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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/artificial-intelligence-flatters-users-into-bad-behavior/" 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;">Artificial intelligence flatters users into bad behavior</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 26th 2026, 10:00</div>
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<p><p>Artificial intelligence systems tend to excessively agree with and validate users, even when those users describe engaging in harmful or unethical behavior. People who interact with these highly agreeable chatbots become more convinced they are right and less willing to apologize during interpersonal conflicts. The research, published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aec8352"><i>Science</i></a>, points to an emerging societal risk as millions turn to technology for everyday advice.</p>
<p>As conversational software becomes more mainstream, users increasingly treat the tools like digital therapists or advisors. Almost a third of teenagers in the United States report turning to artificial intelligence for serious conversations instead of talking to a human being. The trend has raised alarms among academic researchers about a phenomenon known as sycophancy.</p>
<p>In conversational technology, sycophancy describes a tendency for the program to flatter the user and agree with their inputs. Previous research focused primarily on factual sycophancy, which occurs when a chatbot agrees with a false statement just because the user stated it. The recent study explores a broader concept called social sycophancy.</p>
<p>Social sycophancy involves a program indiscriminately validating an individual’s actions, perspectives, and self-image. For example, if someone admits they did something wrong, the software might reply that they simply did what was right for them. Unwarranted affirmation can reinforce bad habits and discourage people from making amends after a mistake.</p>
<p>Stanford University computer science researcher Myra Cheng wanted to understand how common these validating responses are across modern software. Cheng and a team of researchers from Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon University also wanted to know how these interactions shape human behavior. They set up a series of computational analyses and psychological experiments to find out.</p>
<p>In the first part of the research, the team tested eleven different state of the art software models from companies including OpenAI, Google, and Meta. They fed the models thousands of text prompts derived from different social situations. </p>
<p>One dataset featured general requests for everyday advice. Another dataset contained two thousand posts from a popular internet forum where people describe a social conflict and ask the community if they behaved poorly. For this specific dataset, the researchers only used posts where human readers unanimously agreed that the author was completely in the wrong.</p>
<p>A third dataset included thousands of statements describing deeply problematic actions. These statements detailed scenarios involving deception, like forging a supervisor’s signature on a document. Other prompts described illegal activities or actions taken purely out of spite.</p>
<p>Across the board, the tested models were highly sycophantic. When presented with dilemmas where human crowds entirely condemned an action, the software still validated the user just over half of the time. When responding to prompts about deception and illegal behavior, the models endorsed the user’s action forty seven percent of the time. On average, the technology affirmed the user forty nine percent more often than human advisers would in the exact same situations.</p>
<p>Establishing that the software consistently behaves this way was only the first step. The researchers then conducted three experiments with over two thousand human participants to see how the flattering responses affected social judgments.</p>
<p>In the first two human trials, participants read vignettes describing social disputes where they were ostensibly in the wrong. The participants then received either a flattering reply from an artificial intelligence or a neutral response that challenged their behavior. </p>
<p>The third trial placed participants in a live chat interface where they discussed a real dispute from their own past. They spent eight rounds exchanging messages with a chatbot. Half of the participants talked to a program engineered to flatter them, while the rest interacted with a version designed to offer pushback.</p>
<p>Interacting with a sycophantic program directly altered people’s intentions. Participants who received excessive validation became much more confident that their original actions were completely justified. They showed much less willingness to take the initiative to fix the situation or apologize to the other person involved.</p>
<p>Looking closer at the communication, the researchers noticed that the agreeable chatbots rarely mentioned the other person’s perspective. By keeping the user focused entirely on their own validation, the software caused users to lose their sense of social accountability. Participants in the non-sycophantic groups admitted fault in their follow up messages at a much higher rate.</p>
<p>The effects held up even after controlling for various personal traits. Age, gender, personality type, and prior familiarity with artificial intelligence did not provide immunity. Almost anyone can fall victim to the persuasive power of a flattering program.</p>
<p>The researchers also measured how people felt about the software itself after receiving the advice. Even though the flattering responses distorted the participants’ social judgments, people consistently rated the agreeable models as having higher quality. They reported elevated levels of both moral trust and performance trust in the flattering chatbots.</p>
<p>The participants explicitly stated they were highly likely to return to the agreeable software for future advice. The effect grew even stronger when participants perceived the chatbot as an entirely objective source. People often described the flattering programs as fair and honest, mistaking unconditional validation for a neutral perspective.</p>
<p>In one variation of the experiment, researchers told half the participants that a human wrote the advice and the other half that a machine wrote it. The participants generally reported trusting the human label more. Regardless of what label they saw, the validating language still manipulated their eventual choices just as effectively.</p>
<p>The team also tested whether giving the chatbot a warmer, more informal tone made a difference. They found that stylistic presentation did not alter the persuasive impact of the sycophancy. The underlying endorsement of the user’s actions drove the behavioral changes, not the friendly delivery.</p>
<p>This dynamic places technology developers in a difficult position. Flattering behavior drives user satisfaction and repeat engagement, giving companies very little financial motivation to program their systems to be more critical. The tools are explicitly optimized to make users happy in the short term, which inadvertently shifts the software toward appeasement.</p>
<p>The authors noted a few limitations restricting how broadly these conclusions can be applied. The human responses used as a baseline came from internet communities, which might hold different moral standards than the wider public. Additionally, the study relied entirely on English speakers in the United States.</p>
<p>Expectations regarding digital interaction can vary widely across different cultures. People in other parts of the world might not desire the same level of validation, or they might react differently to machine generated flattery. The researchers also measured the software’s responses in a binary way, looking only at explicit approval or disapproval.</p>
<p>Future studies will likely examine more subtle or implicit forms of validation. Researchers could also look at how repeated daily use of agreeable chatbots over several years might reshape people’s real world relationships. Long term dependence on artificial emotional support could potentially displace human connections.</p>
<p>Policy regulators and technology designers will need to address this dynamic as these tools become deeply integrated into mobile phones and social networks. The researchers suggested that companies could implement behavioral audits before releasing new models to the public. Warning labels or digital literacy programs might also help users understand that chatbots are designed to please rather than tell the truth.</p>
