EurekAlert! News by Subject: Social & Behavior - News by Subject: Social & Behavior

Social & Behavior

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 29-Dec-2025 00:11 ET (29-Dec-2025 05:11 GMT/UTC)

27-Aug-2025

New crocodile-relative “hypercarnivore” from prehistoric Patagonia was 11.5ft long and weighed 250kg

A newly-discovered species of a large, crocodile-relative predator has been described via a remarkably well-preserved fossil from Argentina, according to a study published August 27, 2025, in the open-access journal PLOS One by Fernando Novas from Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”, Argentina, and colleagues.

Journal: PLOS One

27-Aug-2025

“Unhappiness hump” in aging may have disappeared worldwide

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new survey-based study suggests that the “unhappiness hump”—a widely documented rise in worry, stress, and depression with age that peaks in midlife and then declines—may have disappeared, perhaps due to declining mental health among younger people. David Blanchflower of Dartmouth College, U.S., and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on August 27, 2025.

Journal: PLOS One

27-Aug-2025

Breathwork can induce altered states of consciousness linked with changes in brain blood flow

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Breathwork while listening to music may induce a blissful state in practitioners, accompanied by changes in blood flow to emotion-processing brain regions, according to a study published August 27, 2025, in the open-access journal PLOS One by Amy Amla Kartar from the Colasanti Lab in the Department of Clinical Neuroscience at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, U.K., and colleagues. These changes occur even while the body’s stress response may be activated and are associated with reporting reduced negative emotions.

Journal: PLOS One

27-Aug-2025

UCLA scientists uncover brain network controlling stress and social behavior in mice

University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A UCLA study has mapped a critical brain hub in mice that regulates stress responses and social behavior, shedding new light on the neural roots of psychiatric conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety.

Journal: Nature

27-Aug-2025

Local news services need to adapt or face extinction: report

RMIT University
Reports and Proceedings

Gaps are emerging in the provision of local news across Australia, but embracing community driven content could be key to improving the viability of local news.

Journal: Journalism Practice
Funder: Australian Research Council

27-Aug-2025

Vegetarians vs meat-eaters: How do their basic human values differ?

SWPS University

Values such as Benevolence, Security, and Conformity are less important for vegetarians than they are for those who eat meat; instead, vegetarians value Stimulation, Power, and Achievement more than non-vegetarians do. This is not entirely consistent with the common perception of vegetarians, according to a study by a researcher from SWPS University, conducted among adult Poles and Americans. The paper on this topic was published in the prestigious journal PLOS One.

Journal: PLOS One
Funder: Polish National Science Centre

27-Aug-2025

Online therapy can help treat bulimia, offering hope for women lacking access to care

University of Fukui
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder that often goes untreated owing to limited access to specialist care. To address this, researchers tested a guided internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy program for women with bulimia that could be delivered online. They found that online therapy reduced binge eating and purge behaviors and achieved improved remission rates compared to usual care, offering a promising way to make effective treatment more accessible for people with limited clinic access.

Journal: JAMA Network Open