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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/a-single-dose-of-psilocybin-outperforms-nicotine-patches-for-quitting-smoking/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">A single dose of psilocybin outperforms nicotine patches for quitting smoking</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 27th 2026, 10:00</div>
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<p><p>A single dose of the psychedelic compound psilocybin, when paired with behavioral counseling, helped smokers quit at substantially higher rates than a standard nicotine patch paired with the same counseling. The results suggest that psychedelic treatments might offer a highly effective new approach for people struggling to overcome tobacco addiction. The findings were recently published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.0972"><em>JAMA Network Open</em></a>.</p>
<p>Tobacco smoking is a leading cause of preventable death worldwide, responsible for an estimated eight million deaths each year. Most people who smoke want to quit, but breaking the biological and psychological grip of addiction is notoriously difficult. Currently available cessation aids, such as nicotine replacement patches and prescription medications, provide modest benefits but often fail to help individuals maintain abstinence over the long term.</p>
<p>The lack of highly effective, long-lasting treatments has prompted researchers to explore entirely new pharmacological strategies. Over the past decade, a growing body of evidence has hinted that psychedelic drugs might help reset established patterns of behavior in mental health conditions, including substance use disorders. Classic psychedelics like psilocybin, the active ingredient in “magic mushrooms,” interact with specific serotonin receptors in the brain. They differ from conventional addiction medications because they do not directly alter the brain’s nicotine reward pathways or dampen physical withdrawal symptoms.</p>
<p>Instead, the therapeutic effects of psychedelics are thought to arise from psychological changes, such as increased psychological flexibility and a shifted sense of self. Early observational studies and small medical trials have reported that people using psychedelics often successfully quit smoking. A small, prior pilot study conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found high rates of smoking cessation after psilocybin treatment, but that study did not include a control group for direct comparison.</p>
<p>Researchers Matthew W. Johnson, Gideon P. Naudé, Peter S. Hendricks, and Albert Garcia-Romeu sought to test the efficacy of psilocybin against a widely used standard of care. Johnson and Garcia-Romeu led the investigation at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore. The team designed a clinical trial to compare a single high dose of psilocybin to a standard course of nicotine patches, ensuring participants in both groups received the same structured psychological support. They aimed to see if the psychedelic intervention could outperform an established medical therapy.</p>
<p>The trial enrolled 82 adult daily smokers who had experienced at least one previous unsuccessful attempt to quit. These participants smoked a baseline average of nearly sixteen cigarettes per day and reported a median of six previous attempts to break their habit. Many had smoked for years before entering the study, illustrating the stubborn nature of their nicotine dependence.</p>
<p>The individuals were screened to ensure they were physically and psychiatrically healthy, excluding those with severe mental health conditions or cardiovascular risks. The researchers randomly assigned 42 participants to receive psilocybin and 40 participants to receive standard nicotine patches. Both treatment groups participated in a thirteen-week program of cognitive behavioral therapy designed specifically for smoking cessation.</p>
<p>The structured counseling was based on techniques previously verified in addiction research. It guided participants to weigh the immediate urges to smoke against their long-term personal values. Facilitators worked with the individuals to map out daily triggers and practice alternative coping mechanisms.</p>
<p>Participants attended four preparatory counseling sessions before reaching their target quit date in the fifth week of the program. On the target quit date, the psilocybin group received a single medical dose of the psychedelic compound, adjusted for their body weight. These participants typically spent the day lying on a couch wearing eye shades and listening to a curated music program, supervised by two trained facilitators.</p>
<p>The facilitators met with the participants the following day to discuss the psychedelic experience and to see how they might use insights from the session to support their goal of quitting smoking. Meanwhile, participants in the control group began an eight to ten-week regimen of nicotine patches on their target quit date. The patch dosing was scaled based on how many cigarettes each person typically smoked per day.</p>
<p>Both groups continued to meet with facilitators for counseling sessions periodically over the next two months to review their progress. All participants also received brief daily phone calls or text messages during the week immediately following their target quit date. This extra layer of communication was designed to encourage them through the most difficult days of early withdrawal.</p>
<p>The researchers measured smoking abstinence using multiple methods to ensure accuracy. They relied on participant self-reports combined with biochemical verification. At regular follow-up visits, the team tested their exhaled breath for carbon monoxide, a marker of recent smoking.</p>
<p>They also tested their urine for cotinine, a chemical byproduct of nicotine breakdown. Carbon monoxide levels in the breath provide a reliable snapshot of smoking over the previous twenty-four hours. Cotinine offers a window into tobacco use over the roughly preceding week. Using these biological signals prevents researchers from relying entirely on potentially inaccurate surveys.</p>
<p>When the researchers evaluated the participants six months after the target quit date, the group treated with psilocybin showed markedly higher quit rates. About 40 percent of the individuals in the psilocybin group achieved prolonged, biochemically verified smoking abstinence. This prolonged abstinence metric required participants to remain entirely smoke-free starting two weeks after their target quit date.</p>
<p>In contrast, only 10 percent of the participants in the nicotine patch group maintained the same prolonged abstinence. Statistical analyses indicated that the individuals receiving the psychedelic treatment had odds of successfully quitting that were more than six times greater than those using the patch.</p>
<p>The researchers also measured a secondary outcome known as point prevalence abstinence, which checks if a person has avoided smoking for the seven days immediately preceding a follow-up visit. About 52 percent of the psilocybin group met this standard at the six-month mark, compared to 25 percent of the nicotine patch group. Those in the psilocybin group also smoked about half as many daily cigarettes as those using the nicotine patch in the period following the target quit date.</p>
<p>The safety profile of the psychedelic treatment aligned with established guidelines for human hallucinogen research. The most common physical complaints on the day of the psilocybin dose were anticipated and manageable issues like headaches and transient increases in blood pressure. No serious medical emergencies were attributed to the psychedelic or the nicotine patch during the course of the trial.</p>
<p>Psychedelic therapies typically require only one or two drug administration sessions, which isolates potential side effects to a tightly controlled clinical environment. Standard medications for smoking cessation must be taken daily over weeks or months. That extended schedule introduces the ongoing risk of delayed adverse effects and makes it harder for individuals to stick to the regimen.</p>
<p>While the outcomes strongly support the potential of psychedelic therapy, the researchers noted several limitations in the pilot study. The trial was unblinded, meaning both the participants and the facilitators knew which treatment was being administered. Because psychedelic experiences are intensely noticeable, creating a convincing placebo or blinded control condition remains a major methodological challenge. This transparency means patient expectations might have influenced the success rates.</p>
