when these digital concerns first escalate might help psychologists build better preventative tools. Early interventions could teach children how to process completely fabricated beauty standards before those standards harm their self-image. Protecting the emotional health of young internet users requires knowing exactly when their relationship with digital media turns sour.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000587" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Online Appearance Preoccupation in and Beyond Adolescence: A Longitudinal Study of Social Media Use, Anxiety, and Depression as Correlates of Growth and Stability</a>,” was authored by Melanie J. Zimmer-Gembeck, Veya Seekis, and Amanda L. Duffy.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/teenage-brains-process-mechanical-and-academic-skills-differently-across-the-sex-2026-03-26/" 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;">Teenage brains process mechanical and academic skills differently across the sexes</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 8th 2026, 18:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>Adolescent boys and girls begin to develop different cognitive strengths as they progress through high school, with boys increasingly favored in mechanical reasoning and girls leaning toward math and verbal skills. These varied cognitive profiles seem to shift as teenagers age, guided by underlying changes in mental processing speed. The findings were recently published in <a></a><a href="https://doi.org/10.65550/001c.144064" target="_blank">Intelligence & Cognitive Abilities</a>.</p>
<p>The concept of cognitive tilt describes a specific pattern of mental strengths and weaknesses. It means an individual’s cognitive profile leans heavily toward one area of strength when paired against a relative weakness. Someone with an academic tilt might excel at reading and basic math but struggle with fixing a broken appliance. Conversely, someone with a mechanical tilt might instinctively understand how a car engine works but face challenges passing a traditional chemistry exam.</p>
<p>Thomas Coyle, a researcher at the University of Texas at San Antonio, conducted the study to expand upon earlier investigations of cognitive ability. Coyle wanted to track how mechanical and spatial forms of tilt evolve over the teenage years. He also aimed to see if differences in male and female developmental patterns were influenced by mental processing speed and general intelligence.</p>
<p>Spatial and mechanical abilities represent two distinct areas of practical intelligence. Spatial abilities involve picturing shapes in the mind, like visualizing how scattered puzzle pieces fit together to form a whole object. Mechanical abilities involve reasoning about physical objects, natural forces, and mechanical principles. A common measure of mechanical ability asks students to analyze an illustration of interconnected gears and predict which direction a specific wheel will turn.</p>
<p>Processing speed and general intelligence represent the foundational mechanics of the brain. Processing speed dictates how fast a person can perform very basic, repetitive cognitive tasks accurately. General intelligence refers to the broad underlying mental capacity that helps a person perform well across a wide variety of tests, regardless of the subject matter.</p>
<p>Coyle designed his investigation around the theory of vocational preference and investment. This framework suggests that boys and girls dedicate their time to different skills based on personal interests and cultural expectations. While males generally focus their attention on objects, machines, tools, and technical hobbies, females often invest more time and energy in activities anchored in reading, communication, and human interaction. Coyle wanted to determine if these diverging interests created measurable changes in cognitive tilt over time.</p>
<p>To test this theory, Coyle analyzed information from a massive national database known as the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The participant pool included nearly seven thousand adolescents ranging in age from thirteen to seventeen. Every student in the sample completed the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. This standardized exam evaluates a wide array of skills, including reading comprehension, arithmetic reasoning, spatial visualization, and mechanical knowledge.</p>
<p>Coyle calculated a specific cognitive tilt score for each teenager in the group. He achieved this by comparing each student’s mechanical and spatial test scores against their traditional academic test scores. This mathematical contrast sorted the adolescents into distinct categories. The primary categories included mechanical tilt, spatial tilt, and academic tilt.</p>
<p>The data revealed clear distinctions between the sexes regarding traditional mechanical reasoning. Boys consistently exhibited a mechanical tilt, indicating their mechanical scores decisively outpaced their academic test results. Girls generally displayed an academic tilt, demonstrating relative strengths in math and reading over mechanical comprehension.</p>
<p>The gap between boys and girls widened considerably as the teenagers grew older. At age thirteen, the divergence in mechanical tilt was relatively modest. By the time the students reached age seventeen, the gap had expanded, suggesting that the teenage years heavily shape mechanical reasoning skills.</p>