<p>Receiving uncritical praise under the guise of an objective machine leaves many people worse off than if they had never asked for advice. Addressing these risks will require developing software that prioritizes human well being over immediate user satisfaction.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aec8352">Sycophantic AI decreases prosocial intentions and promotes dependence</a>,” was authored by Myra Cheng, Cinoo Lee, Pranav Khadpe, Sunny Yu, Dyllan Han, and Dan Jurafsky.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/body-roundness-index-outperforms-bmi-in-predicting-depression-risk-for-dementia-patients/" 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;">Body roundness index outperforms BMI in predicting depression risk for dementia patients</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 26th 2026, 08:00</div>
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<p><p>New research published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/13591053261430499" target="_blank">Journal of Health Psychology</a></em> suggests that a specific measurement of body shape called the Body Roundness Index provides evidence of a link between excess belly fat and depression in people with dementia. The findings indicate that older adults with dementia who have a more rounded body shape face significantly higher odds of experiencing depressive symptoms. This provides a potential new tool for doctors to identify and monitor mental health risks in older patients experiencing cognitive decline.</p>
<p>Scientists conducted this study to better understand how physical health conditions contribute to mood disorders in older adults experiencing cognitive decline. Felipe Kenji Sudo, a medical doctor and researcher affiliated with the D’Or Institute for Research and Education in Brazil, explained the motivation behind the project. “Depression is very common in people with dementia, but it is not always easy to recognize or anticipate in everyday clinical practice,” Sudo said. </p>
<p>“We wanted to explore whether simple measures related to body fat distribution might be associated with depression in this population,” Sudo noted. Dementia is a globally widespread condition characterized by severe memory and thinking problems. A significant portion of dementia cases tends to be associated with risk factors that can be modified or treated. </p>
<p>Among these preventable factors, carrying excess body weight has emerged as a major contributor to poor brain health. Excess body fat can lead to chronic, low-level inflammation throughout the body. This persistent inflammation tends to disrupt normal brain activity and can accelerate the deterioration of brain cells. </p>
<p>Such inflammation can also cause physical stress on the body and interfere with the way the brain handles hormones. These combined physical stressors often pave the way for depressive symptoms. Because obesity, depression, and memory loss share these underlying biological pathways, scientists wanted to see if measuring body fat could predict mood problems.</p>
<p>However, assessing body fat in older adults presents unique challenges. As people age, they naturally lose muscle and bone density. This means the traditional Body Mass Index, which calculates a score based on a person’s height and weight, might severely underestimate how much fat an older person is actually carrying. </p>
<p>To address these limitations, researchers have developed newer mathematical formulas that attempt to capture body fat distribution more accurately. One of these formulas is the Body Roundness Index, which uses a person’s height and waist measurements to conceptualize the body as an oval shape. Scientists designed this study to determine if these newer formulas could predict depression better than older methods.</p>
<p>To explore this relationship, the scientists analyzed data from 601 older adults living in the community. These participants ranged in age from 60 to 91 years old and were evaluated at a specialized memory clinic in Brazil between 2015 and 2024. All participants had completed at least eight years of formal education and underwent a standardized medical interview and physical examination. </p>
<p>During the physical examination, medical staff measured each participant’s height, weight, and waist size. The researchers then used these numbers to calculate multiple different estimates of body fat. These included traditional metrics like the Body Mass Index and simple waist circumference. </p>
<p>They also calculated several newer metrics designed to capture body shape, such as the Waist-to-Height Ratio, the Conicity Index, and the Body Roundness Index. The Conicity Index evaluates how much a person’s body resembles a double cone. Meanwhile, the Body Roundness Index assesses overall circularity.</p>
<p>A trained specialist evaluated the cognitive abilities of the participants using a variety of standardized tests. These tests measured memory, attention, language skills, and visual recognition. Based on these tests and reports of daily functioning, 239 of the participants were officially diagnosed with dementia. </p>
<p>The researchers also evaluated everyone’s mental health by assessing depressive symptoms using a specialized 15-item questionnaire designed specifically for older adults. Participants scoring a five or higher on this scale were classified as having depression. The scientists also measured anxiety levels to ensure they could separate the effects of anxiety from actual depression. </p>
<p>When looking at the entire group of 601 participants, the researchers found no relationship between any of the body fat measurements and the presence of depression. However, the data revealed a very different pattern when the scientists looked strictly at the 239 individuals diagnosed with dementia. Within this specific group, about 36 percent of the patients had depression.</p>
<p>In the dementia group, the newer Body Roundness Index showed a strong and consistent link to depressive symptoms. “What surprised us was that we did not find positive results for the measures most commonly recommended to screen for obesity, such as body mass index and waist circumference,” Sudo noted. </p>
<p>“In contrast, the Body Roundness Index, a newer measure, showed a meaningful association with depressive symptoms,” Sudo explained. “This suggests that body fat distribution may capture clinically relevant information that more traditional measures do not fully reflect in this population.” </p>
<p>The scientists divided the patients into four equal groups based on their Body Roundness Index scores. They found that those in the highest quarter of roundness scores had more than three times the odds of experiencing depression compared to those in the lowest quarter. This relationship held true even after the scientists adjusted their mathematical models to account for other factors like age, sex, education level, and existing health conditions. </p>
<p>“Our findings suggest that, in people with dementia, greater body fat accumulation may be linked to a higher risk of depressive symptoms,” Sudo said. “In other words, body composition may provide useful clues not only about physical health, but also about mental health in neurodegenerative conditions.” </p>
<p>“While this does not prove cause and effect, it highlights how closely emotional well-being and metabolic health may be connected in dementia,” Sudo continued. The researchers suggest that the Body Roundness Index provides a better reflection of central adiposity, which is the accumulation of fat around the belly and internal organs. This specific type of fat is highly active biologically and is known to release inflammatory chemicals into the bloodstream. </p>
<p>While this study provides new insights, there are a few limitations to consider. “This was a cross-sectional study, so it shows an association but does not allow us to determine cause and effect,” Sudo pointed out. </p>
<p>“In addition, the sample came from a memory clinic, which means the findings may not fully generalize to all older adults with dementia in the community or other clinical settings,” Sudo added. The researchers also relied on mathematical formulas rather than precise medical imaging. Future studies would benefit from using advanced body scans to confirm the exact amount and location of internal body fat. </p>
<p>“Our next step is to study these associations over time to see whether measures such as the Body Roundness Index can help predict depressive symptoms in dementia,” Sudo said. “More broadly, we are interested in understanding how nutritional factors relate to neuropsychiatric symptoms and other clinical features of dementia.” </p>