<p>The sample of participants also lacked broad demographic diversity. The group was predominantly white and highly educated, which could affect how well the results generalize to the broader population of smokers. Additionally, about 65 percent of the participants had a prior lifetime history of using psychedelic drugs. Although the mathematical models suggested this history did not alter the treatment outcomes, it indicates that individuals comfortable with psychedelics might have been more inclined to volunteer for the trial.</p>
<p>Another factor is the difference in contact time between the two groups. Because the psilocybin session lasted all day and required a follow-up integration session the next morning, participants in the psychedelic group spent more total time interacting with the research staff. It is possible that this extra attention and therapeutic support contributed to their higher success rates.</p>
<p>Future double-blind studies involving larger and more diverse groups of people will help clarify these variables. Investigators intend to explore whether the intense psychological support provided alongside the psilocybin can be streamlined to make the treatment more accessible and affordable. They will also look closer at the neurological mechanisms at play, hoping to explain exactly how psychedelics alter addictive behaviors.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.0972">Psilocybin or Nicotine Patch for Smoking Cessation: A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial</a>,” was authored by Matthew W. Johnson, Gideon P. Naudé, Peter S. Hendricks, and Albert Garcia-Romeu.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/a-reduced-sense-of-belonging-links-childhood-emotional-abuse-to-unhappier-romantic-relationships/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">A reduced sense of belonging links childhood emotional abuse to unhappier romantic relationships</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 27th 2026, 08:00</div>
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<p><p>New research published in the journal <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2026.113744" target="_blank">Personality and Individual Differences</a></em> suggests that individuals who experienced psychological abuse in childhood tend to experience lower relationship satisfaction as adults. The findings provide evidence that this decline in romantic happiness happens because these individuals often develop a reduced sense of belonging. The study suggests that addressing this sense of social connection might help heal the long-term relational wounds of early emotional mistreatment.</p>
<p>Past studies have frequently examined the impact of physical and sexual abuse on adult well-being. However, psychological abuse is often overlooked in scientific literature regarding romantic outcomes. </p>
<p>Psychological abuse involves a parent or caregiver repeatedly using attitudes and behaviors that negatively impact a child’s development. This can include constant criticism, emotional manipulation, or intentional humiliation. Since a child’s early bonds shape how they view connections throughout their lives, emotional mistreatment can have profound consequences. </p>
<p>“My interest in this topic was shaped by the idea that early parent-child relationships can leave enduring imprints on how individuals experience closeness and satisfaction in their adult romantic lives,” explained researcher Yakup İme, an associate professor of counseling psychology at Necmettin Erbakan University in Konya, Türkiye. </p>
<p>“Drawing on psychoanalytic perspectives, particularly the object relations framework of Melanie Klein, as well as attachment theory developed by John Bowlby, I was intrigued by how early experiences of psychological abuse might disrupt one’s sense of belonging with a partner,” İme told PsyPost. Psychoanalytic perspectives explore how unconscious thoughts and childhood experiences shape behavior. Attachment theory focuses on how early bonds with caregivers create a blueprint for future relationships. </p>
<p>“These theoretical approaches suggest that internalized relational patterns formed in childhood can influence emotional bonds in adulthood,” İme continued. “This perspective ultimately motivated me to explore belongingness as a key mechanism linking early adversity to later relationship satisfaction.” Belongingness refers to a person’s general feeling of being accepted, valued, and supported by others.</p>
<p>To explore these connections, the researcher designed a longitudinal study. A longitudinal study is a research method that involves observing the same group of individuals repeatedly over a period of time. This approach allows scientists to track changes and establish a better sequence of events. </p>
<p>The sample included 346 young adults attending a university in Türkiye. There were 213 women and 133 men in the group. The participants ranged in age from 20 to 36 years old, with an average age of about 25.</p>
<p>Data collection took place at two distinct time points, separated by a three-month interval. The first phase occurred in February 2025, and the second phase followed in May 2025. Participants completed printed survey forms face-to-face with the scientist.</p>
<p>To ensure privacy while matching the first and second surveys, participants provided pseudonyms. They also shared specific identifiers like the last three digits of their phone numbers and the last few letters of their parents’ names. This allowed the researcher to track individual responses across the two time periods accurately.</p>
<p>The participants completed three specific questionnaires. The first was a 12-item scale that asked individuals to rate how often their parents exhibited abusive behaviors during their childhood. Participants responded on a four-point scale ranging from never to always.</p>
<p>The second measure was a seven-item scale assessing how content the individuals felt in their romantic relationships. Participants rated their satisfaction on a seven-point scale ranging from not at all satisfied to very satisfied. Finally, the participants filled out a 12-item questionnaire measuring feelings of social acceptance and rejection.</p>
<p>The findings suggest a negative relationship between early psychological abuse and adult relationship satisfaction. Individuals who reported higher levels of childhood emotional mistreatment tended to report feeling less satisfied in their romantic relationships. The data provides evidence that this connection is consistent over time.</p>
<p>Additionally, the researcher found that belongingness acts as a mediator in this dynamic. A mediator is a variable that explains the relationship between a starting cause and its ultimate effect. In this case, childhood psychological abuse predicts a lower sense of belonging, which then leads to decreased relationship satisfaction.</p>
<p>“The results did not surprise me; the findings appear consistent with the existing theoretical framework and literature,” İme told PsyPost. “However, the study’s clear demonstration of the long-term effects of early psychological abuse on the sense of belonging and relationship satisfaction in adulthood underscores its importance.”</p>
<p>“This study shows that psychological abuse experienced during childhood can lead individuals to feel less happy and fulfilled in their future romantic relationships,” İme explained. “A key reason for this is the damage done to a person’s sense of ‘belonging’ and being loved at an early age.” </p>
<p>“Individuals who receive sufficient trust and attention during childhood, on the other hand, are better able to build trust in their relationships as adults and tend to be happier,” İme added. “For this reason, it is crucial for parents to raise their children in a loving, safe, and supportive environment. Avoiding all forms of neglect and abuse, especially during childhood, significantly contributes to their ability to form healthy and fulfilling relationships in the future.”</p>
<p>As with all research, there are some limitations to consider. “One important limitation is that the data were collected longitudinally through participants’ self-report questionnaires, which may introduce bias,” İme explained. “In particular, responses could have been influenced by factors such as social desirability or subjective interpretation, potentially affecting the accuracy of the findings.”</p>
<p>The three-month gap between the two survey periods is also relatively short. Tracking these individuals over several years might reveal different patterns regarding how relationship satisfaction evolves. Longer observation periods would offer more detailed information about these psychological changes. </p>
