http://www.physorg.com/science-news/social-sciences/ en-us PhysOrg.com provides the latest news on social sciences, history, political science, psychology and sociology (PhysOrg.com) -- University at Buffalo sociologist Sampson Blair says Tiger Woods' alleged rampant infidelities don't affect the status of marriage and the family because his lifestyle and wealth are regarded by most Americans as an exception to the rule, and his behavior is seen as attached to the lifestyle. http://www.physorg.com/news180371334.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:30:02 EST news180371334 (PhysOrg.com) -- Similarities between webs of terrorists and networks of rescue personnel may seem unlikely. To an eclectic collaboration of engineers and social scientists, the connections are not only possible, but a potential source of deep insights. http://www.physorg.com/news180371964.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:30:02 EST news180371964 A Duke University study of more than 3,000 orphaned and abandoned children in five Asian and African countries has found that children in institutional orphanages fare as well or better than those who live in the community. http://www.physorg.com/news180338577.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Fri, 18 Dec 2009 06:20:02 EST news180338577 It's a given that many children will ask their parents for cell phones this Christmas. Now, a recent study by University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) sociologist Shelia Cotten, Ph.D., finds that the way the kids will use their new phones depends on their gender. http://www.physorg.com/news180299835.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:30:01 EST news180299835 One quarter of Detroit-area Arab Americans reported personal or familial abuse because of race, ethnicity or religion since 9/11, leading to higher odds of adverse health effects, according to a new University of Michigan study. http://www.physorg.com/news180291924.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:20:05 EST news180291924 New research by the UK's University of Warwick and Hamilton College in the US into the happiness levels of a million individual US citizens have revealed their personal happiness levels closely correlate with earlier research that ranked the quality of life available in the US's 50 states plus the District of Columbia. This research provides a unique external validation of people's self reported levels of happiness and will be of great value to future economic and clinical research in this field. http://www.physorg.com/news180284820.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:40:10 EST news180284820 In November, the Commonwealth of Virginia executed John A. Muhammad, the infamous `D.C. sniper` responsible for 10 murders seven years earlier. On the eve of his execution, a Washington Post poll found 66 percent of Virginians supporting the death penalty and 31 percent opposed. Though still high, these numbers represent a drop in support for capital punishment in the state of Virginia from four years ago, when 72 percent of likely voters said they favored the policy. Despite this recent high-profile case, 2008 saw the fewest executions in the state since 1999. http://www.physorg.com/news180285567.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:20:06 EST news180285567 (PhysOrg.com) -- Polls consistently show that Arizonans take pride in their state, enjoy their quality of life, and like and trust their neighbors. Yet despite such positive outlooks, the percentage of Arizona citizens who vote, volunteer or donate to charities falls below national averages. http://www.physorg.com/news180200089.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:40:05 EST news180200089 What happens when the families of sick and dying hospitalized children ask their physicians to pray with them, or for them? How do pediatricians respond to such personal requests? While increasing numbers of physicians say that religion and spirituality help some patients and families cope with serious illness, a new study reports that it is almost always the families and patients who raise the issue of prayer, not the doctors themselves. http://www.physorg.com/news180187063.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:20:11 EST news180187063 (PhysOrg.com) -- Many believe that 1950s cinema portrayed women as complacent, conservative housewives who liked nothing better than to rustle up a three-course meal for their hardworking husbands, but a new book has shown it was not so clear-cut. http://www.physorg.com/news180111787.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:30:05 EST news180111787 Your kids won't wear their seatbelts, take their vitamins or brush their teeth? A new study by Tel Aviv University offers a simple formula that will get better compliance in the kid department -- and has implications for health specialists and consumer marketers all over the world. http://www.physorg.com/news180101399.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:20:01 EST news180101399 A new study co-written by a University of Illinois expert in math education suggests that incorporating technology in high school-level geometry classes not only makes the teaching of concepts such as congruency easier, it also empowers students to discover other geometric relationships they wouldn't ordinarily uncover when more traditional methods of instruction were used. http://www.physorg.com/news180101363.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:40:02 EST news180101363 A new study published by The University of Western Ontario reveals that couples who share the responsibility for paid and unpaid work report higher average measures of happiness and life satisfaction than those in other family models. http://www.physorg.com/news180096693.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Tue, 15 Dec 2009 11:40:02 EST news180096693 Planning -- regarding money or time -- can bring tangible benefits to consumers. A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research discovered what makes planners tick. http://www.physorg.com/news180030566.