News by Subject Social & Behavior

Despite how toxic the social media sandbox can get, people more often share attitudes that are framed in terms of support instead of opposition, according to new research.

Many people find it morally impermissible to put kidneys, children, or doctorates on the free market. But what makes a market transaction morally repugnant in the eyes of the public? And which transactions trigger the strongest collective disapproval? Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and the Robert Koch Institute have addressed these questions. Their findings, published in Cognition, offer new entry points for policy interventions.

Germany is not meeting its legal obligations to protect refugee women and girls from discrimination, according to a "shadow report" by Göttingen University, the association Pro Asyl and several refugee councils. Based on current research and a survey of 65 women's counselling centres, psychosocial counselling centres and institutions working with refugees, the study finds that Germany does not adequately protect refugee women and girls and does not meet the requirements of the Istanbul Convention.

An associate professor of marketing at The University of Texas at Arlington says digital avatars can replace a sales force and customer service employees at a fraction of the cost.

North Carolina State University researchers have created insecticide-free, mosquito-resistant clothing using textile materials they confirmed to be bite-proof in experiments with live mosquitoes.

Wage inequality between top managers and employees boosts the short-term, but not long-term, profitability of a firm while persistently harming customer satisfaction by motivating opportunism against customers and weakening its customer-oriented culture.

The study, published in the American Economic Review, found that a relatively simple intervention directed to poor women -- providing them access to their own bank accounts and direct deposit for their earnings from a federal workfare program, along with basic training on how to use local bank kiosks -- increased the amount they worked, both in the government program and for other employers.

Cash in on the kids' inheritance and spend up big on the retirement plans - that's the message coming from the University of South Australia as new research reveals that older people are keen to spend their well-earned savings, rather than passing them on to their kids.

Our changing relationship with cash and dramatically reduced foot traffic in CBDs around the globe has prompted street performers to find different ways to generate income and sustain their careers.

In a paper published by Research Involvement and Engagement, the University of Surrey and its partners highlight the importance and value of 'lived experience' that only people in prison can provide to shape meaningful research and policy decisions.