<p>The sample is composed entirely of university students in Türkiye. Cultural norms, family structures, and educational systems in this specific region might influence the results. As a result, these findings might not completely apply to individuals from different cultural backgrounds or age groups.</p>
<p>“My long-term goal is to further examine the mechanisms linking early psychological abuse to adult relationship outcomes by incorporating multi-method approaches (e.g., observational and partner-reported data) to strengthen causal inferences,” İme said. “As a next step, I aim to explore potential protective factors, such as resilience and social support, that may buffer the negative impact of early adverse experiences on belongingness and relationship satisfaction.” </p>
<p>“Ultimately, this line of research could inform the development of targeted interventions to improve relational well-being among individuals with histories of early psychological abuse,” İme concluded. Exploring other variables like self-esteem or interpersonal trust might also help explain how early psychological abuse impacts adult romance.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2026.113744" target="_blank">How early psychological abuse predicts decreased relationship satisfaction via belongingness in adulthood: A longitudinal study</a>,” was authored by Yakup İme.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/scientists-reveal-the-biological-pathways-linking-childhood-trauma-to-chronic-gut-pain/" 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;">Scientists reveal the biological pathways linking childhood trauma to chronic gut pain</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 27th 2026, 06:00</div>
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<p><p>Two recent studies published in <em>Gastroenterology</em> provide evidence that events in early life shape the long-term health of the gut and brain. The research suggests that early stress and fetal exposure to certain medications increase the risk of digestive and mood disorders. Together, these findings point to new ways to treat conditions that involve both the brain and the digestive system.</p>
<p>Disorders of gut-brain interaction are digestive conditions that often occur alongside mood disorders like anxiety and depression. These conditions affect up to 40 percent of people worldwide and include issues like irritable bowel syndrome and functional constipation. Scientists recognize that the physical connection between the gut and brain tends to dictate how these diseases develop. </p>
<p>“As a physician who specializes in kids with disorders of gut-brain interaction (DGBI), I was caring for a number of children who were really suffering with symptoms (constipation, diarrhea and/or abdominal pain) so severe that they lived their lives in fear of not feeling well rather than focusing on thriving at school and enjoying friends and family, as they should have been able to do,” explained study author Kara G. Margolis.</p>
<p>Margolis is the director of the NYU Pain Research Center and a professor in the Department of Molecular Pathobiology at the NYU College of Dentistry. She is also a professor in the Departments of Cell Biology and Pediatrics at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. <a href="https://dental.nyu.edu/faculty/molecular-pathobiology/margolis-lab.html" target="_blank">Her laboratory</a> explores the mechanisms underlying these conditions.</p>
<p>“The pain part of DGBI can be particularly challenging to treat, in large part because we don’t understand their precise etiologies. My impetus in studying DGBI was to try and understand underlying mechanisms in order to develop novel therapeutic targets,” she added. “It breaks my heart to see children in pain and this is my way to try and make them better.”</p>
<p>Margolis also noticed a pattern in her clinic regarding childhood trauma. “Along the same lines, I was seeing a lot of children in the clinic who struggled with stressors in early life. For example, abuse or neglect. I have found some of these kids harder to treat than kids who come in with more acute stress,” she noted. </p>
<p>“While we know that adverse childhood events (ACEs) or early-life stressors are linked to DGBI development, the mechanisms have not been well-studied,” she said. “My hope was that we could first define links between early life stress (ELS) and DGBI and, now that we have targeted some, begin to look for novel therapeutic targets, which we are currently exploring.”</p>
<p>Many people treat these combined mood and digestive issues with common medications known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. These drugs block the reabsorption of a chemical messenger called serotonin, which increases its availability in the body. Because these medications are absorbed systemically into the entire body, they can cause unintended side effects like anxiety and digestive problems. </p>
<p>When taken during pregnancy, these widespread medications cross the placenta and affect the developing nervous systems of the fetus. The researchers wanted to understand exactly where serotonin acts to improve or worsen physical and emotional symptoms. They designed a 2025 study to test whether targeting serotonin specifically in the gut could offer a safer treatment.</p>
<p>The scientists used genetically modified mice to isolate the effects of serotonin in the gastrointestinal tract. They deleted the serotonin transporter protein specifically in the intestinal epithelium, which is the innermost cell lining of the gut. This approach allowed them to increase serotonin signaling in the digestive tract without altering serotonin levels in the brain or blood.</p>
<p>The researchers assessed the mice using various behavioral tests, such as placing them in open fields or elevated mazes to measure their anxiety levels. They found that deleting the serotonin transporter in the gut lining reduced both anxiety and depression-like behaviors. This targeted approach did not cause the negative digestive or cognitive side effects typically seen when the transporter is removed from the entire body.</p>
<p>To understand how the gut sent signals to the brain, the scientists injected a chemical to sever the vagus nerve in some of the mice. The vagus nerve is a major neural highway that connects the digestive tract directly to the brainstem. Disabling this nerve eliminated the anti-anxiety benefits, which suggests that the vagus nerve carries mood-altering signals from the gut to the brain.</p>
<p>The scientists also conducted a human study to observe the effects of systemic serotonin medications during fetal development. They tracked a group of 408 pregnant women and their infants through the first year of life. The mothers were categorized by whether they experienced depression and whether they took serotonin-altering medications during pregnancy.</p>
<p>The results showed that infants exposed to these medications in the womb had a much higher risk of developing functional constipation. This increased risk of severe constipation remained high regardless of the severity of the mother’s depressive symptoms. This provides evidence that systemic exposure to these drugs during early development directly impacts the human digestive system.</p>
<p>For a newer 2026 study, the scientists sought to explain how adverse experiences during early childhood alter the gut-brain connection. Early life stress is a known risk factor for long-term digestive and emotional problems. The researchers designed this second study to uncover the exact biological pathways that link childhood adversity to ongoing gut pain and movement issues. </p>
<p>The scientists used a mouse model of maternal separation to mimic the type of childhood adversity that humans sometimes face. They separated newborn mice from their mothers for three hours a day between their second and twelfth days of life.</p>
<p>When the mice reached young adulthood, the researchers tested their sensitivity to visceral pain, which is pain originating from the internal organs. They placed a tiny pressure sensor inside the colons of the awake mice to measure their physical responses to inflation. The mice that experienced maternal separation displayed significantly heightened sensitivity to gut pain compared to mice that stayed with their mothers.</p>
<p>The researchers also measured how quickly food moved through the digestive tracts of the adult mice. They fed the mice a harmless red dye and tracked the time it took to pass through their systems. The maternal separation caused distinct digestive movement issues that varied significantly by sex.</p>
