Social Sciences

New statistical research carried out by a team of experts at the University of Southampton suggests that the number of people dying as a result of diabetes may be directly influenced by ‘male macho attitudes’.

Professors Robert Peveler and Colin Pritchard of the Mental Health research unit at the University’s School of Medicine found that during the period studied (1974-1997) while the numbers of youth and young adults dying from diabetes fell, there was still a disproportionately higher de

New study reveals knowledge of object concepts is less inborn than acquired

The question of how and when we develop our knowledge of object behavior – such as knowing that when a ball rolls behind a sofa, that it is likely to roll out the other side – is an ongoing puzzle in cognitive science. Previously, scientists had thought that infants learned to understand this concept through manual exploration. However, subsequent research indicated that infants developed an understanding of

They might not normally merit a second glance, but those everyday objects around the house are constantly undergoing intense scrutiny, categorization and classification by babies trying to make sense of a world only months new to them.

There is a lot going on in the heads of babies – probably more than most people think, says Texas A&M University psychologist Teresa Wilcox, who studies the way babies think about and interact with their physical world. She’s examining how and when babies be

Findings have major implications for tobacco control and projected tobacco-related deaths

A new report released today at the World Conference on Tobacco or Health shows that young girls are smoking cigarettes almost as much as young boys. Results also show that girls and boys are using non-cigarette tobacco products such as spit tobacco, bidis, and water pipes at similar rates, and that these rates are often as high or higher than youth cigarette smoking rates.

These findi

Much has been written about the glass ceiling, the double standard and other barriers to women in management. A related question that has consumed both academic and popular writers is whether men and women have the same leadership abilities.

The answer suggested by a comprehensive meta-analysis published in the current Psychological Bulletin (Vol. 129, No. 3) might surprise you. On average, women in management positions are somewhat better leaders than men in equivalent positions, according

Healthy older people living with a partner feel they have the highest quality of life, whilst those in residential homes are likely to report the poorest, according to new research funded by the Economic & Social Research Council as part of its Growing Older Programme.

A three-year-long study of residents aged between 65 and 98 in the London Borough of Wandsworth was carried out by a team led by Professor Graham Beaumont and Dr Pamela Kenealy of the University of Surrey Roehampton and the R