Author: dispatchtimes news

A study published in Translational Psychiatry reports associations between the gut and oral microbiome and subclinical psychopathic traits among the general public. Led by Carolina F.F.A. Costa, researchers from the University of Porto and the University of Oxford recruited 200 adult volunteers in Portugal. Participants without recent antibiotic exposure completed extensive self‑report questionnaires assessing psychopathy, empathy and anxiety. Using a computer algorithm, volunteers were grouped into four categories reflecting different levels of psychopathy and anxiety; those with higher psychopathic traits tended to report lower empathy. The team collected stool, saliva and blood samples to map the microbiomes and to analyse…

The latest research argues that a specific condition—romantic and economic insecurity among never‑married men without a college degree—has helped fuel anti‑feminist attitudes and, in turn, support for the Republican Party and Donald Trump. The study, published in Political Research Quarterly, labels this dynamic a “mate‑value backlash” rather than a simple longing for traditional gender roles. Scholars have long noted a global rise in right‑wing populism, often framed as a cultural backlash to progressive social change. A 2019 theory described this shift as voters reacting to evolving social values, a narrative echoed by previous analyses suggesting Trump supporters displayed higher modern…

A new analysis led by Jasper X.M. Wiebenga, using data from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA), has found that among adults with depressive or anxiety disorders, those who experienced more childhood trauma were more likely to report recent suicidal thoughts and past suicide attempts. The researchers identify multiple psychosocial, personality, lifestyle and biological factors that may mediate this link. The paper, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, was authored by Wiebenga, Lili Lokhorst, Adriaan W. Hoogendoorn, Henriette D. Heering, Merijn Eikelenboom, Erik J. Giltay, Patricia van Oppen and Brenda W.J.H. Penninx. One explanation commonly discussed in…

Criminogenic risk factors are proving more reliable than psychiatric symptoms at predicting whether individuals with mental illness will encounter the criminal justice system, a new study has found. Researchers compared three groups of justice-involved psychiatric patients in the United States to see what distinguishes those touching the legal system from those who have not. Historically, intervention programmes aimed at reducing reoffending among people with mental illness focused on treating psychiatric symptoms alone. The latest findings underscore that such medical approaches often fell short of preventing jail time, arguing that many offenders with mental illness do not commit crimes because of…

A new study using virtual reality has found that physiological arousal from a non-romantic activity can lift men’s ratings of online dating profiles, while women appear largely unaffected. Researchers at Leuphana University Lüneburg conducted the experiment with 130 participants and used two distinct VR experiences—Beat Saber, a fast-paced rhythm game, and a calm forest scene—to induce high or low arousal before participants evaluated mock dating profiles. At the core of the research is the arousal misattribution hypothesis, the idea that people can confuse bodily signs of excitement with romantic attraction. The team explains that a racing heart or sweaty palms…

Losing deep belly fat, rather than simply shedding overall body weight, is linked to slower brain ageing and better cognitive function years down the line. The research, published in Nature Communications, suggests that targeting this specific type of fat might help protect the brain from age-related decline. Lead authors Dafna Pachter and Hadar Klein, alongside corresponding author Iris Shai and colleagues from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, led the study, which utilised long-running trial data to probe whether sustained reductions in particular fat depots can preserve brain health. Visceral fat sits deep around internal organs, while subcutaneous fat…

A new study suggests that some women report using kindness and generosity strategically to gain an edge over rivals, a tendency linked to manipulative personality traits and lower agreeableness. The findings, published in Frontiers in Psychology, point to a nuanced form of cooperation that can function as a subtle tool in interpersonal competition, rather than purely altruistic behaviour. The research was led by Maryanne Fisher, the Santamarian Research Chair in the Faculty of Science at Saint Mary’s University’s Department of Psychology. It builds on the concept of competitive altruism and grew from a Government of Canada grant that funded a…

A team of researchers from Sun Yat-sen University has found that when a person’s sleep pattern is out of step with daily demands, fatigue can heighten social anxiety and push individuals to seek evaluation from machines rather than humans. In four interconnected experiments, Xiaoyu Zhou, Yuxuan Chu, Liwei Zhang and Jianping Liang reported a clear link between social jetlag and a preference for AI evaluators, especially in dating and recruitment scenarios. The work was published in Computers in Human Behavior. Social jetlag refers to the misalignment between the body’s internal clock and external schedules such as work or study timetables.…

A new study suggests that Americans with weaker vocabulary scores, a common proxy for cognitive ability, are more likely to endorse Christian nationalist beliefs even after accounting for education. The findings, published in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, point to cognitive resources as a factor in the appeal of this ideology beyond schooling alone. Christian nationalism is defined in the research as a set of beliefs that the United States has conservative Christian foundations and that the government should institutionalise Christian dominance in society, often tying religious identity to civic belonging. “One of the most consistent predictors…