<p>Male mice exposed to early stress experienced much slower overall digestive transit times. Female mice that experienced the same early stress showed faster colon movement times. The scientists also measured the rhythmic muscle contractions of isolated intestinal tissue in an organ bath and found similar sex-based differences.</p>
<p>To see if physical changes in the gut nerves explained these symptoms, the researchers analyzed the enteric nervous system. The enteric nervous system is a vast network of neurons embedded directly in the walls of the digestive tract. They found that mice exposed to early stress developed an increased number of serotonin-producing nerve fibers.</p>
<p>The scientists then investigated the role of sex hormones in these distinct symptoms. They injected both male and female mice with a drug called degarelix to temporarily suppress their natural sex hormone production. Suppressing these hormones eliminated the gut pain and reversed the movement abnormalities in the stressed mice.</p>
<p>The researchers also looked at the sympathetic nervous system, which controls the body’s emergency fight or flight response. They observed that the early life stress increased the density of sympathetic nerve fibers within the intestinal walls. To test this pathway, they gave the mice a chemical that temporarily disabled these sympathetic nerves.</p>
<p>Disabling the sympathetic nerves restored normal gut movement in both male and female mice. This chemical intervention did not reduce the heightened gut pain that the mice experienced. </p>
<p>“We expected that the pathways we looked at would overlap in terms of motility and pain-related symptoms,” Margolis told PsyPost. “We were surprised that, in ELS, there seemed to be targeted pathways for pain versus dysmotility.”</p>
<p>To bridge their laboratory findings with human health, the scientists analyzed two massive sets of pediatric health data. The first dataset came from a Danish national registry featuring over one million children. The researchers compared 20,055 children born to mothers with untreated depression against 1,093,263 children of mothers without depression.</p>
<p>They defined maternal depression using medical records and prescription histories, making sure to exclude mothers who took antidepressants during pregnancy. The analysis showed that children born to mothers with untreated depression faced an elevated risk for several digestive disorders. These included conditions like infant colic, abdominal pain, and functional constipation.</p>
<p>The scientists also evaluated the effects of postpartum depression in the Danish registry. They found that maternal depression in the first six months after birth similarly increased the risk of infant digestive issues like regurgitation and nausea. </p>
<p>“We were amazed that untreated maternal pre- and/or post-partum depression led to an increased risk of developing so many different DGBI, this really shows that these conditions, when untreated, impact gut-brain communication,” Margolis observed.</p>
<p>The second human dataset came from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study in the United States. The researchers reviewed baseline data from 11,868 children aged nine and ten from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. They assessed various forms of childhood adversity, such as parental mental health struggles, neglect, and lifetime abuse.</p>
<p>The scientists found that any form of early life stress more than doubled the odds of a child experiencing ongoing gastrointestinal symptoms. These symptoms included stomachaches, nausea, and severe constipation. Unlike the mouse experiments, the human data did not show major differences between boys and girls.</p>
<p>“DGBI are thought to occur overwhelmingly in females. In our clinical studies, however, we did not detect differences between males and females,” Margolis explained. “Interestingly a clinical study came out at the same time looking at adverse childhood events (ACEs) and DGBI outcomes and also did not see sex differences. This suggests that ELS/ACEs, that occur early enough to impact development, override the sex bias normally thought to occur.”</p>
<p>These findings rely in part on observational human data, which cannot definitively prove that early stress directly causes digestive disorders. The mouse models of maternal separation capture only one specific type of early life stress. </p>
<p>“The pathways we specifically identified to cause pain or motility changes are based on studies done in mice and need to be confirmed in humans,” Margolis cautioned.</p>
<p>The research carries important implications for maternal health. “Maternal mental health conditions need to be treated because even though there are potential interactions between SSRIs and gut-brain axis development, we actually saw more DGBIs with untreated maternal health conditions,” Margolis advised. </p>
<p>“Furthermore, untreated mental health conditions may not only affect the baby but can have a significant impact on the mom, which is a critical consideration. Treatments need not be medications in every case,” she added. “For some pregnant women even exercise, sleep, stress relief, healthy eating and therapy can help. In fact, all of those things should be considered as a part of treatment. But if a pregnant person needs medication I wholly support that as well!”</p>
<p>When treating patients, Margolis emphasizes looking at the whole picture. “When you have gut symptoms, it is important not only to look at what is currently stressing you but also to look at your life history because stressors during development induce critical, long-lasting impacts on gut-brain communication,” she said. “But, it is also important to recognize that not all people who are exposed to early life stressors develop gut symptoms!”</p>
<p>“An important takeaway message for primary care doctors and gastroenterologists and other medical specialists: The gut and brain communicate continuously and bidirectionally. This means that they are continuously impacting one another,” Margolis told PsyPost. </p>
<p>“Thus, when seeing patients with GI problems, particularly DGBI (but others as well), it is important to consider the role of mood. Similarly, if doctors are seeing patients for mood disorders it’s important to evaluate GI symptoms, because treating one may help the other,” she noted. “DGBI co-occur with mood disorders in over 50% of cases so when you have a DGBI, consider whether you might also have a mood disorder and vice versa.”</p>
<p>Despite the challenges, Margolis offered a message of hope. “Optimism! Gut symptoms associated with early life stress can be treated,” she emphasized. “The amazing thing about the nervous systems in the gut and the brain is that they are plastic.” </p>
<p>“This means that even if development is different because of early life stress, nerve cell connections and communication can be altered in beneficial ways through therapy and/or other habit or lifestyle changes like sleep, diet and exercise, as well as potential medications,” she said. “All of these options should be discussed with your care provider.”</p>
<p>Looking ahead, the research team aims to apply these insights to new treatments. “Our major long-term goal is to translate the findings of this study and our prior study showing that gut serotonin can influence mood, to develop gut-focused drugs that treat mood disorders,” Margolis concluded. “These studies, in tandem, suggest potential paradigm-shifting ways in which we may be able to treat anxiety and depression in the future.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2024.11.012" target="_blank">Intestinal Epithelial Serotonin as a Novel Target for Treating Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction and Mood</a>,” was authored by Lin Y. Hung, Nuno D. Alves, Andrew Del Colle, Ardesheer Talati, Sarah A. Najjar, Virginie Bouchard, Virginie Gillet, Yan Tong, Zixing Huang, Kirsteen N. Browning, Jialiang Hua, Ying Liu, James O. Woodruff, Daniel Juarez, Melissa Medina, Jonathan Posner, Raquel Tonello, Nazli Yalcinkaya, Narek Israelyan, Roey Ringel, Letao Yang, Kam W. Leong, Mu Yang, Ji Ying Sze, Tor Savidge, Jay Gingrich, Robert J. Shulman, Michael D. Gershon, Annie Ouellet, Larissa Takser, Mark S. Ansorge, and Kara Gross Margolis.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2026.02.030" target="_blank">Enteric and Sympathetic Nervous System Pathways Mediate Early Life Stress Effects on Gut Motility and Pain: Mechanistic Findings With Human Correlation</a>,” was authored by Sarah A. Najjar, Helene Kildegaard, Ardesheer Talati, Priscila Dib Goncalves, Andrew Del Colle, Zixing Huang, Yan Tong, Daniel Juarez, Rahi Shah, Erfaneh Barati, Taeseon Woo, Melissa Medina, Narek Israelyan, Marguerite Bernard, Ruxandra Tonea, Michelle Ovchinsky, Noa Pesner, Roey Ringel, Luisa Valdetaro, Mette Bliddal, Martin Thomsen Ernst, Michael D. Gershon, Lin Y. Hung, and Kara G. Margolis.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/why-some-women-prefer-aggressive-themes-in-written-pornography/" 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;">Psychological factors predict women’s interest in violent erotica</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, 18:00</div>
