news

Politics - 26.05.2023

Australian politics drive Anglosphere values
Strategic decisions and debates about Australian values are shaped in the Anglosphere, a new research paper reveals. A Monash University paper published in the British Journal of Politics and International Relations identifies how major strategic decisions and debates about national values have been shaped by Australia's role in the 'Anglosphere'.

Politics - Psychology - 24.05.2023

Gender trumps politics in determining people’s ability to read others’ minds
Psychologists surveyed over 4,000 people to test social ability to analyse what factors determine how well you understand and get on with others. Political parties regularly claim to have their finger on the pulse and be able to read the public mood. Yet a new study challenges the idea that being political makes you good at understanding others: it shows gender, not politics, is a far more important factor in determining people's social skills.

Politics - Social Sciences - 11.05.2023

Is it too late to change your mind? Study reveals ’developmental window’ for thinking styles
Health + Behavior Social environment through early adulthood plays a big role in how people learn to evaluate information and make decisions about what is true Researchers studied the way different generations in Romania determined the truth of information following the country's transition from authoritarianism to democracy.

Politics - Social Sciences - 04.05.2023

Are ethnic and religious minority voters key to election success?
New research led by experts from The University of Manchester , the University of St Andrews, the University of Essex and the University of Nottingham suggests that people from ethnic and religious minority groups are more likely to be interested in politics than White British people. Evidence for Equality National Survey (EVENS) is a major new survey of racism and ethnic inequalities carried out by the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE).

Politics - 02.05.2023

Biases about bribery in certain countries facilitate corruption
Anti-corruption can start with education about stereotypes, an international study shows For transnational bribery, the decision to offer bribes strongly depends on the national background of one's partner. One's own nationality, on the other hand, plays only a secondary role. This is shown by a large-scale experiment conducted by researchers from the University of Cologne, the University of Amsterdam and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin.

Politics - 25.04.2023

Voting rights without a passport: an opportunity for integration?
In Sweden, immigrants are allowed to participate in regional elections even if they don't have a Swedish passport. Researchers at the University of Basel recently investigated whether this affects naturalization numbers. Their findings could also be of interest for Switzerland. In most countries, the right to participate in the democratic process is reserved for citizens, so anyone who wants to be able to vote must first go through the naturalization process.

Politics - 25.04.2023

Lifesaving impact of early warning systems in Ukraine
Public safety alerts have saved countless lives in Ukraine-but lose effectiveness over time, according to new joint study As many as 45% of casualties were prevented in the first few months of the war in Ukraine through heightened public responsiveness and the Ukrainian government's communications strategy, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Michigan, the University of Chicago and Ipsos.

Politics - 20.04.2023

A study analyses characteristics of electoral systems that affect voting
Closed lists in political elections make people take greater account of ideology and the party brand when voting, while in electoral systems with open lists, people vote in a more personal and less ideological way. This is the main conclusion of a study carried out by researchers at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) and the University of Houston, in the US, which analyses certain characteristics of democratic elections.

Politics - 19.04.2023

Broad support for generous but conditional basic income
There is reasonably broad support among Dutch voters for a basic income, according to new research by sociologists at Tilburg University. However, this must be subject to conditions. Most proponents favor a "participation income," available to everyone on the condition that a social task is performed, like volunteer work, informal care or an education.

Politics - Social Sciences - 14.04.2023

Privately educated twice as likely to consistently vote Conservative
Those educated at private schools are twice as likely to be consistent Conservative voters in adulthood as those who had a state education, according to a new study involving UCL researchers. Published in the journal Sociology , the study uses data from a longitudinal study of almost 7,000 British people born in 1970.

Social Sciences - Politics - 29.03.2023

Does immigration really increase crime?
Study shows that migrants don't cause crime rates to increase but false perceptions endure Many people who oppose immigration say that it increases crime. But does immigration really affect crime? Studying a country whose proportion of migrants has tripled in less than ten years, researchers find immigration significantly impacts people's perceptions of crime but has no effect on actual crime.

Politics - 23.03.2023

Religiosity, ideology and gender determine the attitudes of Latin American elites towards equality
A study co-led by Asbel Bohigues, a professor at the University of Valencia (UV), explains that holding opinions in favour of equality (opposed to sexist ones), recognising that gender inequality is a

Politics - Social Sciences - 07.03.2023

UK voters want politicians to face stronger checks and balances
Trust in politicians is at a low ebb and the health of the UK democracy matters as much to voters as issues such as crime and immigration, according to a new report by the UCL Constitution Unit. Published today, the report found that most voters believe stronger mechanisms are needed to ensure politicians follow the rules, with four out of five saying the current system needs reform so that politicians who do not act with integrity can be punished.

Politics - Media - 06.03.2023

Rewarding accuracy instead of partisan pandering reduces political divisions over the truth
Researchers argue that the findings hold lessons for social media companies and the -perverse incentives- driving political polarisation online. Shifting the motivations to post on social media could help rebuild some of the shared reality lost to political polarisation Sander van der Linden Offering a tiny cash reward for accuracy, or even briefly appealing to personal integrity, can increase people's ability to tell the difference between misinformation and the truth, according to a new study.

Politics - Media - 08.02.2023

Free speech vs. harmful misinformation
Study reveals how people resolve dilemmas in online content moderation Online content moderation is a moral minefield, especially when freedom of expression clashes with preventing harm caused by misinformation. A study by a team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, University of Exeter, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and University of Bristol examined how the public would deal with such moral dilemmas.

Politics - 02.02.2023

Research measures political polarisation in Europe through the parties’ Facebook pages
Scientists from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) have designed a new methodology to analyse political polarisation through the Facebook posts of European parties. They have also created a website openly displaying these results, where it is possible to make comparisons by country at different times.

History / Archeology - Politics - 17.01.2023

A year after the invasion in Ukraine: history as a weapon
marks the anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Historians Harm Kaal and Jelle van Lottum are presenting a 180-page edition of the Journal of Applied History devoted in its entirety to the Russio-Ukrainian war and how history is being used as a weapon in this conflict.

Politics - Media - 16.01.2023

Russian Twitter campaigns didn’t influence voting behavior
Study on the 2016 US presidential election Russian Twitter campaigns during the 2016 US presidential race primarily reached a small subset of users, most of whom were highly partisan Republicans, shows a new study. In addition, the international research team found that despite Russia's influence operations on the platform, there were no measurable changes in attitudes or voting behavior among those exposed to this foreign influence campaign.

Social Sciences - Politics - 20.12.2022

New report reveals that favourable public opinion towards immigration could have significant impact on immigration policy in the UK
New report reveals that in the past 10 years, public opinion has warmed to immigration which could lead to changes in immigration policy in the UK. A new report published by Professor Robert Ford from the University of Manchester and Marley Morris written for the Institute of Public Policy Research reveals that public attitudes towards immigration have warmed in recent years.

Social Sciences - Politics - 13.12.2022

Women’s suffrage: better level of education, fewer weddings
The introduction of the general right to vote for women in Switzerland contributed significantly to their emancipation. Researchers at the University of Basel have now retrospectively statistically evaluated and quantified the effects on employment, education and the family model. The anonymous petition by women in Zurich demanding women's suffrage in 1868 as part of the constitutional reform had no chance of success, as did many other initiatives to this end.