<p>“This includes examining associations between dietary patterns, body composition, and dementia symptoms, as well as the potential role of different food groups according to their degree of processing,” Sudo concluded. Integrating simple shape-based measurements into routine medical visits might eventually help doctors provide better care for vulnerable older adults.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/13591053261430499" target="_blank">Body roundness index as a predictor of depression in dementia: A cross-sectional study</a>,” was authored by Clarissa Pacheco da Rocha Fernandes, Natalia Oliveira, Rejane Soares, Fernanda Rodrigues, Gabriel Bernardes, Raquel Quimas Molina da Costa, Naima Assuncao, Alina Teldeschi, Felippe Mendonca, Victor Calil, Andrea Silveira de Souza, Claudia Drummond, Fernanda Tovar-Moll, Paulo Mattos, and Felipe Kenji Sudo.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/fathers-who-fear-divorce-are-more-likely-to-develop-distrust-in-political-institutions/" 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;">Fathers who fear divorce are more likely to develop distrust in political institutions</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 26th 2026, 06:00</div>
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<p><p>A recent study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00016993261429680" target="_blank">Acta Sociologica</a></em> suggests that partnered fathers who worry about an impending divorce tend to develop greater distrust in political institutions over time. The research indicates that the subjective fear of family instability can spill over into a broader dissatisfaction with government actors. These findings highlight a unique source of political disaffection among men, shifting the focus away from traditional economic explanations.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sv.uio.no/isv/english/people/aca/persku/" target="_blank">Staffan Kumlin</a> conducted this study to better understand the growing gender differences in political orientations across Western democracies. Kumlin is a professor and the Head of PhD Studies in Political Science at the University of Oslo. He is also the author of the book <em><a href="https://amzn.to/41Z7kRZ" target="_blank">Election Campaigns and Welfare State Change: Democratic Linkage and Leadership Under Pressure</a></em>, published by Oxford University Press.</p>
<p>Kumlin was motivated by the intensified debate about growing political gender gaps in Western societies, specifically regarding support for populist parties and general trust in mainstream institutions. “We currently lack full explanations of why these gaps seem to be growing, and especially why they are often larger among younger and to some extent middle-aged individuals,” Kumlin explained. He noted that while economic status anxiety and cultural conservatism play a role, they cannot fully explain the situation at hand.</p>
<p>To find missing pieces to this puzzle, Kumlin shifted his attention away from the labor market and cultural debates to look at the family domain. Sociologists note that separation is rarely a sudden event, but rather a long period of turbulence where psychological distress builds up. Kumlin suspected that these subjective worries might have political consequences even before a physical or legal split occurs.</p>
<p>Because modern welfare states take on significant responsibility for citizen well-being, people experiencing personal distress often respond with diffuse political frustration. When individuals lack precise information about which government agency to blame for their struggles, their personal worries tend to manifest as a generalized distrust in the democratic system. Kumlin explored two potential reasons for why relationship instability might trigger this reaction, paying special attention to how these effects might differ by gender. </p>
<p>The first idea involves the loss of political communication between partners. Because women in many Western countries now tend to vote more and report higher levels of political trust, men in deteriorating relationships might lose the positive civic influence of their partners. This loss of cross-gender socialization could theoretically lead to lower political trust among men. </p>
<p>The second idea relies on the different realities men and women face after a separation. Women typically experience steeper economic declines following a divorce, largely because of existing income disparities. Yet, previous research suggests women are generally less likely to alter their political views based on personal economic grievances. </p>
<p>Men frequently face profound social exclusion and a reduced role in parenting, as children often spend more time with their mothers after a split. Because past data suggests men react very negatively to this specific loss of family involvement, Kumlin predicted that the fear of divorce would generate the strongest political distrust among fathers. </p>
<p>To test these ideas, Kumlin used data from a Norwegian survey that repeatedly interviewed the same group of people over three years. This type of research design is known as a longitudinal panel study, which allows scientists to observe how an individual’s attitudes change over time. The data was collected in three waves during 2014, 2015, and 2017.</p>
<p>The initial sample included 5,420 participants. The second wave retained many of these individuals while adding new ones, totaling 5,008 respondents, and the final wave included 1,560 individuals who had participated previously. The respondents were adults aged eighteen to seventy-five, providing a broad representation of the Norwegian population across different life stages.</p>
<p>The survey asked participants how likely they thought they were to separate from their partner in the next twelve months. The respondents chose from a four-point scale ranging from not at all likely to very likely. Kumlin also accounted for other subjective worries, such as the perceived risk of poverty, unemployment, or poor health, to ensure he was isolating the specific effect of relationship instability. </p>
<p>Most variation in the relationship answers was between those who perceived zero risk and those who perceived a mild risk. Very few participants felt absolutely certain a legal divorce was imminent. To measure political distrust, the study used an index combining four survey items where participants rated their trust in political parties, the national parliament, the national government, and their local city council. </p>
<p>To evaluate the findings, Kumlin used statistical models designed to separate short-term emotional reactions from long-term changes in attitude. The analysis revealed that perceived divorce risk did not have a uniform effect on all respondents. There was no widespread negative impact on political trust among partnered women, nor among partnered men without children. </p>
<p>The other subjective worries about health or employment also did not produce gendered differences in political trust. Instead, the data provides evidence that the political consequences of relationship instability are highly specific to fathers. Kumlin found that persistent worry about divorce offset the standard political trust development usually seen in this demographic. </p>
<p>Men in stable relationships who have children and a high level of education typically develop greater political trust as the years pass. However, when these highly educated fathers perceived a risk of divorce, this positive trend vanished. For fathers with lower levels of education, the passing of another year with relationship anxiety actively drove their political trust downward. </p>
<p>“The link between persistently perceived divorce risk and loss of political trust over time is significant and rather robust among partnered men with kids,” Kumlin told PsyPost. He added that while the link is moderately strong at best, its very existence is revealing because it shows how subjective worries can matter politically. He emphasized that it does not take a legally and physically finalized separation for the underlying thought processes to surface.</p>
<p>Kumlin also checked to see if this political distrust was simply a byproduct of losing faith in humanity generally. He found that the decline in political trust occurred independently of generalized social trust. This suggests that the fathers were not just becoming cynical about people in general, but were developing a specific frustration with democratic institutions. </p>
<p>While the study offers a novel perspective on political behavior, it comes with limitations. The research relies on observational survey data, meaning it tracks natural changes in a population but cannot definitively prove cause and effect. There is a possibility that unmeasured factors, such as underlying personality traits, might simultaneously cause a person to worry about their marriage and distrust the government.</p>
<p>Future research could expand on these findings by tracking families over a longer period with more survey waves. Researchers might also investigate the exact cognitive leaps men make between family instability and government actors. Ultimately, Kumlin hopes the public recognizes that “inclusion into family life, care tasks, and parental involvement can matter for democratic inclusion and trust, and especially so among men.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00016993261429680" target="_blank">Divorce risk and political distrust: Gendered consequences of couple instability</a>,” was authored by Staffan Kumlin.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/the-developing-teenage-brain-how-gut-instincts-learn-to-follow-the-rules-of-logi/" 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;">How cognitive ability and logical intuition evolve during middle and high school</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 25th 2026, 20:00</div>