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<p><p>A recent study investigating women’s sexual responses to different types of written pornography found that personal attitudes, rather than evolutionary reproductive traits, best predict arousal from aggressive content. Women who reported prior exposure to violent sexual media and held stronger beliefs in societal myths about sexual assault experienced higher arousal from nonconsensual narratives. The research, published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2026.2642323"><i>The Journal of Sex Research</i></a>, highlights how media consumption habits and social conditioning shape sexual preferences.</p>
<p>The demand for written erotica and romance novels is driven overwhelmingly by a female audience. Within this market, genres that feature dark, coercive, or violent themes are highly popular. In video-based formats, usage statistics also show that while women consume less pornography overall than men, those who do watch it display a notable interest in themes involving dominance, submission, and aggressive behavior.</p>
<p>These preferences challenge historical evolutionary psychology models. Traditional theories suggest that women generally adopt long-term mating strategies, prioritizing traits like nurturing and reliability in partners. The attraction to narratives depicting sexual misconduct or assault seems to contradict these evolutionary models, prompting researchers to seek new explanations. </p>
<p>Media psychology researcher Maximilian T. P. von Andrian-Werburg at the University of Würzburg, along with a team of colleagues, wanted to understand what drives these preferences. They examined the issue through a framework that includes societal influences, past media exposure, and individual biological differences. They wanted to test whether cultural conditioning or an accelerated evolutionary reproductive strategy made a person more likely to respond to aggressive sexual material.</p>
<p>In evolutionary biology, an accelerated or speedier life history strategy occurs when unstable environments push individuals to mature faster and prioritize immediate reproduction over long-term stability. Some previous studies suggested this biological orientation might make people more responsive to diverse or aggressive sexual stimuli. The researchers wanted to see if markers of this rapid developmental strategy, such as an earlier age of first menstruation, actually correlated with an interest in aggressive pornography.</p>
<p>To investigate these questions, the team recruited 571 women living in Germany. The group was selected using demographic quotas to mirror an accurate range of ages and educational backgrounds found in the general population. Each participant was randomly assigned to read one of two written pornographic stories tailored specifically for the experiment. </p>
<p>Both stories featured a female protagonist going home with an attractive male pediatrician she met at a bar. In the consensual scenario, the evening proceeds into an enthusiastic, mutually enjoyable sexual encounter. In the nonconsensual scenario, the protagonist expresses a desire to leave and explicitly refuses sex, but the man physically restrains her and forces her into intercourse. </p>
<p>After reading the assigned narrative, the participants filled out questionnaires rating their psychological sexual arousal. The researchers specifically measured psychological feelings of arousal rather than physical reflexes. The human body can produce physical responses to nonconsensual stimuli simply as an involuntary biological defense mechanism intended to prevent injury, which does not necessarily reflect mental enjoyment.</p>
<p>The participants also provided information about their general sex drive and their previous habits regarding violent pornography. They answered a series of questions designed to measure their acceptance of rape myths. These myths are flawed societal beliefs that excuse perpetrators or suggest that victims are somehow to blame for sexual assaults.</p>
<p>Finally, the participants provided demographic and biological data. They reported their current age and the specific age at which they experienced their first period. The researchers then used these answers alongside a series of behavioral questions to calculate each woman’s orientation toward a rapid life history strategy. </p>
<p>When reviewing the data, the researchers found that the consensual story elicited greater sexual arousal overall than the assault narrative. This pattern held true for the vast majority of the participants. Overall, the women surveyed did not find the aggressive material more stimulating than a standard romantic encounter.</p>
<p>Specific personal traits shifted how some women reacted to the different texts. Women who reported having naturally higher sex drives experienced more arousal across the board, reacting strongly to both the consensual and the nonconsensual stories. A generally elevated sex drive simply made participants more responsive to explicit sexual material, regardless of the context.</p>
<p>Similarly, women who scored higher on the acceptance of rape myths reported elevated arousal to both types of narratives. The researchers suggest that internalizing these problematic societal beliefs might alter how a reader processes a story. Believing these myths might create a psychological distance from the victim or allow the reader to interpret an assault narrative as a rough but secretly consensual encounter.</p>
<p>Past media consumption directly interacted with how the readers responded to the aggressive texts. Women who had previously consumed violent pornography reported heightened sexual arousal when reading the assault story compared to women who had never consumed such media. In the consensual story group, past exposure to violent pornography was not associated with elevated arousal. </p>
<p>The researchers believe this specific reaction stems from a psychological process where past learning shapes future desires. Repeated exposure to violent sexual media trains the brain to associate aggressive stimuli with pleasurable feelings. Over time, readers begin to expect and enjoy the heightened tension provided by these specific scenarios.</p>
<p>Another psychological concept known as excitation transfer might also explain these responses. This theory proposes that the physiological shock, fear, or anxiety created by a frightening narrative is misinterpreted by the brain. The mind reroutes this generalized nervous system excitement into positive sexual arousal, enhancing the overall thrill of the experience.</p>
<p>Measurements related to evolutionary biology failed to predict how participants would react. The age of a participant’s first menstruation, their general age, and their calculated life history strategy showed no statistically significant relationship with their arousal scores. These results indicate that cultural and individual psychological factors are far more relevant to pornography preferences than deep-seated evolutionary traits.</p>
<p>The study authors noted some limitations in their work. The research relied entirely on self-reported data, which can carry biases when individuals are asked to report on highly sensitive topics. The participant pool was also limited to a specific demographic of German women, meaning the recorded patterns might look different in other cultural contexts.</p>
<p>The experiment also used a single storyline involving a one-night stand with a recent acquaintance. This specific setting does not encompass the vast range of aggressive sexual scenarios found in dark literature or online media. Different contexts, such as historical romance settings or encounters within established relationships, might produce varying emotional responses.</p>
<p>Future research should explore other motivations for consuming violent sexual media beyond immediate physical arousal. People often engage with dark or threatening content due to a natural morbid curiosity. Exploring fictional threats in a safe environment allows people to mentally prepare for real-world dangers, which might partly explain the popularity of these genres. </p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2026.2642323">Why Do You Watch This Rough Stuff? Assessing Predictors of Female Pornography Preferences</a>,” was authored by Maximilian T. P. von Andrian-Werburg, Sascha Schwarz, Benjamin P. Lange, and Frank Schwab.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/triggering-memories-of-lost-freedom-sparks-anger-and-belief-in-bogus-conspiracies/" 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;">Triggering memories of lost freedom sparks anger and belief in bogus conspiracies</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, 16:00</div>
