Tag: sociology

The brain assigns symbolism to inanimate objects

Areas of the brain associated with social skills and language are activated when we relate to symbolic objects, like the national flag, shows new research.

Believing in a watchful God makes you more “moralistic”

The type of God you follow can determine how you behave towards other people, shows new research.

How young criminals explain their delinquent deeds

Young people’s narratives about themselves may make it easier for them to engage in crime.

Do adults owe their parents anything?

The welfare state has set us free, so we no longer have any obligations to our parents after we turn 18. So what can family members expect of one another when the legal obligations stop?

Uncertainty worse than torture in developing country prisons

Prisoners everywhere can become depressed, aggressive or anxious because they feel incapacitated. The feeling of powerlessness can be the hardest one to deal with – even for inmates who are tortured and sit in crowded cells, new research shows.

Emotions mapped out in the body

Finnish researchers have studied how emotions such as happiness, nervousness and anger feel in the body. The results led to a colourful outline of the physical reactions to emotions.

Racially mixed schools create more trust in immigrants

Children in racially mixed schools become colour-blind when it comes to trusting other people, new study suggests. This trust does not necessarily presuppose close friendships.

Political colour is half genetic

New study provides definitive evidence that heritability plays a significant role in the formation of political ideology, regardless of how ideology is measured, the time period or population sampled.

Tweeting turns us into lemmings

There is a clear lemming effect on the internet, where we’re keen to show that we like the same things as our peers. But we also quickly lose interest again, new study reveals.

Identifying the most vulnerable children in out-of-home care

Close ties with adults are essential for a healthy development for young children. Now, for the first time, statistical research identifies children in out-of-home care that have a particular risk of lacking stable adult contact in their first years of life.

Young Egyptians armed themselves for revolution

The number of volunteers has exploded in Egypt in the past few years. The new trend of voluntary work among Muslim youths in Egypt has armed them with a stronger social and political consciousness and the courage to bring about change in their country.

New centre will improve treatment of traumatised refugees

OPINION: A new competence centre for transcultural psychiatry will integrate research with the treatment of traumatised refugees.

Knowing the end goal makes us better team players

When we know what our efforts will end up as, it makes us more cooperative and trusting, study finds.

Icelandic music thrives against all odds

Reykjavík is a paradox. The tiny Icelandic capital has produced a music scene that is far greater than its size warrants.

Weird diagnoses kept Greenlanders in check

Arctic hysteria and kayak dizziness were once used as diagnoses to bolster the image of Greenlanders as an ‘inferior’ indigenous people.

Time to reboot our image of gamers

Who plays computer games? The typical gamer plays to socialise and prefers to play with friends and family, rather than strangers.

The new face of Nordic profanities

Nordic youths don’t swear more than their elders, but they use widely different profanities, a Nordic swearword conference finds.

Strong states resisted democracy

There is a strong link between the age of states and the European influence they have been exposed to, says new study.

Money won’t buy freedom from social inheritance

Children of social security recipients go on the dole; children of high school teachers go to university. But giving more money to socially disadvantaged families is not the solution.

Music therapy reveals parenting skills

A test for assessing parenting skills has been developed. It is based on music therapy and reveals some of the fundamental family patterns that are otherwise not visible to outsiders.

Why the ‘50s are back in style

Something has changed in contemporary culture: the focus has shifted from the future to the past. This is exemplified by the 1950s taking up a lot of space in today's cultural landscape.

How to get a top executive talking

Sociologists used to focus their research mainly on people in need. But now they’re increasingly directing their studies at the elite, and that presents them with new interviewing challenges.

GTA is the great contemporary novel

Action games like 'Grand Theft Auto' and 'Call of Duty' reflect reality to such a degree that we fail to distinguish the metaphors used in the games from the reality they describe.

Understanding today’s rude teens

When some teenagers are being ill-mannered, violent or degrading, it’s not due to a clash with authorities. It’s because other people are without relevance in their world.

What drives a prostitute

In a survey of prostitution, the majority of prostitutes say their own sexuality, sexual curiosity and money are the main reasons they chose their line of work.

Men say women weigh too much

Men are fatter than they think, and they perceive women as being fatter than they really are. These distorted body images can also apply to how we view our children and could cause serious problems for both sexes.

Serial criminals could be punished less harshly

It can be logically argued that repeat offenders should be punished less harshly than today because society hinders the criminal in living a normal life, say philosophers in a new anthology which turns the punishment debate on its head.

Health and lifestyle campaigns miss the target

Campaigns designed to make us live healthier lives assume that we don’t live healthily because we don’t know any better. But they miss the target as other lifestyle factors play a role.

For Greenlanders, jobs matter more than climate change

Greenlanders see global warming as an opportunity to develop a sustainable industrial sector and create jobs.

The North is barbaric and sublime

Many associate the North with wealth and progress. But ancient stereotypes of barbaric Vikings and primitive ignorance are still alive and kicking, says Icelandic historian.

Girls use violence to gain respect

A pioneering study shows that some girls feel they gain respect by behaving aggressively and using violence.

Youths are tired of drinking binges

Getting senselessly drunk and losing control is no longer cool, shows surprising research.

Why we still copy music illegally

Pirate copying is widespread because people do not back copyright laws. A new study shows why.

Open access working papers not good enough

Scientific articles published in peer-reviewed journals receive four times as many citations as working papers in openly accessible archives.

Violent knights feared posttraumatic stress

Knights in the Middle Ages were not the brutal and merciless killing machines depicted on film. New research draws a different picture of the medieval military elite.

Sport is good for integration

Sport can be a good way to integrate foreigners into society, new study finds.