<p>The results for spatial tilt painted a very different picture. When contrasting spatial visualization against academic performance, males and females performed comparably. The gap in spatial tilt remained narrow across all age groups, and the results were not statistically significant. Coyle noted that spatial visualization, which involves identifying patterns and placing puzzle pieces together, does not seem to draw out the same sex differences observed in mechanical reasoning tasks.</p>
<p>Across both sexes, mechanical and spatial strengths tended to decline relative to academic abilities as the teenagers aged. While the adolescents were likely gaining overall knowledge in all domains, their academic skills sharpened much faster than their practical problem solving skills. By the time students reached age seventeen, academic tilt had climbed higher for nearly everyone in the overall sample.</p>
<p>To explain these developmental shifts, Coyle applied a statistical framework known as a cascade model. A cascade model outlines a sequential chain reaction in cognitive development. According to this framework, getting older naturally enhances a teenager’s mental processing speed, allowing their brain to handle information faster.</p>
<p>A faster processing speed acts as a biological engine that boosts general intelligence. Higher levels of general intelligence then make it easier for a teenager to absorb specialized information in the specific areas they find engaging. For boys, this developmental sequence strongly reinforced their mechanical tilt. As their mental speed and overall intelligence grew, they directed those enhanced cognitive resources toward their preference for mechanical domains.</p>
<p>The cascade model functioned slightly differently for academic skills. Math tilt proved highly responsive to the chain reaction triggered by advancing processing speed and general intelligence. Verbal tilt did not appear to rely on raw mental speed in the very same way. The steady development of advanced reading and writing skills likely depends on specific study habits or teaching strategies rather than sheer mental velocity.</p>
<p>The study features several limitations that warrant consideration. Because the findings rely on cross-sectional survey data, the results highlight strong statistical associations but cannot definitively prove that age or processing speed causes the observed shifts in abilities. The researcher also noted that vocational investment was assumed based on age and broad societal patterns, rather than documented through direct observation of the students’ daily habits.</p>
<p>The data collection relied on a single specific test for spatial ability and a single specific test for mechanical ability. Future investigations should incorporate a wider variety of cognitive assessments. Tests that evaluate dynamic spatial skills, such as mentally rotating three-dimensional objects in real time, might yield entirely different patterns than static visualization exercises.</p>
<p>The general decrease in mechanical and spatial tilt across all age groups highlights possible blind spots in modern educational systems. Traditional schools dedicate most of their daily schedule to explicit math and reading instruction. Teenagers might lose ground in technical and spatial domains simply because high schools offer very few structured opportunities to practice those unique capabilities. </p>
<p>Future researchers should also account for evolving cultural landscapes, such as the gender equality paradox. This paradox refers to the observation that sex differences in technical participation sometimes increase in societies with higher levels of gender equality. Because the students in this survey were tested during the late 1990s, shifting cultural norms over the past two decades might yield different cognitive profiles in a modern group of teenagers.</p>
<p>Exploring populations with diverse intellectual capacities could also yield fresh insights. Observing groups with intellectual disabilities could clarify whether extreme cognitive profiles require a high baseline of general intelligence to form in the first place. Exploring personality traits, such as personal determination and academic motivation, might also explain why certain students develop extreme strengths in specialized technical fields.</p>
<p>To expand on these findings, future studies could track how cognitive tilt changes across the entire adult lifespan. As adults enter their middle and older years, their mental processing speed naturally begins to decline. Observing individuals from age twenty to eighty could reveal whether a slowing processing speed causes lifelong cognitive profiles to blur together as people age.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.65550/001c.144064" target="_blank">Age and Sex Differences in Spatial and Mechanical Tilt in Adolescence: Evidence for the Mediating Effects of Processing Speed and g</a>,” was authored by Thomas Coyle.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/new-study-reveals-six-stages-of-spiritual-growth-experienced-during-a-pilgrimage/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">New study reveals six stages of spiritual growth experienced during a pilgrimage</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 8th 2026, 16:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>A study that interviewed individuals who completed pilgrimages in Taiwan, Japan, and Spain found that the journey enables participants to step back and rebuild their inner balance. The process is driven by physical and sensory experiences that lead to psychological reflection. The study identified six key interconnected factors that shape pilgrims’ spiritual growth. The paper was published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000584"><em>Psychology of Religion and Spirituality</em></a>.</p>