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<p><p>Two studies conducted in Canada found that subliminally priming memories of a frustrated need for autonomy increases the likelihood that people will endorse a bogus conspiracy theory, be angered by it, and express willingness to disseminate it. The research was published in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.70032">Journal of Personality</a>.</p>
<p>Conspiracy beliefs are beliefs that important events or situations are secretly controlled by powerful groups acting in hidden and harmful ways. They usually assume that official explanations are false or incomplete and that the real truth is being deliberately concealed.</p>
<p>People may develop conspiracy beliefs when they feel uncertain, threatened, powerless, or unable to make sense of confusing events. Such beliefs can also be strengthened by distrust in governments, institutions, science, or the media. A strong need for certainty, control, and simple explanations can make conspiracy theories especially appealing.</p>
<p>Social influences also matter, because people are more likely to adopt these beliefs when they are common in their social group or repeatedly encountered online. Emotional factors such as fear, anger, loneliness, and resentment can further increase receptivity to conspiracy narratives. </p>
<p>Some personality traits and thinking styles, such as suspiciousness, intuitive thinking, or a tendency to see patterns where none exist, may also contribute. Conspiracy beliefs can sometimes give people a sense of meaning or psychological comfort, even when the beliefs are inaccurate. Although they may satisfy emotional needs, they can also reduce trust, increase social division, and discourage constructive action.</p>
<p>Study authors Marie-Jeanne Leonard and Frederick L. Philippe reasoned that if current events trigger memories of frustrated needs, those events will also be interpreted as frustrating. Such an interpretation will lead a person to try to compensate for the lack of need satisfaction as a defensive reaction. This compensation will manifest as minimizing or denying the external reality of the current event and finding an explanation that will justify both the past and current frustrations of needs. Such explanations may be those offered by conspiracy theories.</p>
<p>To demonstrate this psychological mechanism, these researchers conducted two studies during the COVID-19 pandemic (between 2021 and 2022). They wanted to show that memories of frustrated needs triggered by situations that restrict freedom predict the endorsement of conspiracy beliefs. Moreover, they expected that the mere activation of these memories would make individuals more inclined to endorse conspiracy theories.</p>
<p>The first study investigated the association between memories of frustrated needs and belief in conspiracy theories related to COVID-19. Participants were 141 individuals from the general population of Quebec, Canada. Their average age was 40 years.</p>
<p>Participants were randomly assigned to read one of three stories. Each story was about a person named Alex who walks into a grocery store without a face mask to buy flour. At the time of the study, wearing masks in indoor public spaces was mandatory. Depending on the group, the story concluded in one of three ways: the grocery employee refused to sell the flour while screaming at and harassing Alex (high restriction); the employee refused the sale and escorted Alex out (moderate restriction); or Alex was able to purchase the flour without consequence (no restriction).</p>
<p>After reading the story, participants were asked to recall a personal memory that immediately came to mind and rate its emotional valence and need frustration. One week later in a separate survey, they completed assessments of basic psychological need satisfaction (the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale), psychological reactance (the Hong Psychological Reactance Scale, e.g., “I consider advice from others to be an intrusion”), and their endorsement of seven different COVID-19-related conspiracy theories (e.g., “The government exaggerates the number of detected COVID-19 cases and COVID-19-related deaths”).</p>
<p>Study 2 was an experiment involving 213 residents of Quebec with an average age of 45 years. This study looked into the real-time impact of priming autonomy-frustrating memories on people’s reactions toward a new, entirely bogus, COVID-19-related conspiracy theory.</p>
<p>All participants in Study 2 first read the most restrictive version of the grocery store story from the previous study (where Alex was denied flour, harassed, and screamed at). They then recalled and described their own triggered memory. A week later, they completed a fast-paced computer visual task designed to act as a subliminal prime. During the game, participants were flashed neutral keywords extracted from either their own previously described memory (the experimental group) or from another participant’s memory (the control group). These words flashed for just 60 milliseconds—too quickly to be consciously read, but long enough to subconsciously activate the memory. </p>
<p>Following this subliminal priming task, participants read a fake Twitter post outlining a bogus conspiracy theory. They then rated their level of agreement with it, how much it made them angry, and how willing they would be to disseminate it.</p>
<p>Results of the first study showed an important interaction between the restrictive stories and memory. Specifically for participants who read the moderate or high restriction stories, experiencing a greater frustration of autonomy in their recalled memory predicted higher endorsement of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs a week later. This link was completely absent for those in the non-restrictive control group. Additionally, participants with higher trait reactance and higher general (everyday) autonomy frustration tended to report higher endorsement of conspiracy beliefs. Interestingly, lower levels of frustration of the need for competence (the need to feel capable and effective) also predicted higher levels of endorsement.</p>
<p>Results of the second study showed that subliminally priming participants with an autonomy-frustrating memory increased the likelihood that they would endorse the bogus conspiracy theory, become angered by it, and be more willing to disseminate it, compared to those primed with someone else’s memory or those primed with an autonomy-satisfying memory.</p>
<p>“This research highlights the role of autonomy-frustrating memories in endorsing conspiracy theories, suggesting that such endorsement can emerge from the interplay between the individual (memories) and the environment (triggering cues),” the study authors concluded.</p>
<p>The study sheds light on the psychological mechanism underlying the endorsement of conspiracy beliefs. However, the authors note that their participant selection might have been subject to a selection bias, as people who strongly endorse COVID-19-related conspiracy theories might have been too mistrusting of the scientific community to participate in the research. Additionally, the study authors only examined conspiracy theories related to COVID-19, which may limit the generalizability of the results to other types of conspiracies.</p>
<p>The paper, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.70032">Priming Need–Frustrating Memories Sparks Conspiracy Beliefs: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective,</a>” was authored by Marie-Jeanne Leonard and Frederick L. Philippe.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/young-men-use-moral-outrage-to-claim-status-in-political-debates/" 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 use moral outrage to claim status in political debates</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, 14:00</div>
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<p><p>Young men between the ages of 18 and 35 are uniquely prone to using moral and political discussions to shame others and assert dominance, regardless of their political beliefs. This pattern suggests that hostile political expression may be driven less by specific party loyalty and more by an underlying desire for social status. The research was published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.70132"><i>Political Psychology</i></a>.</p>
