The people who spread new and controversial ideas—changes in diet, exercise routine, political leaning, or even attitudes about vaccination—may not be the Kim Kardashians and Paris Hiltons. According to a recent study in Nature Communications, those with the most actual … Continue reading
Journal Club
Highlighting recent, timely papers selected by Academy member labs
Category Archives: Social Sciences
Well-connected members of tight-knit groups spread controversial ideas much more readily than “influencers”
Categories: Journal Club | Social Sciences
Tagged complex contagion, COVID-19, network science, simple contagion, social network, sociology, vaccines
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Emotional associations, more than knowledge, determine how much people care about the deep sea
With new technological advances in deep-sea mining, the ocean floor’s trove of valuable metals and rare earth elements is coming within reach of commercial mining operations. The impending reality of this practice, and its associated environmental risks, raises the question … Continue reading
Gossip drives social bonding and helps people learn
Oscar Wilde said the only thing worse than being talked about was not being talked about. Nevertheless, chit-chat about others has a dubious reputation. That’s unfair, say psychologists and social scientists, who argue that gossip is a useful communication tool, … Continue reading
Categories: Anthropology | Journal Club | Psychological and Cognitive Sciences | Social Sciences
Tagged cooperation, evolutionary psychology, gossip, public goods game
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To predict the success of tree-planting schemes, look to villagers’ involvement
Tree-planting projects are sprouting up worldwide in an effort to sequester carbon. Acres of saplings are quick to plant but don’t necessarily have staying power: many die or are cut down before the trees grow to maturity. A recent study … Continue reading
Interdisciplinary study brings a humanist perspective to research on land use change
Decades ago, Brazil’s northeastern State of Bahia produced much of the world’s cocoa for chocolate. Most farms grew their cacao trees interspersed with other native trees, in dense agricultural forests. Children played at the forest edges. Today those children are … Continue reading
Categories: Agriculture | Journal Club | Social Sciences
Tagged agriculture, agro-forestry, cacao, cocoa, conservation, deforestation, farming, forests, land use change, monoculture, remote sensing
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PREVIEW Editorial: Scientific versus Public Debates: A PNAS Case Study
Douglas S. Massey1 and Mary C. Waters2,3 1. Office of Population Research, Princeton University, Wallace Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544 USA 2. To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: mcw@wjh.harvard.edu 3. Department of Sociology, Harvard University, 540 William James Hall, 33 … Continue reading
Categories: Editorial | Social Sciences | Statistics
Tagged gun violence, peer review, racial bias, racial profiling, science communication, significance statement
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Trends in conservation funding track popular narratives about the illegal wildlife trade
Trends in conservation funding are changing, according to a recent study in World Development. “We see a shift toward funding conservation work that’s increasingly about combatting wildlife trafficking,” says coauthor Jared Margulies, a human-environment geographer at the University of Alabama … Continue reading
Categories: Ecology | Journal Club | Political Science | Social Sciences
Tagged conservation, COVID-19, illegal wildlife trade, novel coronavirus, wildlife
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Mediating conflict helps community forestry schemes succeed
Empowering people to manage the forests near their homes is one tool of sustainable development. Widely known as “community forestry,” the notion originated in the 1970s with the dream of fair, equitable, and sustainable forest use. But achieving those aims … Continue reading
Categories: Journal Club | Social Sciences
Tagged ACOFOP, community forestry, forests, sustainable development
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Journal Club: Model helps explain how social networks form
One person might befriend another because of a shared love of basket weaving. Or, a friendship may instead blossom because that new friend has divergent interests, and can teach the other new hobbies. These opposing factors—seeking similarities and differences in … Continue reading
Categories: Applied Mathematics | Computer sciences | Journal Club | Social Sciences
Tagged computational model, connections, finance, mathematical model, social network, society
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Journal Club: Study dissects stereotypes, looking to understand their roots and ways to break them down
A stereotype, put simply, is a belief about a group. But for psychology professor Andrei Cimpian of New York University, that definition doesn’t have sufficient nuance. To understand what a stereotype truly is, he says, we need to understand its … Continue reading
Categories: Journal Club | Psychological and Cognitive Sciences | Social Sciences
Tagged cognitive structure, stereotype
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Journal Club: Influence of Peers on Gender Identity Development
Middle school or junior high school is an intense time for many kids. There are many social pressures and plenty of confusion about how to navigate them. Friends exert a strong influence on their peers, including in matters of gender … Continue reading
Categories: Journal Club | Psychological and Cognitive Sciences | Social Sciences
Tagged friends, gender identity, gender roles
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