News by Subject Social & Behavior

In a new study, researchers focused on one of the most common caregiving arrangements: daughters between the ages of 40 and 70 who were likely to need to provide informal care to their mothers at some point in the near future. Participants were identified using the Health and Retirement Study, a survey conducted by the University of Michigan since 1992. Findings from this new analysis were published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Land-based bird populations are becoming confined to nature reserves in some parts of the world -- raising the risk of global extinction -- due to the loss of suitable habitat, according to a report led by UCL. Researchers analyzed biodiversity in the peninsula of Thailand, Borneo, Malaysia, Sumatra, Java and Bali, one of the world's most biologically degraded regions. They found that up to 25 percent of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds have been made locally extinct in the region.

Why do humans cooperate? For six years, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have worked to answer this great puzzle, focusing on the Hadza, a nomadic hunter-gatherer population in Tanzania. New findings suggest that cooperation is flexible, not fixed.

The oldest group reported the lowest levels of depressive symptoms and the highest levels of Physical QOL. 'These results were unexpected,' said Dr. Strober, 'given the functional limitations, disease progression, and neurological lesions seen in the aging MS population. Contrary to our hypothesis, the trend by age paralleled the general population. Younger individuals with MS are at greater risk for depression and poor QOL. If confirmed, targeted screening for depression by age may be warranted in this population.'

Working in a competitive industry fosters a greater level of trust amongst workers, finds a new study from the University of British Columbia, Princeton University and Aix-Marseille University, published today in Science: Advances.

Workshy bosses can promote a contemptuous attitude amongst their staff -- leading to anger, frustration and abuse in the work place, new research has shown.

Using energy consumption as a measure, a team of international scientists has found that ancient civilizations engaged in globalization more than previously believed, suggesting that an integrated global economy is nothing new and may have benefited societies for ages.