<p>Political dialogue has grown increasingly moralized in recent decades. People frequently frame standard policy disagreements as absolute moral imperatives. This shifts routine debates into battles between perceived good and evil, a dynamic that deeply divides societies.</p>
<p>As political stances become tied to personal virtue, a phenomenon known as moral grandstanding has emerged. Moral grandstanding involves publicly expressing moral superiority to boost one’s own social positioning. It is related to the colloquial concept of virtue signaling, but it specifically focuses on the performative element of political expression.</p>
<p>Moral grandstanding is distinct from simple moral conviction. Someone with strong moral convictions holds deep beliefs that shape their attitude and behavior. Grandstanding is unique because of its social motivation. It is not just about holding deep beliefs, but about displaying those beliefs to audiences to reap social rewards.</p>
<p>People do engage in public moral discussions for genuinely principled reasons, such as advocating for social justice or ethical values. Moral grandstanding differs because the underlying motivation is a desire for validation rather than a commitment to moral outcomes.</p>
<p>Sebastian Jungkunz, a researcher at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and the University of Bamberg in Germany, set out to understand the demographic roots of this behavior. Previous work focused heavily on how psychological traits like narcissism predict grandstanding in public spaces. Jungkunz wanted to determine how these actions vary across age, gender, and political affiliation.</p>
<p>Moral grandstanding manifests in two distinct ways. The first is prestige-seeking grandstanding. This occurs when individuals signal their moral goodness to like-minded peers to inspire admiration and gain respect within their own group.</p>
<p>The second type is dominance-seeking grandstanding. In this version, individuals denigrate their ideological opponents, shaming them as morally or politically deficient. The goal is to aggressively outcompete rivals and assert social dominance.</p>
<p>Jungkunz theorized that these motivations would differ by age and gender. Young adulthood is a transition period for identity formation, and younger individuals often navigate highly polarized digital spaces. Social media platforms provide immediate peer validation, which can strongly incentivize performative moral displays. Algorithms on these websites often reward emotionally charged content, giving prominent visibility to expressions of outrage.</p>
<p>At the same time, young men often face unique societal pressures regarding status. Sociologists describe masculinity as a precarious status, meaning it requires ongoing public demonstration and is often perceived as easily lost. Dominance-seeking moral grandstanding can function as a compensatory behavior, allowing young men to publicly perform their masculinity by verbally crushing their opponents.</p>
<p>Women are often socialized to prioritize relational harmony and communal values. Based on this historical socialization, Jungkunz suspected that women might engage more in prestige-seeking grandstanding. He hypothesized they might use moral expression to build solidarity or foster collective action rather than to humiliate others.</p>
<p>To test these ideas, Jungkunz analyzed survey data from 8,420 adults across Germany, France, Greece, and Hungary. He selected these countries because they represent a wide variety of political cultures, institutional histories, and levels of polarization. The survey participants reflected a representative sample of adults ranging from 18 to 69 years old.</p>
<p>The researchers used a specific survey questionnaire called the Moral Grandstanding Motivations Scale. Participants rated their agreement with various statements on a seven-point scale. To measure prestige-seeking, participants responded to statements like, “I want to be on the right side of history about moral/political issues.”</p>
<p>To gauge dominance-seeking tendencies, participants rated statements asserting a desire to put down others. For example, they reacted to the prompt, “When I share my beliefs, I do so to show people who disagree with me that I am better than them.” The survey also collected comprehensive demographic data, including age, gender identity, education level, and the political party the participant planned to support in the next national election.</p>
<p>The data revealed striking demographic patterns in how people express moral superiority. The starkest differences were found in the dominance-seeking category. Young men between the ages of 18 and 35 consistently reported the highest levels of dominance-oriented moral grandstanding.</p>
<p>This means young men were the most likely group to use aggressive moral outrage to put down their opponents. This pattern held true almost completely independently of which political party the young men supported. Whether they backed progressive Green parties or conservative far-right factions, young men exhibited similarly elevated scores for dominance-seeking behavior.</p>
<p>Women scored substantially lower on the dominance scale. The gap between men and women in dominance-seeking behavior was particularly wide among the youngest respondents. A typical 18-year-old man scored a full point higher on the dominance scale than a woman of the exact same age.</p>
<p>As people grew older, their tendency to dominate political opponents through moral shaming steadily declined. The gender gap in dominance-seeking behaviors narrowed considerably among middle-aged respondents. Among the oldest respondents, the differences between men and women were virtually nonexistent.</p>
<p>Prestige-seeking grandstanding followed a completely different pattern. The desire to look inspiring and gain the respect of peers was widely distributed across all ages, genders, and political affiliations. Most people surveyed showed some inclination to share their moral beliefs to look good to their social group.</p>
<p>Contrary to the initial hypothesis, women did not show higher levels of prestige-seeking grandstanding than men. Both men and women were generally equally likely to use moral posturing to build up their reputations within their own groups.</p>
<p>When it came to political affiliations, basic party preference mattered surprisingly little for either type of grandstanding. Instead, the extremity of a person’s political views mattered much more. Individuals with highly radical views on either the far-left or the far-right were more prone to moral grandstanding than those with moderate views.</p>
<p>These findings challenge the common narrative that aggressive political discourse is purely a product of left-wing or right-wing party platforms. Instead, demographic factors and individual psychological needs shape how citizens participate in public debates. Young men appear especially drawn to combative, status-seeking rhetorical strategies.</p>
<p>Jungkunz noted a few caveats regarding the methodology. The research relied on online survey panels, which might slightly overrepresent people who are very active in digital spaces. Because the modern internet highly rewards antagonistic engagement, this sampling method could have influenced the severity of the findings.</p>
<p>Future research could explore these dynamics in different political environments, such as the two-party system in the United States. Researchers might also investigate how local economic contexts affect moral grandstanding. For instance, scholars could evaluate if individuals dealing with economic hardship are more likely to engage in dominance-seeking behaviors out of frustration.</p>
<p>Understanding these demographic patterns could help address the root causes of political polarization. If hostile political speech is driven by young men competing for status, resolving ideological disagreements alone might not cool societal tensions. Finding alternative, constructive ways for young people to establish their social identities might be necessary to improve public discourse.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.70132">The age of virtue signaling: Moral grandstanding as competitive display among young men</a>,” was authored by Sebastian Jungkunz.</p>
<h2>Headline options</h2>
<ul>
<li>Young men lead the charge in hostile moral grandstanding</li>
<li>Virtue signaling and social dominance among young men</li>
<li>Why young men use moral outrage to dominate political debates</li>
<li>Status seeking drives toxic political discourse among youth</li>