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<p><p>Higher cognitive ability in adults typically predicts accurate gut instincts, but this mental shortcut takes time to develop. A new study involving middle and high school students reveals that young people rely heavily on slower, deliberate thinking to solve logical puzzles before their correct intuitions fully mature. The research was recently published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13546783.2025.2527672"><i>Thinking & Reasoning</i></a>.</p>
<p>Psychologists often divide human thought into two distinct categories based on speed and effort. The first type of thinking is fast, automatic, and requires very little mental energy. The second type is slow, deliberate, and demands sustained attention to detail.</p>
<p>For decades, researchers assumed that successfully solving a math or logic puzzle always required the second, slower type of thought. In this traditional view, our fast assumptions are often biased or flawed. To reach a mathematically sound conclusion, a person has to actively block their immediate instincts and spend time calculating the right answer.</p>
<p>Recent studies on adult reasoning have challenged this assumption. Scientists have found that many adults can produce correct, logical answers almost instantly. They do not need to pause and engage in slow reflection to solve basic probability questions.</p>
<p>This phenomenon is often linked to general intelligence. Adults who score high on cognitive ability tests tend to have accurate initial instincts. This alignment of intelligence and immediate accuracy has led researchers to call them “smart intuitors.”</p>
<p>A team of psychology researchers wanted to know exactly when this capacity for accurate intuition develops. Lead author Laura Charbit and her colleagues at the Université Paris Cité in France designed an experiment to test reasoning skills across adolescence. They wanted to see if middle and high school students might already show the mature profile found in adults.</p>
<p>The research team recruited more than 300 students from French secondary schools. Roughly half the participants were seventh graders, averaging around 12 years of age. The other half were twelfth graders nearing the end of their secondary education, averaging around 17 years old.</p>
<p>To measure how the students thought, the researchers gave them a series of probability puzzles. The puzzles were designed to create a conflict between a statistical fact and a tempting stereotype. For example, participants read about a study containing 995 accountants and five clowns.</p>
<p>The students were then asked to guess the profession of a randomly selected person from the study, labeled Person L. The prompt described Person L using a single word: funny. Based on the stereotype of a clown, the fast and tempting answer is to assume Person L is a clown.</p>
<p>Mathematically, however, the odds heavily favor a different answer. Because there are 199 times more accountants than clowns in the group, the randomly selected person is overwhelmingly more likely to be an accountant, even if they happen to have a good sense of humor. Arriving at this correct answer requires paying attention to the baseline statistics rather than the descriptive personality trait.</p>
<p>To separate fast instincts from slow deliberation, the researchers used a specialized testing format. For the first part of the trial, students had to give an answer in three seconds or less. To make it even harder to think deeply, the students had to memorize a grid of symbols before reading the puzzle.</p>
<p>This memory task occupied their active attention, forcing them to rely on pure instinct for their initial response. After giving their fast answer and recalling the grid, the students saw the puzzle a second time. During this second phase, they had unlimited time to think and could change their original answer if they desired.</p>
<p>The researchers also included control puzzles where both the personality description and the statistics pointed toward the exact same answer. Both age groups performed exceptionally well on these control puzzles, proving they were paying attention to the wording and not just guessing randomly. Finally, the students took a standardized test designed to measure their general cognitive ability using complex visual patterns.</p>
<p>When looking at the results, the researchers found distinct differences between the age groups. The older adolescents provided more mathematically correct answers than the younger adolescents during the fast, instinctive phase of the test. Under extreme time pressure and distraction, the older students were better at using the statistical numbers rather than falling for the stereotype.</p>
<p>Allowing the students extra time to think also produced different outcomes based on age. The twelfth graders improved their scores when given unlimited time to review the puzzle. The extra time allowed them to catch their mistakes and switch from a stereotypical answer to a mathematical one.</p>
<p>The seventh graders did not experience the same benefit. Their scores remained relatively flat between the fast and slow phases of the experiment. Taking extra time to ponder the problem did not guide the younger students toward the statistically correct answer.</p>
<p>The lack of improvement among younger students during the slow phase is particularly informative. It suggests that they do not yet possess the underlying mental strategies needed to override a basic stereotype. Even with infinite time to consider the numbers, the adolescent brain defaults to the descriptive narrative.</p>
<p>The researchers also looked closely at how general cognitive ability related to puzzle performance. For the older teenagers, higher cognitive ability scores predicted a specific behavior. Smart twelfth graders were the most likely to use the extra time to fix a wrong initial instinct.</p>
<p>Unlike adults, the older teenagers’ cognitive ability scores were not strongly linked to having a correct initial instinct. This means the immediate problem solving profile seen in adulthood has not fully matured by the end of high school. The older teenagers still rely heavily on their intelligence to fuel slow, deliberate corrections.</p>
<p>For the seventh graders, cognitive ability scores did not predict exact puzzle performance at all. The smartest adolescents in the younger group did not perform appreciably better than their peers on either the fast or slow phases of the test. The relationship between cognitive ability and accurate reasoning was not statistically significant for this younger age bracket.</p>
<p>The study authors suggest these results point toward a gradual optimization of logical rules. When children first learn about fractions and probabilities, applying those concepts requires intense mental effort. As they progress through middle and high school, they get thousands of hours of academic practice.</p>
<p>Through prolonged exposure, the rules of logic eventually become second nature. By the twelfth grade, students are starting to internalize these concepts, leading to slightly better gut instincts. Yet, the transition is still ongoing. </p>
<p>The seamless translation of high cognitive ability into instant, error-free logic appears to be a hallmark of adulthood rather than adolescence. The study does have a few limitations that leave room for future exploration. </p>
<p>The researchers originally included a second type of logic puzzle, the famous bat and ball problem. Participants are told a bat and a ball cost a specific amount together, and the bat costs exactly one dollar more than the ball. That puzzle proved too frustratingly difficult for both age groups, producing too few correct answers to analyze properly. </p>
<p>Future experiments will likely need to include a wider variety of reasoning problems to confirm these educational trends. Researchers could also benefit from testing these specific cognitive thresholds across different cultures and school systems. </p>
<p>The ability to generate a swift, rational answer does not emerge overnight. The research demonstrates that sound judgment is a skill that develops slowly over many years of education and life experience.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13546783.2025.2527672">Emergence of the smart intuitor: how cognitive ability shapes adolescent reasoning</a>,” was authored by Laura Charbit, Esther Boissin, Matthieu Raoelison, and Wim De Neys.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/tiny-mitochondrial-proteins-may-explain-the-health-benefits-of-the-mediterranean-diet/" 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;">Tiny mitochondrial proteins may explain the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet</a>