<p>A pilgrimage is a journey to a place that has special religious or spiritual meaning. People undertake pilgrimages to seek spiritual growth, forgiveness, or a deeper connection with their faith. A pilgrim is a person who goes on such a journey, traveling to sacred sites, temples, shrines, or cities important to their religion.</p>
<p>These journeys can be long and physically demanding, sometimes involving walking great distances. Pilgrimages exist in many religions, including Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. For example, Muslims perform the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime if they are able. Pilgrims may travel alone or in groups, and they tend to follow traditional routes or rituals. The experience is usually seen as both a physical and a spiritual challenge.</p>
<p>Study author Wen Huei Chou and her colleagues wanted to investigate the drivers of spiritual pilgrimage experiences. They focused on the practices and mechanisms that facilitate spiritual transformation in pilgrimage participants. The authors stated that their goal was to obtain a more detailed understanding of the theoretical and behavioral models that underpin pilgrimage experiences. They focused on three prominent pilgrimage routes: the Mazu pilgrimage in Taiwan, the Shikoku Pilgrimage in Japan, and the Camino de Santiago in Spain.</p>
<p>The Mazu pilgrimage in Taiwan is a Taoist and Chinese folk religious journey honoring the sea goddess Mazu. It involves large-scale communal rituals, processions, and prayers for protection, health, and prosperity. Chinese folk religion is a collective term for the traditional spiritual practices of the Han Chinese, encompassing ancestor veneration, local deity worship, and ritual traditions rooted in ancient cosmology. It is a belief system that blends elements of Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism.</p>
<p>The Shikoku Pilgrimage in Japan is a Buddhist (Shingon) pilgrimage in which participants visit 88 temples associated with Kūkai, performing rituals and following a long spiritual route across Shikoku Island. Kūkai was a Japanese Buddhist monk, scholar, and religious leader who founded the Shingon school of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. The Camino de Santiago in Spain is a Catholic Christian pilgrimage consisting of routes leading to Santiago de Compostela, where pilgrims venerate the tomb of St. James, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ.</p>
<p>The study participants consisted of 15 individuals who completed one of these pilgrimages in the past five years. Eight of them were men, and participants ranged between 23 and 77 years of age. To be eligible for participation, they needed to have spent at least nine days on a pilgrimage, which is the duration of the shortest of the three routes (the Mazu pilgrimage).</p>
<p>Five of the participants shared their experiences regarding the Shikoku Pilgrimage, five regarding the Camino de Santiago, and the remaining five regarding the Mazu pilgrimage. Notably, all participants had completed two or more pilgrimages, whether it was the same route multiple times or entirely different ones. Thirteen of the participants had a university education.</p>
<p>Study participants completed one-on-one semi-structured interviews with the authors via Google Meet, joining from their own homes. The interview questions focused on participants’ backgrounds, motivations, internal and external experiences during the journey, and reflections after completing the pilgrimage. After the interviews, the study authors created transcripts and conducted a grounded theory analysis—a qualitative method used to discover patterns and develop theories from data.</p>
<p>Results indicated that there are six key interconnected factors that shape a pilgrim’s spiritual growth. The study authors categorized them as: yearning for change; the power of vulnerability; self-connection and flow state; upward and beyond; external connection and perception; and stability, belonging, and spiritual experience.</p>
<p>Participants yearned for change either for religious reasons, because they had hit a roadblock in life, or because they desired adventure and a challenge. The power of vulnerability refers to the fact that pilgrimages require long, arduous journeys that pose significant mental and physical challenges, forcing participants to endure physical pain, psychological breakdowns, or both.</p>
<p>The self-connection and flow state factor describes pilgrims becoming fully immersed in the physical task of walking, with actions occurring smoothly and automatically. Participants described “surrender” states where they relinquished control and learned to go with the flow when facing hardship. The upward and beyond factor included experiences of deep reflection and inner self-dialogue, ultimately leading to a sense of inner peace and transcendence.</p>