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:30:02 EST news180030566 Whether or not twins are separated at school, a subject of debate that is often a dilemma for parents, has no affect on their grades, according to a Dutch study published Tuesday. http://www.physorg.com/news180040722.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:10:02 EST news180040722 Your ability to resist that tempting cookie depends on how a big a threat you perceive it to be, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. http://www.physorg.com/news180026446.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:20:03 EST news180026446 It may seem odd to add scent to products like sewing thread, automobile tires, and tennis balls, as some companies have done. But a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research says scent helps consumers remember product information. http://www.physorg.com/news180025995.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:20:02 EST news180025995 Whether it's doing sit-ups or eating steamed veggies instead of fries, it's often difficult to get ourselves to do something we know is beneficial. A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research says we can trick ourselves into more favorable evaluations of certain products and behaviors. http://www.physorg.com/news180029822.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:17:34 EST news180029822 (PhysOrg.com) -- U.S. households consumed approximately 3.6 zettabytes of information in 2008, according to the "How Much Information? 2009 Report on American Consumers," released today by the University of California, San Diego. One zettabyte is 1,000,000,000 trillion bytes, and total bytes consumed last year were the equivalent of the information in thick paperback novels stacked seven feet high over the entire United States, including Alaska. http://www.physorg.com/news180028010.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:48:16 EST news180028010 Expert consumers like to be surprised by unusual product formats, while novices crave familiarity, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. http://www.physorg.com/news180025048.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:40:04 EST news180025048 (PhysOrg.com) -- In real estate, it's location, location, location. And when it comes to why girls and women shy away from careers in computer science, a key reason is environment, environment, environment. http://www.physorg.com/news180024084.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:20:01 EST news180024084 Why are an increasing number of Turkish women wearing veils in a secular country where the practice is banned in public buildings? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research says one factor is fashion. http://www.physorg.com/news180024756.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:10:01 EST news180024756 For a generation of students raised and nurtured at the computer keyboard, it seems like a no-brainer that computer-assisted learning would have a prominent role in the college science classroom. http://www.physorg.com/news180017079.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:10:05 EST news180017079 Picture the following hypothetical scenario: A trolley is headed toward five helpless victims. The trolley can be redirected so that only one person's life is at stake. Psychologists and philosophers have been using moral dilemmas like this for years asking, would you redirect the train? Is it morally acceptable to do this? Experts usually switch up the details to see how different sub-scenarios affect moral judgment. Many researchers have come to the conclusion that an individual's moral judgment in this type of scenario is strongly guided by abstract moral principles. http://www.physorg.com/news180015364.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:17:04 EST news180015364 With rising unemployment and fewer job vacancies, the current financial crisis has seen renewed policy emphasis in both Europe and the UK on volunteering as a route to employment, according to a new report from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC.) http://www.physorg.com/news180012366.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:00:04 EST news180012366 At least a dozen Alberta high-school calculus classrooms were exposed to the West Nile virus recently. http://www.physorg.com/news180012327.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:50:02 EST news180012327 (PhysOrg.com) -- There are an estimated 6,500 languages in the world, with around fifty percent of them endangered and likely to cease to exist by 2100, but efforts are now being made to save them from extinction. http://www.physorg.com/news179999981.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Mon, 14 Dec 2009 10:10:01 EST news179999981 People paid by the hour exhibit a stronger relationship between income and happiness, according to a study published in the current issue of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (PSPB), the official journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. http://www.physorg.com/news179674425.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:50:06 EST news179674425 Applying brainstorming techniques to new product development works best when the collaboration employs participants from varied specialties gathering to develop a less complex product, according to the Management Insights feature in the current issue of Management Science, the flagship journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). http://www.physorg.com/news179670971.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:50:04 EST news179670971 The holidays can be challenging for even the most diligent dieters. But are weekends just as detrimental? Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn., found that weekend eating patterns change significantly. http://www.physorg.com/news179595946.html Other Sciences - Social Sciences Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:46:12 EST news179595946