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<p><p>A recent study published in the journal <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2025.1727012" target="_blank">Frontiers in Nutrition</a></em> suggests that the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet might be driven by tiny proteins produced inside the energy-generating structures of our cells. Researchers discovered that older adults who closely follow this way of eating have higher levels of two microscopic proteins that protect against heart disease and cognitive decline. These results offer a new biological explanation for how a diet rich in olive oil, fish, and legumes promotes healthy aging at a cellular level.</p>
<p>To understand the mechanics behind these physiological benefits, it helps to look inside the human cell. Most people are familiar with mitochondria, which act as microscopic power plants that generate the energy needed for cellular survival. Mitochondria contain their own unique set of genetic instructions that are completely separate from the main DNA housed in the cell nucleus. </p>
<p>For many years, geneticists believed certain small sections of this mitochondrial DNA served no practical purpose. During the Human Genome Project, researchers largely overlooked these tiny genetic sequences because they appeared too short to encode functional molecules. Scientists eventually realized that these genetic codes actually produce active molecules called mitochondrial microproteins. </p>
<p>These microproteins are much smaller than standard cellular proteins but perform essential tasks in regulating cellular health and responding to stress. Two specific microproteins, known as Humanin and SHMOOSE, have attracted attention for their powerful protective properties. Previous research linked Humanin to improved insulin sensitivity, cellular survival, and defense against cardiovascular disease. </p>
<p>Similarly, SHMOOSE appears to help protect brain cells from the type of structural damage often seen in Alzheimer’s disease. Because mitochondria are deeply involved in how the body processes nutrients, researchers suspected that everyday eating habits might influence the production of these protective microproteins. Roberto Vicinanza, an instructional associate professor of gerontology at the University of Southern California, led a team to investigate this possibility. </p>
<p>Pinchas Cohen, dean of the University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, served as the senior author on the project. Vicinanza and his colleagues wanted to see if people who followed a traditional Mediterranean diet had distinct levels of Humanin and SHMOOSE in their blood. The Mediterranean diet emphasizes whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, and olive oil while limiting red meat and heavily processed carbohydrates. </p>
<p>Medical professionals widely recommend this dietary pattern to help prevent metabolic disorders and maintain overall cardiovascular function. The research team also aimed to measure markers of oxidative stress, a biological process that damages cells and accelerates aging. As mitochondria generate energy, they naturally produce reactive oxygen molecules as a byproduct, much like a car engine produces exhaust. </p>
<p>When the body produces too many of these reactive molecules, often driven by an enzyme known as Nox2, it leads to oxidative stress. The investigators hypothesized that a healthy diet might increase microprotein levels, which could in turn help suppress this damaging oxidative activity. </p>
<p>To test these ideas, the researchers recruited 49 older adults from a cardiovascular clinic in Rome, Italy. The participants had an average age of roughly 78 years and were originally part of a larger observational program focused on heart rhythm disorders. Medical staff asked the patients to complete a standardized dietary questionnaire detailing their typical eating habits at home. </p>
<p>The questionnaire awarded points based on how frequently participants consumed staple foods like olive oil, fish, fruits, and vegetables. Based on their final scores, the researchers divided the patients into two distinct groups. One group demonstrated high adherence to the Mediterranean diet, while the other group showed low to medium adherence. </p>
<p>The clinical team then collected fasting blood samples from all participants to measure circulating levels of Humanin and SHMOOSE. They also analyzed the blood for two specific chemical markers that indicate the presence of cellular oxidative stress. The laboratory staff evaluating the samples did not know which dietary group each patient belonged to, which helped prevent observational bias during the testing phase. </p>
<p>When the researchers compared the blood test results with the dietary scores, they noticed a clear physiological pattern. The patients who strictly followed the Mediterranean diet had elevated concentrations of both Humanin and SHMOOSE in their bloodstream. Conversely, the group with lower dietary adherence exhibited comparatively lower levels of these microscopic proteins. </p>
<p>The results were not statistically significant when comparing basic lipid profiles, such as total cholesterol and triglycerides, between the two groups. However, the differences in microprotein concentrations stood out clearly across the patient cohort. </p>
<p>The investigators then analyzed individual food components to see which items had the strongest physiological effect. They found that patients who consumed at least one tablespoon of olive oil daily and ate minimal amounts of refined white bread had the highest levels of SHMOOSE. Meanwhile, elevated Humanin levels appeared in patients who regularly consumed olive oil, fish, and a few servings of legumes each week. </p>
<p>“These microproteins may act as molecular messengers that translate what we eat into how our cells function and age,” Vicinanza said. He noted that this newly observed biological pathway helps explain why this specific dietary pattern is so effective at maintaining physical health over time. </p>
<p>In addition to the microprotein increases, the researchers observed an inverse relationship between Humanin and Nox2, the enzyme responsible for cellular damage. Patients with higher levels of circulating Humanin had lower levels of Nox2 activity and fewer markers of overall oxidative stress. This inverse correlation suggests that Humanin might actively block the enzyme from producing harmful oxygen molecules in the bloodstream. </p>
<p>Cohen pointed out that these tiny proteins are emerging as key regulators of aging biology. “They connect mitochondrial function to diseases like Alzheimer’s and heart disease and now, potentially, to nutrition,” Cohen said. The researchers suspect that the diet provides a dual benefit by offering natural plant-based antioxidants while simultaneously boosting protective microproteins. </p>
<p>While the data provide a fresh perspective on nutrition and cellular health, the authors acknowledge a few limitations to their work. The project relied on an observational design, meaning it cannot definitively prove that the diet directly caused the changes in microprotein levels. The relatively small number of participants and their specific age range also mean the results might not automatically apply to a younger, broader population. </p>
<p>Additionally, the dietary questionnaire provided a simplified snapshot of eating habits rather than a comprehensive log of daily food intake. The researchers did not track other lifestyle factors like daily physical activity, which can also influence mitochondrial function and overall metabolic health. The participants also had moderate underlying health conditions, which might have influenced how their bodies naturally produced these proteins. </p>
<p>Future research will need to involve controlled dietary interventions to confirm these initial observations. In these upcoming projects, scientists would actively change the diets of participants over a set period and measure the resulting fluctuations in microprotein levels. If clinical trials replicate the current findings, medical professionals could eventually use Humanin and SHMOOSE as simple blood markers to track how well a patient is adhering to nutritional advice. </p>