<p>The external connection and perception factor reflects the fact that pilgrims learn to deeply value visible and invisible help, fostering a profound sense of gratitude. This gratitude helps them better understand and accept themselves and appreciate every experience in life. </p>
<p>Finally, the stability, belonging, and spiritual experience factor reflects the rules and cohesion established by the journey. Importantly, this sense of stability is anchored not only by ritual practices, but also by sacred objects (such as amulets, walking sticks, or stamped passports) and a sense of place (such as shrines, churches, or natural landscapes) that solidify the spiritual experience.</p>
<p>“The findings indicate that the pilgrimage enables individuals to step back and rebuild inner balance after directly experiencing new physical and mental stimuli, ultimately leading to spiritual awakening and transformation. This process is driven by physical and sensory experiences that lead to psychological reflection and spiritual development. Furthermore, most pilgrims reported that the pilgrimage experience broadened their perspectives, teaching them surrender, gratitude, and compassion. These changes foster personal spiritual growth and promote harmonious coexistence with society,” the study authors concluded.</p>
<p>The study contributes to the scientific understanding of the psychological experiences of pilgrims. However, there are limitations. The study was based on the experiences of just 15 pilgrims, almost all of whom were Taiwanese and highly educated. Therefore, the spiritual transformation processes of pilgrims from other demographic groups and cultural backgrounds might differ.</p>
<p>The paper, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000584">Spiritual Transformation Through Pilgrimage: A Grounded Theory Analysis of Experiences in Taiwan, Japan, and Spain,</a>” was authored by Wen Huei Chou, Pei-Ching Tsai, and Yi-Ying Wu.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/how-finding-meaning-in-life-can-protect-against-depression-2026-03-20/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">New research links meaning in life to lower depression rates</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 8th 2026, 14:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>Finding a sense of meaning in life is consistently linked to lower levels of depression across hundreds of independent samples. A sweeping new review published in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2025.121045">Journal of Affective Disorders</a> outlines how different aspects of a purposeful life relate to mental health across diverse cultures and age groups. The broad results can help mental health professionals tailor their treatments to better support individuals facing deep emotional distress.</p>
<p>Depression is a widespread public health problem that affects roughly four percent of the global population. The condition involves intense feelings of sadness, emotional emptiness, and a reduced ability to function in daily life. Identifying protective psychological habits is a major objective for emotional health experts. </p>
<p>One heavily debated protective concept is meaning in life. This psychological idea refers to how well a person understands their experiences and recognizes universal value in their daily existence. Some psychological theories suggest that having a strong sense of meaning buffers against sadness by providing clear goals and emotional stability.</p>
<p>Other frameworks propose that depression is strictly a biological issue driven by brain chemistry or genetics. From that perspective, philosophical concepts like life meaning might not offer any real defense against the condition. Some scholars also argue that constantly searching for an elusive life purpose could actually make people feel much worse.</p>
<p>To resolve these conflicting viewpoints, researchers based at Jiangxi Normal University in China set out to aggregate decades of prior data. Lead authors Wu-han Ouyang and Xin-qiang Wang spearheaded an enormous review of existing literature. They wanted to figure out exactly how life meaning relates to depression and which outside variables influence that mental connection.</p>
<p>The research team conducted a three-level meta-analysis to evaluate the data. This statistical technique combines numbers from many earlier papers while accounting for multiple measurements taken from the exact same group of people. By using this method, the team could group results without artificially inflating the strength of the tested associations.</p>
<p>Ouyang and Wang gathered 278 published and unpublished studies spanning multiple languages and continents. Their total dataset included more than a quarter of a million individual participants. The researchers sifted through these papers to extract details on the participants’ age, gender, culture, underlying health status, and the specific questionnaires they answered.</p>
<p>The results confirmed a moderate negative correlation between having a meaning in life and experiencing depression. As a person’s sense of life meaning increased, their reported symptoms of depression declined. This mathematical association held true regardless of the year the original study was published or the overall gender breakdown of the participants.</p>