<li>Demographics predict moral grandstanding better than politics</li>
<li>Age and gender shape how we argue about morality</li>
<li>The psychological roots of performative political outrage</li>
<li>Does your political party predict your virtue signaling?</li>
<li>How social validation fuels aggressive political debates</li>
<li>Prestige versus dominance in everyday political arguments</li>
<li>Are young men the most aggressive moral grandstanders?</li>
<li>Why online political debates are so full of moral shaming</li>
<li>The performative nature of moral superiority in politics</li>
</ul></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/public-support-for-transgender-women-in-sports-dropped-significantly-between-2019-and-2024/" 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;">Public support for transgender women in sports dropped significantly between 2019 and 2024</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, 12:00</div>
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<p><p>A recent study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/10659129261433979" target="_blank">Political Research Quarterly</a></em> provides evidence that public support for transgender women participating in women’s sports declined substantially between 2019 and 2024. The research suggests this shift is linked to political messaging that frames transgender women as a threat to female athletes, particularly influencing conservative voters. These findings highlight how laws originally designed to prevent discrimination can be reinterpreted to exclude newly visible minority groups.</p>
<p>Political scientists <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/jamie-druckman/home?authuser=0" target="_blank">James N. Druckman</a> and Elizabeth A. Sharrow conducted the study to understand how society decides who belongs to specific protected groups. In the United States, certain groups receive legal protections based on their social identities, such as race, religion, or sex. </p>
<p>When new groups seek recognition and legal protection, debates often arise over the exact boundaries of these categories. The researchers base their work on the theory of social categorization. This concept outlines how people understand who belongs to a marginalized group. </p>
<p>This process involves a person’s individual identity, how society perceives that person, and how legal institutions define the group. When these three levels do not align perfectly, political actors can exploit the disconnect. They often do this by introducing an exclusion frame, a specific type of messaging that socially constructs a minority group as dangerous or deviant. </p>
<p>The initial data collection happened serendipitously for the researchers. “We had written a book on gender equality in college sports, looking at why there have not been more aggressive policies toward gender equality in the post-Title IX era,” explained Druckman, the Martin Brewer Anderson Professor of Political Science at the University of Rochester. “We collected data for that book, entitled <em><a href="https://amzn.to/42yDFiA" target="_blank">Equality Unfulfilled</a></em>, in 2018 to 2019 with student athletes, coaches, athletic administrators, and members of the public.” </p>
<p>The researchers gathered public opinion information without realizing how relevant it would become. “On those surveys we included items to measure attitudes about participation of transgender athletes on teams that align with their gender identities,” Druckman noted. At the time, the scientists did not use that specific data in their book. </p>
<p>“Then the question of transgender sports participation became very salient and politicized, and so we took advantage of the earlier data and collected new data in 2024 to see if changes occurred after a period of intense politicization,” Druckman said. To evaluate these shifts, the researchers analyzed data from the two distinct public opinion surveys. The first survey was conducted in the spring of 2019 and included 1,508 American adults. </p>
<p>The second survey took place in August 2024 and polled 1,506 American adults. In both surveys, respondents answered questions about their political affiliations and their attitudes toward sports. A key measure asked participants to rate their support for allowing transgender women to participate on women’s college athletic teams. </p>
<p>Participants responded on a seven-point scale ranging from strongly oppose to strongly support. The surveys also measured public support for Title IX. This is a federal civil rights law enacted to ensure equal treatment and opportunities for men and women in education and school sports. </p>
<p>Participants were given a straightforward definition of Title IX and asked to rate their agreement with its requirements. In their analysis, the scientists accounted for various factors that might influence a person’s opinion. These variables included age, education level, race, income, and personal beliefs about gender roles. </p>
<p>They also controlled for sports-related experiences, such as whether respondents had played varsity sports in college or currently coached a team. The data show a massive shift in public opinion. “The main finding is that support for transgender women/girls participation on women/girls teams substantially declined over the five-year period of 2019 to 2024,” Druckman told PsyPost. </p>
<p>“Moreover, for Republicans the relationship between support for a gender equity policy (Title IX) and support for trans-inclusion flipped from positive to negative,” Druckman continued. The researchers suggest this reversal happened because conservative voters internalized new messaging. “The shift presumably reflects the rhetoric on the issue that emphasized the threat of trans-participation for cisgender women,” Druckman added. </p>
<p>Druckman noted that the results were somewhat unexpected, pointing to the complete shift in Republican attitudes. “The extent of the aforementioned flip, we thought that relationship would change but not entirely flip,” he said. Among Democratic respondents, the trend was different, as those who supported Title IX in 2024 still tended to support transgender inclusion. </p>
<p>In the 2024 survey, the scientists added several new questions to capture a wider picture of public opinion. These additions asked about support for transgender youth playing on girls’ teams and support for government bans on transgender athletes. The newer survey also asked respondents to rate the degree to which they perceived transgender women in sports as a cultural threat. </p>
<p>The responses to these new questions mirrored the political divide. The researchers found that Republicans who supported Title IX were highly likely to view transgender women as a cultural threat. Democrats who supported Title IX did not exhibit this same threat response. </p>
<p>While the published study focuses on everyday citizens, the researchers noticed broader patterns. “The paper looks only at the public but we find similar results with those in athletics,” Druckman said. </p>
<p>While the study provides a detailed look at changing public opinion, the findings come with a few limitations. “Yes, the data are two cross-sections and so we do not know how individuals changed,” Druckman explained. This means the researchers polled different groups of people in 2019 and 2024, rather than tracking the exact same individuals over time. </p>
<p>Additionally, the scientists cannot definitively prove what caused the shift in attitudes. “We also do not know the precise causal mechanism, whether it was rhetoric, experiences, etc.,” Druckman noted. Another limitation involves the scope of the questions asked in the initial 2019 survey. </p>
<p>Because the original survey was designed for a slightly different project, it did not include questions about respondents’ religious beliefs or traditional moral values. Future studies could incorporate these variables to better understand the personal beliefs that drive opposition to transgender rights. Moving forward, the scientists plan to continue exploring how people categorize social identities. </p>
<p>“We want to understand how opinions evolve on issues that involve individuals who have ambiguous claims to being in a category,” Druckman said. “Here, transgender women in the category to play women’s sports.” </p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/10659129261433979" target="_blank">The Politics of Social Categorization: The Case of Transgender Women’s Athletic Participation in the United States</a>,” was authored by James N. Druckman and Elizabeth A. Sharrow.</p></p>
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
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