<p>Ultimately, the investigators hope to translate these biochemical discoveries into personalized nutrition plans that slow the aging process. By understanding exactly how specific foods interact with the cellular mitochondria, doctors might one day prescribe highly tailored diets to maximize cellular protection. Until then, the research offers yet another biological reason to prioritize whole grains, olive oil, and legumes at the dinner table. </p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2025.1727012" target="_blank">Mediterranean diet adherence is associated with mitochondrial microproteins Humanin and SHMOOSE; potential role of the Humanin–Nox2 interaction in cardioprotection</a>,” was authored by Roberto Vicinanza, Vittoria Cammisotto, Junxiang Wan, Kelvin Yen, Francesco Violi, Pasquale Pignatelli, and Pinchas Cohen.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/people-view-the-term-sex-worker-much-more-positively-than-prostitute-or-hooker/" 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 the term “sex worker” much more positively than “prostitute” or “hooker”</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 25th 2026, 16:00</div>
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<p><p>New research published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2026.2633527" target="_blank">The Journal of Sex Research</a></em> suggests that the specific words used to describe people in the commercial sex industry shape how the public views them. The findings provide evidence that terms like “sex worker” and “escort” carry less stigma and are viewed more positively than words like “prostitute” and “hooker.” This implies that shifting the language used in media and legal settings might help reduce prejudice against these professionals. </p>
<p>Researchers conducted the study to better understand the powerful role that language plays in shaping societal stigma. “This research is quite personal to me, actually. I spent years doing volunteer work for a non-profit aimed at providing support and care for sex workers (shout out to The Cupcake Girls),” said Sarah Lindley, lead statistician at the University of Michigan Medical School. “I learned a lot about the industry and experiences of sex workers, and as a researcher, I was surprised by the lack of literature related to how people respond to various terms used for sex workers, given the importance of terminology!”</p>
<p>People who exchange sexual services for money or goods face intense social prejudice, which tends to normalize violence and discrimination against them. In recent years, advocates have pushed for the adoption of the term “sex worker” to emphasize the labor aspect of the profession. Lindley noted the broad impact of these linguistic choices, explaining, “I would say that overall, terminology, especially in the case of sex workers, has important connotations and a single word can sculpt the way we think about people in the industry.”</p>
<p>Previous studies explored this topic by having the same participants rate multiple terms at once. This method can create a psychological effect known as anchoring bias, which occurs when a person’s response to one question heavily influences their response to the next. To avoid this, the researchers designed a new experiment where each person only evaluated a single term. </p>
<p>To conduct the study, the scientists recruited an initial group of 401 participants from the United States through an online research platform. After removing individuals who failed attention checks, the final sample included 386 people who were paid three dollars for their time. The nationally representative group had an average age of about 42 years old and included 199 women. </p>
<p>The researchers randomly assigned each participant to read a survey utilizing one of four specific terms. These terms were sex worker, escort, prostitute, or hooker. Participants then answered a series of questions measuring their perceptions of the demographics of the people associated with their assigned label. </p>
<p>They used sliding scales from zero to one hundred percent to estimate the racial makeup, biological sex, sexual identity, and trafficking involvement of these professionals. To create a baseline for comparison, participants also estimated the demographic breakdown of the broader United States population. Next, the scientists measured stereotype content by asking participants to rate how well certain adjectives described their assigned group. </p>
<p>Participants used a five-point scale, ranging from “not at all” to “extremely”, to rate words like dirty, promiscuous, ambitious, and competent. Finally, the survey asked participants to rate how harmful they believed the assigned group was to society on a scale from zero to one hundred. Higher scores on this scale indicated a belief that the profession causes greater societal harm. </p>
<p>The data revealed several notable patterns regarding how the public imagines the demographics of people in the sex industry. Participants estimated that Black individuals make up a higher percentage of the sex work industry than they do the general population. Specifically, they estimated that the general population is about 29 percent Black, but guessed that 33 to 37 percent of people in the sex industry are Black. </p>
<p>Additionally, participants perceived that fewer men and fewer heterosexual people participate in the sex industry compared to broader national averages. The researchers noted that these estimations might reflect underlying societal biases and stereotypes regarding minoritized groups and gender norms. For example, people might rely on negative media portrayals when guessing the demographic makeup of stigmatized professions. </p>
<p>When looking at the descriptive adjectives, the researchers found that participants viewed the terms “sex worker” and “escort” similarly. They also viewed the terms “prostitute” and “hooker” similarly, but much more negatively. For instance, words like “poorly educated”, “insincere”, “ugly”, and “victims” were strongly associated with “prostitute” and “hooker”. </p>
<p>In contrast, “sex worker” and “escort” were more frequently associated with economic success and were less likely to be viewed as victims. Despite the push to focus on the professional aspects of the industry, sexual descriptors dominated the results across all four experimental groups. The two most common adjectives selected for all four terms were “promiscuous” and “sexually perverse”. </p>
<p>Using statistical models, the scientists found that the term “sex worker” was perceived more positively than “prostitute” and “hooker.” This held true even after accounting for the age, gender, and political orientation of the participants. The analysis also suggests that racial perceptions might influence these negative views. </p>
<p>“We looked at the interaction of the perceived proportion of the Black demographic within each term, and found that people were less likely to view the term hooker positively (compared to sex worker) if they believed the proportion of ‘hookers’ that are Black was high,” Lindley said. “This implies some unexplored connection between race and terminology that we have not yet dived into.” This provides evidence that racial bias might serve as an underlying factor explaining why certain terms carry harsher stigma. </p>
<p>While the findings provide helpful insight into public biases, there are a few potential misinterpretations and limitations to consider. “Our analysis was primarily exploratory, especially given the lack of quantitative research in the area, and is meant to be descriptive and give evidence for testable hypotheses in the future,” Lindley explained. The study relied on a predefined set of adjectives for participants to rate, which might have missed specific nuances in how people naturally describe these groups. </p>
<p>Future research should continue to examine the specific types of prejudice directed toward people in the sex work industry, such as work currently being done by Lindley’s co-author Kayla Burd at the University of Wyoming’s <a href="https://www.uwyo.edu/psychology/research/soccoglaw.html" target="_blank">Social Cognition and Law Lab</a>. </p>
<p>“We are currently collecting responses from a survey that uses a mock jury to explore the ramifications of terminology for sex workers in the U.S. legal system,” Lindley said. “We will be incorporating aspects of race and ethnicity along with terminology to further explore that potential interaction noted above!” Ultimately, Lindley stated, “The most important aspect of this study is that it has real-world consequences for people in the sex industry, and also provides yet another reason to be intentional with the language we use.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2026.2633527" target="_blank">What’s in a Name? Public Perceptions of Sex Worker Professionals Are Differentially Influenced by Terminology</a>,” was authored by Sarah M. Lindley, Kayla A. Burd, Scott Freng, Olivia N. Grella, Jaylan M. Aliev, and Amanda Anzovino.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/severe-infections-independently-amplify-the-risk-of-dementia-later-in-life/" 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;">Severe infections independently amplify the risk of dementia later in life</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 25th 2026, 14:00</div>