<p>The researchers looked closely at how distinct components of meaning altered this relationship. They found that coherence had the strongest negative correlation with depression. Coherence refers to an individual’s ability to make logical sense of their experiences and fit them into a systematic worldview. People who easily integrated both pleasant and terrible events into their life story showed the lowest depression levels.</p>
<p>Having clear life goals and feeling that one’s existence holds personal importance also showed moderately strong inverse relationships with depression. Recognizing a personal purpose gives people future motivations that keep them moving forward. Perceiving existence as inherently important reflects the feeling that one’s daily routine actually matters to the broader world.</p>
<p>The researchers found no overall association between simply searching for meaning and depression levels across the entire combined sample. Exploring life’s meaning did not universally help or harm a person’s mental health. Instead, cultural context dictated whether the search process was beneficial or detrimental.</p>
<p>In highly individualistic environments, such as those in the United States or Great Britain, the active search for meaning was linked to higher levels of depression. Individualistic cultures expect people to discover their own solitary paths to success. When an independent person struggles to find a purpose, the resulting isolation can worsen their emotional burden.</p>
<p>In collectivistic cultures, such as those in China or South Korea, searching for meaning was correlated with lower depression levels. Collectivistic societies embed personal identity within a network of family obligations and community expectations. In these environments, searching for a life path is a communal effort supported by group values, which helps temper emotional distress.</p>
<p>Participant health status changed the dynamic as well. For people dealing with physical illnesses like cancer or diabetes, the link between having a life purpose and lower depression was notably stronger than it was for completely healthy individuals. When bodily illness disrupts daily routines, having a firm psychological goal helps patients reframe their suffering as an obstacle they can withstand.</p>
<p>The tools used to diagnose patients also changed the resulting data. The Beck Depression Inventory, a widely used clinical questionnaire, produced the strongest correlation with life meaning. This specific survey tracks physical symptoms of sadness alongside emotional ones. A person lacking life meaning might experience more intense physical lethargy, which this specific inventory accurately captures.</p>
<p>Age moderated the mathematical outcomes between these psychological concepts, too. Middle-aged adults showed the highest inverse correlation between having a clear sense of meaning and their depression levels. The associations were not significant among adolescent populations. The researchers suggest that middle-aged people juggle heavier burdens regarding career and family, making a stable sense of purpose highly effective for fending off despair.</p>
<p>Even the specific language spoken by the participants revealed differing associations. Spanish and Arabic speakers demonstrated especially strong negative correlations between life purpose and depression. The research team attributes this to a blend of expressive linguistic traditions and deeply rooted religious frameworks that offer robust emotional support systems.</p>
<p>The authors outlined a few practical limitations to their massive data review. They noted that most of the analyzed studies relied on cross-sectional survey data rather than tracking people over a long period. Taking measurements at a single moment in time reveals broad mathematical associations but fails to prove whether low life meaning directly causes depression or if depression systematically strips away life meaning.</p>
<p>Almost all the included papers relied entirely on self-reported questionnaires. This traditional methodology introduces the possibility of personal bias, as individuals might rate their own emotional pain inaccurately on a numbered scale. The research team recommends that future investigators incorporate objective physiological tests alongside self-reported surveys to get cleaner data.</p>
<p>The study lacked enough data to analyze the impact of formal clinical depression diagnoses and the widespread use of antidepressant medications. Including medicinal variables would paint a much clearer picture of how philosophical concepts interact with severe biological mood disorders. The authors ask the scientific community to integrate these strict medical details into upcoming psychological trials.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2025.121045" target="_blank">A three-level meta-analysis of the relationship between meaning in life and depression</a>,” was authored by Wu-han Ouyang, Xin-qiang Wang, Jia-yi Cai, Shu-ya Pan, and Jing-yi Li.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/high-sugar-intake-is-linked-to-increased-odds-of-depression-and-anxiety-in-new-study/" 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;">High sugar intake is linked to increased odds of depression and anxiety in new study</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 8th 2026, 12:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>A recent study published in the journal <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/hsr2.71666" target="_blank">Health Science Reports</a></em> has found that consuming high amounts of sugar and sugary drinks tends to be linked with a higher chance of experiencing depression and anxiety. By examining the dietary habits and mental health of adults, scientists found that specific types of sugar might play unique roles in mood disorders. The findings suggest that reducing sugar intake could be a modest but helpful step in supporting public mental health.</p>
