The majority of Israelis avoid learning about the state of their retirement savings, according to a recent article by Prof. Guy Hochman of Reichman University’s Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology. Published in the scientific journal Current Opinion in Psychology, the article explains that this avoidance is not driven solely by a lack of knowledge; emotional, cultural, and social factors also play a role. Many people prefer not to know how much money awaits them in old age — not because they are indifferent, but because the information can feel frightening, anxiety-inducing, or futile if they believe they cannot change the outcome anyway.

Recently, an in-depth study addressing this question was jointly conducted by Associate Professor Ting Meng from the College of Economics and Management at China Agricultural University, in collaboration with researchers from the Research Institute for Eco-civilization of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Alliance of Biodiversity International and International Center for Tropical Agriculture (Senegal). The study offers systematic solutions for developing countries, and the related article was published in Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering (DOI: 10.15302/J-FASE-2025646).

As humans, we are constantly navigating social status, using subconscious strategies to assert either our dominance or prestige. We often use voice or body language to communicate this. Imagine a politician with a slow, booming voice, expanding their chest and extending their arms, quickly asserting authority over their audience. We also use our sense of smell, according to new research from the University of Victoria (UVic), published in Evolution and Human Behaviour. This study examined whether scent cues associated with levels of circulating testosterone impact people’s social status judgments. It found that both male and female participants perceived men with higher levels of testosterone to be more dominant than men with lower testosterone levels.