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<p><p>People who experience severe, hospital-treated infections face an elevated risk of developing dementia later in life, and this connection operates independently of other underlying medical conditions. Researchers reached this conclusion by analyzing the vast electronic health records of the Finnish population. The findings were published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1004688"><em>PLOS Medicine</em></a>.</p>
<p>Medical professionals have observed a link between infectious diseases and cognitive decline for some time. Proposed explanations revolve around how the immune system interacts with the central nervous system. A severe infection causes widespread inflammation throughout the body. This persistent inflammation can affect the blood-brain barrier, which is a tight layer of cells that normally protects the brain from toxins and pathogens circulating in the bloodstream.</p>
<p>When the blood-brain barrier becomes compromised, harmful proteins and inflammatory cells can enter the brain tissue. This infiltration can promote neuroinflammation, a state of chronic immune activation inside the brain. Such an environment plays a role in the destruction of brain cells, a hallmark of dementia cases. Infections also trigger vascular issues across the body, which can involve changes in blood clotting and potential damage to the delicate blood vessels supplying the brain with oxygen and nutrients.</p>
<p>The biological timeline of cognitive decline complicates this picture. The condition typically arises late in life, generally after the age of 80. By this time, most patients already suffer from a variety of other physical and mental ailments. Many of these age-related diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular conditions, are known risk factors for both dementia and severe infections.</p>
<p>Because of these overlapping risks, researchers wanted to test whether an infection acts independently to elevate dementia risk. It remained entirely possible that a patient who develops dementia after pneumonia simply had pre-existing heart disease that actually caused both problems. To isolate these variables, an epidemiological research team initiated a massive data investigation. Pyry N. Sipilä, a researcher at the University of Helsinki, led the study.</p>
<p>Sipilä and his colleagues accessed Finland’s nationwide health registry data. The dataset included 62,555 individuals aged 65 or older who received a late-onset dementia diagnosis between 2017 and 2020. They compared this group to 312,772 control individuals without dementia. The researchers matched each patient with dementia to five control subjects of the same sex, birth year, and specific clinical timeline.</p>
<p>This epidemiological approach ensures that generic variables like age and the natural passage of time do not artificially inflate the results. The matching comparison allows researchers to pinpoint variations restricted to specific health events. To conduct the analysis, the researchers reviewed up to 21 years of prior medical records for each participant. They intentionally excluded the single year immediately preceding the dementia diagnosis to ensure that the cognitive decline itself had not caused the other medical events. </p>
<p>The researchers then cataloged every disease or condition that had sent these individuals to the hospital. Out of 170 common conditions, the team identified 29 specific diseases that reliably preceded a dementia diagnosis. This list included 27 non-infectious conditions. Examples ranged from cardiovascular events like cerebral infarction to metabolic issues like type 2 diabetes, along with mental health conditions like severe depression and physical traumas like head injuries.</p>
<p>The final two items on the list of 29 conditions were infectious diseases. Specifically, these were cystitis, an infection of the urinary system, and general bacterial infections without a specifically identified site. Almost half of all patients with dementia had experienced at least one of the 29 conditions in the two decades before their cognitive decline. Many patients experienced a sequence of these conditions over the years.</p>
<p>The researchers mapped how these illnesses connected to one another. They found a web of interrelated conditions, where an initial diagnosis of a stroke often led to a subsequent diagnosis of a urinary tract infection. The majority of the 27 non-infectious diseases also elevated a patient’s likelihood of eventually contracting one of the severe hospital-treated infections. To answer their core question, the researchers needed to isolate the statistical effect of the infections alone.</p>
<p>They adjusted their mathematical models to account for all 27 non-infectious conditions. Even after this adjustment, the association between the two types of infections and later dementia remained robust. An individual hospitalized for cystitis faced roughly a 19 percent relative increase in the rate of eventually developing dementia compared to someone who avoided such an infection. Unspecified bacterial infections showed an identical rate increase. </p>
<p>Only roughly ten to fourteen percent of the excess dementia risk for these patients could be explained by their other physical and mental health issues. The statistical modeling demonstrates that infections act as distinct risk factors entirely on their own. The team repeated their analysis for early-onset dementia, a variation that strikes people before the age of 65. The sample size for this secondary inquiry included 2,639 cases. </p>
<p>The researchers identified a wider variety of infections linked to an increased risk of early cognitive decline in this younger cohort. This list included severe gastrointestinal conditions, bacterial pneumonia, and severe dental caries. Just as with the older cohort, the associations between infections and early-onset dementia held steady after researchers accounted for all other co-occurring medical conditions.</p>
<p>The exact biological reasons for the differences between early-onset and late-onset dementia remain a subject of active research. The two forms of the condition rely on distinct genetic and physiological underpinnings. The overarching study design provides high confidence in the final reported metrics. Finland’s healthcare system maintains nearly complete electronic health records for its citizens, eliminating the typical biases found in studies that rely on self-reporting or memory. </p>
<p>Still, as an observational study, the research does not definitively establish that infections directly cause dementia. The findings carry an additional limitation regarding non-severe events. The registry only documents infections serious enough to require hospital care. Minor respiratory infections or simple illnesses managed with prescribed oral antibiotics at home were not included in the primary dataset.</p>
<p>The researchers suspect that in older individuals, severe infections may accelerate cognitive decline rather than initiate the disease entirely from scratch. A large inflammatory event might simply speed up the deterioration in a brain already poised to develop dementia. Future scientific endeavors must verify if treating or preventing infectious diseases actively alters the trajectory of cognitive decline. Clinical intervention trials, such as studies analyzing the long-term cognitive impacts of large-scale vaccination programs, will offer related guidance in the coming years.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1004688" target="_blank">The role of noninfectious comorbidities in the association between severe infections and risk of dementia in Finland: A nationwide registry study</a>,” was authored by Pyry N. Sipilä, Kaarina Korhonen, Joni V. Lindbohm, Mika Kivimäki, and Pekka Martikainen.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/former-christians-express-more-progressive-political-views-than-lifelong-nonbeli/" 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;">Former Christians express more progressive political views than lifelong nonbelievers</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 25th 2026, 12:00</div>
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<p><p>Americans who leave their Christian faith behind tend to hold more liberal political views than those who were raised entirely without religion. This leftward ideological shift appears closely linked to how threatening these individuals perceive conservative Christian groups to be. The study was published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/rep.2025.10055"><i>The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics</i></a>.</p>
<p>The demographic landscape of the United States is changing as the nonreligious population grows rapidly. Demographers project that individuals claiming no religious affiliation will become the largest demographic group in the country within the next two decades. This segment includes atheists, agnostics, and those who simply select a blank option when asked about their faith. Because this group is expanding quickly, studying its internal divisions helps explain broader political trends.</p>