<p>Sugar is a simple carbohydrate that the body uses for quick energy. It is found naturally in whole foods like fruits and milk, but it is also added in large quantities to processed foods and beverages. As global consumption of added sugars continues to rise, scientists are working to understand how this dietary trend affects human health.</p>
<p>Heavy sugar intake is already known to increase the risk of physical conditions like heart disease and diabetes. However, its direct connection to mental health conditions like depression and anxiety is less understood. Diet is a major lifestyle factor that can either protect against or contribute to various chronic diseases.</p>
<p>“Diet is one of the biggest risk factors for long-term health conditions, as acknowledged by <a href="https://www.researchprotocols.org/2025/1/e65576" target="_blank">the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD)</a>, and researchers are now paying more attention to how it affects mental health because it’s something we can change,” said study author <a href="https://www.reading.ac.uk/pcls/staff/piril-hepsomali" target="_blank">Piril Hepsomali</a>, an associate professor at the University of Reading.</p>
<p>“In simple terms, healthier diets, rich in vegetables, fruit, nuts, legumes, and whole grains, are linked to lower chances of depression and anxiety. In contrast, less healthy diets, high in sugar, salt, and saturated fats, are linked to higher chances of these conditions. Studies also show that “Western-style” diets and ultra-processed foods are associated with poorer mental health.”</p>
<p>“One key factor across these unhealthy diets is high sugar intake. Around the world, people are consuming more sugar, especially through sugary drinks. These drinks are already known to increase the risk of conditions like obesity, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. Evidence on sugar and mental health is still emerging with some mixed findings, but overall suggests harmful effects, despite some mixed findings.”</p>
<p>“However, while there is some emerging evidence linking diet—particularly sugar intake—to depression and anxiety, the Global Burden of Disease study does not yet provide clear estimates for these relationships,” Hepsomali continued. “To address this, we examined how total and specific sugar intake, sugary drink consumption, and other key dietary factors are associated with depression and anxiety. In this study, we followed the Global burden of disease Lifestyle And mental Disorder (GLAD) Project guidelines.”</p>
<p>The researchers analyzed data from a sample of 377 participants between the ages of 18 and 66. The group was predominantly made up of female university students. All participants completed an online survey that asked detailed questions about their typical eating habits and their current mental health. The scientists used a widely recognized food frequency questionnaire to estimate how much of specific foods each person consumed on a regular basis. This tool helped them calculate the daily intake of various nutrients.</p>
<p>The researchers examined total sugar, sugary drinks, and specific sugars like sucrose and fructose. Sucrose is the scientific name for common table sugar, while fructose is the natural sugar primarily found in fruit. The participants also filled out a standardized mental health questionnaire designed to identify recent symptoms of depression and anxiety.</p>
<p>The data revealed that 12.5 percent of the participants had symptom scores matching likely depression. Additionally, 16.4 percent of the sample had scores indicating likely anxiety. The researchers used statistical models to see if dietary habits predicted the presence of these mental health conditions.</p>
<p>To ensure accuracy, the scientists adjusted their calculations to account for age, sex, income, and body mass index. Body mass index is a calculation based on height and weight that is used to categorize a person’s physical size. Taking these variables into account helps isolate the specific effect of diet.</p>
<p>The analysis showed that higher intake of sugar-sweetened beverages was associated with an increased likelihood of experiencing both depression and anxiety. The researchers also found that total sugar consumption was linked to greater odds of these mood disorders. The effect sizes were small but statistically significant.</p>
<p>“Although the effects we observed were relatively small, this is common in studies like ours compared with clinical or case–control studies, where participants often have more extreme symptoms or take medications that can inflate effects,” Hepsomali told PsyPost. “This means sugar is just one piece of the puzzle. Even so, small effects can matter at the population level, so modest reductions in sugar intake could have real impacts on public mental health, even if the effect for any one person is limited. In short, sugar is a risk factor worth paying attention to, but it’s not the whole story.”</p>
