QuoteThe study results confirmed that participants with more depressive symptoms were shown recommendations with more depressive content, and their brain activity—as determined by frontal alpha asymmetry—was characteristic of depression. This pattern differs from their brain activity while watching generally trending videos.

"What we're finding is that if you're already feeling depressed, then the algorithms reflect that. Continued engagement reinforces this negative feedback loop," Warren said. "Participants bring in their own phones; we are not selecting videos for them. It's a new take on understanding how social media consumption affects people."

"If you're more depressed, you're more likely to be exposed to a video showing an argument or conflict," she said. "Positive videos would be about friends supporting each other, for instance. There are videos we classify as neutral as well—those lacking emotional connotation."

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-brain-scans-reveal-personalized-social.html

QuoteResearchers ran two experiments with a total of 1,750 participants to see whether voting changes how people decide to split money. It did, but not in a flattering direction. The study, published in the journal European Economic Review, argues that diffusion of responsibility, the tendency for individuals to feel less personally accountable when a decision is shared among many people, may help explain the shift.

In Study 1, about 41% of participants chose the envious, equalizing option when deciding alone. That number climbed to about 50% when they voted as part of a group, a gap of nearly 10 percentage points. Study 2 repeated the experiment with a fresh, larger sample and, unlike Study 1, was formally pre-registered before data collection began, meaning researchers committed to their methods and hypotheses in advance to prevent selectively reporting favorable results. The pattern held up almost exactly: about 57% of solo decision-makers chose the envious option, compared to roughly 68% of voters, again a gap of about 11 percentage points.

Participants completed a survey measuring where they fell on a scale from individualist, favoring personal freedom and limited government, to collectivist, favoring community and shared responsibility. Descriptively, collectivist participants showed a bigger jump in envy-driven behavior when voting compared to deciding alone, an ironic pattern given that collectivists tend to express support for policies that benefit communities broadly. But when researchers ran formal statistical tests, this difference did not hold up reliably in either study. The envy-boosting effect of voting appeared broadly consistent regardless of political ideology, though the researchers acknowledge more work is needed to confirm that.

https://studyfinds.com/voting-linked-to-envy/

QuoteGoing out for a smoke together and mimicking behaviors associated with smoking can double tobacco consumption and make quitting more difficult. Researchers from SWPS University examined mimicry as a "social glue" in interactions between smokers and published the results in the International Journal of Psychology.

During the interviews with some participants, the experimenter discreetly mimicked their movements while refraining from doing so in the control group. The participants were then invited to a smoking area. The result? The mimicked participants smoked an average of 2.5 cigarettes, twice as many as the control group, whose gestures were not mimicked. Furthermore, these participants reported greater liking for the experimenter.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-mimicry-smokers-difficult.html

QuoteAutoimmune disorders were reported by 18% of residents living within five miles of SSFL, compared with 4% of those 11 to 15 miles out. Metabolic and endocrine disorders followed the same pattern, 15% versus 2%.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-chronic-illness-climbs-closer-nuclear.html

QuoteWomen experiencing a chronic lack of sexual desire still routinely engage in sexual activity with their partners, a behavior researchers have quantified as happening about two and a half times per month. These baseline events, often motivated by relationship obligations rather than personal arousal, could alter how medical treatments for low sexual desire are evaluated.

https://www.psypost.org/clinical-trials-reveal-the-hidden-frequency-of-obligatory-sex-in-women-with-low/

QuoteI was going to get some proper loving and sex from a real man who knows how to take what he wants. You sniveling little wimp. You think a woman just wants to be adored and worshipped all the time. Sometimes we want to be handled, taken, dominated.

https://www.literotica.com/s/love-hurts-9