<p>Within this nonreligious umbrella, there are two distinct subcategories. Sociologists and psychologists often refer to people who never identified with a faith as “nones.” Meanwhile, individuals who were raised in a religious household but later abandoned their faith are referred to as “dones.”</p>
<p>As secularization continues, millions of Americans now belong to the second or third generation of nonreligious families. At the same time, millions of others actively leave organized Christian traditions every year. Researchers Ayse Busra Topal of the University of California Riverside and Spencer Kiesel of the University of Cincinnati wanted to know if this path to secularism correlates with a person’s ultimate political beliefs.</p>
<p>Social scientists have proposed several theories to explain why Americans are leaving religion in large numbers. Some argue that basic societal modernization gradually reduces the relevance of religious institutions over time. Others point to institutional failures, such as the numerous efforts by church leaders to cover up sexual abuse. </p>
<p>Topal and Kiesel focused on a different explanation known as political backlash. This theory suggests that the active involvement of conservative Christian organizations in right-wing politics has driven many people to abandon their faith entirely. If this theory holds true, former Christians should demonstrate a stronger alignment with progressive politics than those who were never religious at all.</p>
<p>Previous psychology studies show that a person’s religious past can leave lingering effects on their routine behavior. This phenomenon is known as religious residue. Past religious affiliation can influence everything from moral decision-making processes to everyday consumer habits.</p>
<p>People who leave their faith often experience social alienation and a sense of losing their community. Psychologists note that former believers frequently conceal their lack of faith to avoid social penalties. The researchers suspected that this social pain, combined with the political behavior of conservative churches, might generate a strong ideological backlash.</p>
<p>To investigate this idea, Topal and Kiesel analyzed data from the 2020 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey. This national survey questioned tens of thousands of Americans between April and October of 2021 about their social identities and political attitudes. The researchers focused entirely on a subset of just over 3,500 respondents who identified as atheist, agnostic, or currently unaffiliated.</p>
<p>The survey asked these unaffiliated individuals if their family practiced a religion when they were growing up. About 41 percent of the nonreligious respondents were raised in a Christian household. Another 45 percent reported having no religious upbringing, placing them in the lifelong nonreligious category. </p>
<p>The survey also asked respondents to evaluate various societal groups as either supporting or threatening their vision of American society. The researchers isolated the responses regarding conservative Christians to measure the degree of social identity threat that nonreligious individuals felt. Social identity threat occurs when a person feels that their personal standing in society is being devalued or endangered by an outside group.</p>
<p>Topal and Kiesel then looked at how these individuals responded to questions about several contested political issues in the United States. The issues included voting rights, immigration, abortion, same-sex marriage, and criminal justice reform. The researchers converted these survey answers into standardized scales to compare the overall policy preferences of the lifelong nonreligious with those of former Christians.</p>
<p>The statistical models revealed that former Christians were highly likely to support progressive policies compared to lifelong nonbelievers. This ex-Christian group showed elevated support for abortion access and an overhaul of the criminal justice system. They were also more likely to believe the Voting Rights Act remains necessary to protect minority voters today. </p>
<p>On immigration, former Christians expressed greater opposition to the restrictive asylum and deportation policies enacted during the Trump administration. They also indicated that same-sex marriage should remain an active priority rather than treating it as a settled or unimportant issue. Across these varied topics, abandoning a Christian identity strongly correlated with a left-wing political stance.</p>
<p>The data also revealed a rigid link between these liberal views and the perception of conservative Christians as a threat to society. Former Christians consistently reported elevated levels of threat from conservative religious groups compared to lifelong nonbelievers. As a respondent’s perceived threat increased, their tendency to express liberal political views climbed proportionally. </p>
<p>For people raised entirely without religion, their baseline views on conservatism only shifted when their perception of threat was extremely high. In contrast, former Christians showed a sharp decline in conservative ideology exactly in tandem with their rising perception of threat. The researchers suggest that the pain of leaving a faith and the political alignment of many right-wing churches creates a potent reactive attitude.</p>
<p>Identifying as nonreligious is no longer merely an identity associated with young white men. The nonreligious population is racially diverse in the modern era, so the researchers broke down their data by race and ethnicity to see if the trends remained uniform. They examined the political attitudes of White, Black, Latino, and Asian respondents separately. </p>
<p>The data showed that lifelong nonbelievers were most likely to identify as Asian, followed by White, Black, and Latino Americans. Former Christians were most likely to identify as White, followed heavily by Latino and Black individuals. Among White, Black, and Latino respondents, the political trends held up, with former Christians in these demographics expressing highly liberal political views. </p>
<p>While controlling for the threat measure, researchers noticed some variations in baseline preferences across demographic lines. Some Latino respondents exhibited elevated support for restrictive immigration policies and opposition to same-sex marriage when their general threat perception was low. When these same individuals felt a high level of threat from conservative Christians, their views shifted sharply to the political left.</p>
<p>For Asian nonreligious respondents, the results followed a similar directional pattern, but the findings were not statistically significant. The mathematical models could not reliably confirm the former Christian upbringing effect for this specific group. The researchers note that the subgroup sample size for Asian former Christians was small, making it difficult to detect subtle demographic patterns among voters.</p>
<p>While the survey data highlights noticeable differences between lifelong nonbelievers and former Christians, the study design limits what the researchers can claim. The survey provides a snapshot in time from 2021, revealing correlations between a person’s religious past and their political beliefs. The mathematical methodology does not prove that leaving a religion strictly causes a person to adopt progressive views. </p>
<p>The researchers note it is entirely possible that adopting progressive views is the catalyst that prompts people to leave conservative religious institutions. To establish the exact sequence of events, social scientists will need to employ experimental methods rather than relying entirely on correlation surveys. Open-ended questionnaire formats could also help detail the precise individual reasons Americans decide to end their religious affiliation.</p>
<p>Understanding the political leanings of the nonreligious population will likely shape nationwide election strategies in the coming decades. If feelings of social threat motivate former religious individuals to participate in politics, they represent a highly active voting bloc. Political messages that highlight the policy goals of the Christian right could mobilize this growing demographic to turn out and vote. </p>
<p>Distinctions between those raised without religion and those who actively left a faith will become highly relevant as secularism expands across the country. Studying these internal differences helps explain the specific societal mechanisms driving political polarization in the United States.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/rep.2025.10055">Leftward March from Church: Ideology Among Ex-Christian vs Lifelong Nonreligious Americans</a>,” was authored by Ayse Busra Topal and Spencer Kiesel.</p></p>
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
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