<p>When looking at specific types of sugar, the scientists noticed a unique pattern. Higher consumption of sucrose was specifically associated with higher odds of anxiety, but not depression, which “raises questions about the underlying mechanisms and clearly warrants further investigation,” Hepsomali said. Other food groups, such as fruits, vegetables, red meat, and whole grains, were not linked to depression or anxiety in this particular sample.</p>
<p>“It’s possible that sugar is the dominant dietary factor influencing mental health in this sample, perhaps overshadowing the effects of other foods,” Hepsomali explained. “But of course, that doesn’t mean other aspects of diet aren’t important. There’s still a lot to explore, and future research will need to dig deeper into these relationships.”</p>
<p>There are several biological reasons why sugar might influence mood and brain function. High sugar consumption can lead to insulin resistance, a condition where the body stops responding properly to the hormone that regulates blood sugar. This condition can trigger low-grade inflammation throughout the entire body.</p>
<p>This bodily inflammation provides evidence of a biological link to altered brain chemistry. Inflammatory signals can disrupt the production and transport of important mood-regulating chemicals like dopamine and serotonin. Without proper levels of these chemicals, people are more susceptible to experiencing low mood and chronic worry.</p>
<p>Heavy sugar intake might also disrupt the balance of helpful bacteria living in the digestive tract. The gut environment is known to communicate directly with the brain and influence emotional regulation. Unhealthy changes in these bacteria can lead to the overproduction of stress-related compounds.</p>
<p>Social and behavioral factors might also play a role in the link between diet and mental health. People who consume high amounts of sugary drinks often experience physical weight gain, which can lead to social stigma and worsened mental well-being. Additionally, sugary drinks often contain other active ingredients, like caffeine or artificial sweeteners, that might independently affect anxiety levels.</p>
<p>While the study provides helpful insights, there are a few potential misinterpretations to keep in mind. Because the research relied on a one-time survey, it cannot prove that sugar actively causes depression or anxiety. It is entirely possible that people experiencing mental health challenges simply consume more sugary foods as a coping mechanism. This reverse relationship is often called emotional eating, where individuals seek out sweet foods to temporarily soothe distress.</p>
<p>The study sample was mostly made up of university students, and there were many more women than men. This specific demographic makeup means the findings might not apply to the broader, more diverse general population. Also, people filling out food questionnaires sometimes misremember or incorrectly report what they ate over the past months. These self-reported inaccuracies can obscure the true dietary habits of the participants.</p>
<p>“We found that people who consumed more sugar were more likely to experience depression and anxiety,” Hepsomali explained. “I would like to note that this doesn’t show that sugar or sugary drinks directly cause these conditions, but it highlights that how much sugar we consume is an important factor to consider for our mental health.”</p>
<p>Future research will need to track diverse groups of people over long periods to better understand the sequence of events between diet and mood. This approach would help clarify the direct impact of nutrition on brain health.</p>
<p>“Currently, I’m conducting a range of clinical trials investigating how different nutrients, or combinations of them, affect mental, cognitive, and sleep health across the lifespan,” Hepsomali said. “I pay particular attention to mechanisms such as inflammation, gut microbiome composition and diversity, and brain chemistry, structure, and function, all to advance research in nutritional psychiatry. While I don’t have immediate plans to directly follow up on the findings from this study, a logical next step would be an intervention reducing sugar intake and tracking depression and anxiety.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/hsr2.71666" target="_blank">Sugar Intake Is Associated With Increased Odds of Depression and Anxiety: Evidence From A Cross-Sectional Study</a>,” was authored by Christle Coxon, Mira Rufeger, Grace Hollamby, Deborah N. Ashtree, Rebecca Orr, Melissa M. Lane, and Piril Hepsomali.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
<p><strong>This information is taken from free public RSS feeds published by each organization for the purpose of public distribution. Readers are linked back to the article content on each organization's website. This email is an unaffiliated unofficial redistribution of this freely provided content from the publishers. </strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p><s><small><a href="#" style="color:#ffffff;"><a href='https://blogtrottr.com/unsubscribe/565/DY9DKf'>unsubscribe from this feed</a></a></small></s></p>