What Is: The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories, Weaponization, and Societal Impact

Scientific Frontline: Extended "At a Glance" Summary

The Core Concept: Conspiracy theories are alternative explanatory narratives that attribute complex events to the malevolent, secret actions of powerful groups. Rather than fringe delusions, they are now recognized as a significant driver of sociopolitical behavior, public health outcomes, and modern statecraft.

Key Distinction/Mechanism: Unlike healthy skepticism, conspiracy ideation is a maladaptive cognitive feature driven by "teleological thinking" (assuming all events have a purpose) and "proportionality bias" (believing major events must have major causes). It functions as a psychological defense mechanism to satisfy unmet epistemic (need to know), existential (need for safety), and social (need to belong) needs in a chaotic world.

Origin/History: While conspiratorial thinking is rooted in the "ancestral threat environment" of early human history (where detecting hostile coalitions was a survival trait), the current study highlights the modern weaponization of these narratives. The text specifically cites the January 6th Capitol attack as a primary case study of how these theories can mobilize mass action against the state.

Major Frameworks/Components:

• Adaptive Conspiracism Hypothesis: The evolutionary theory that paranoid pattern recognition is a selected survival trait (Error Management Theory).
• Compensatory Control Theory: The psychological framework suggesting individuals adopt conspiracy beliefs to regain a sense of agency during times of societal loss or chaos.
• The Dark Tetrad: A personality cluster (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism) strongly correlated with conspiracy belief.
• Parasite Stress Theory: A biological model linking high pathogen prevalence to increased authoritarianism and in-group loyalty, fueling conspiratorial distrust of outsiders.

Branch of Science: Psychology, Evolutionary Biology, Sociology, and Political Science.

Future Application: Insights from this field are being used to develop "epistemic resilience" strategies to inoculate populations against disinformation. This includes regulatory frameworks for algorithmic amplification and educational tools to counter "informational autocracy."

Why It Matters: Conspiracy theories have created a global "epistemic crisis," eroding institutional trust and catalyzing political violence. Understanding their psychological architecture is critical for preserving democratic stability and preventing the fragmentation of shared objective reality.

What Is: Mutualism

The Core Concept: Mutualism is a fundamental ecological interaction between two or more species in which each party derives a net benefit, functioning as a biological positive-sum game. It represents a cooperative strategy where organisms exchange resources or services to overcome physiological limitations or environmental deficits.

Key Distinction/Mechanism: Unlike parasitism (where one benefits at the other's expense) or commensalism (where one benefits while the other is unaffected), mutualism is defined by reciprocal advantage. It operates on "Biological Market Theory," where species trade commodities—such as nutrients, protection, or transport—based on supply, demand, and the ability to sanction "cheaters" who fail to reciprocate.

Origin/History: The term was introduced to the scientific lexicon in 1876 by Belgian zoologist Pierre-Joseph van Beneden in his seminal work Animal Parasites and Messmates to describe "mutual aid among species."

Major Frameworks/Components:

• Biological Market Theory (BMT): An economic framework analyzing interactions as markets with "traders" (species) and "commodities" (resources/services), governed by partner choice and market dynamics.
• Trophic Mutualism: The exchange of energy and nutrients, such as the relationship between leguminous plants and nitrogen-fixing rhizobia bacteria.
• Virulence Theory: An evolutionary pathway suggesting many mutualisms originated as parasitic relationships that became less virulent and more cooperative over time.
• Facultative vs. Obligate Mutualism: A spectrum of dependency ranging from flexible, non-essential partnerships (facultative) to co-evolved relationships where species cannot survive alone (obligate).
• Sanctioning Mechanisms: Biological controls used to punish uncooperative partners, such as plants cutting off carbon supplies to underperforming bacterial nodules.

Branch of Science: Evolutionary Biology, Ecology, and Behavioral Economics.

Future Application: Understanding these mechanisms is critical for advancing sustainable agriculture (developing bio-fertilizers to replace synthetic nitrogen) and climate change mitigation strategies, specifically leveraging mycorrhizal fungi which help sequester approximately 13 gigatons of \(\mathrm{CO_2}\) annually.

Why It Matters: Mutualism challenges the traditional view of nature as purely competitive ("red in tooth and claw"), revealing that cooperation is equally ubiquitous and essential for life's complexity. It underpins critical global systems, from the digestive efficiency of ruminants to the carbon cycles that stabilize the Earth's climate.

One-Third of Young People Become Physically Aggressive Toward Their Parents

Photo Credit: RDNE Stock project

Scientific Frontline: Extended "At a Glance" Summary

The Core Concept: A longitudinal analysis revealing that nearly one-third of young people engage in at least one act of physical aggression toward their parents between ages 11 and 24, with behaviors peaking in early adolescence.

Key Distinction/Mechanism: Unlike general youth violence which is often peer-directed, this aggression is specifically targeted at caregivers and is driven by familial dynamics such as parental physical punishment, verbal aggression, and inter-parental conflict. The behavior follows a specific trajectory: it spikes at age 13 (approx. 15% prevalence) and declines to a plateau of about 5% by early adulthood.

Origin/History: Findings stem from the Zurich Project on Social Development from Childhood to Adulthood (z-proso), a study that began tracking participants in 2005. The specific results were published in European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry on January 19, 2026.

Major Frameworks/Components:

• z-proso Longitudinal Study: A long-term tracking project of over 1,500 participants assessing social development from age 7 to 24.
• Cycle of Violence: The observation that parental modeling of aggression (physical or verbal) significantly increases the risk of the child retaliating or adopting similar behaviors.
• Protective Factors Model: Identification of mitigating elements such as constructive conflict resolution skills and supportive parenting environments.
• Branch of Science: Developmental Psychology and Sociology.

Future Application: Development of early intervention programs focusing on emotional regulation and conflict resolution for children before school age, alongside parental training to reduce corporal punishment and improve family communication.

Why It Matters: The study challenges the social taboo and misconception that child-to-parent violence is rare or limited to specific socioeconomic backgrounds. It highlights critical risk factors—including ADHD and negative parenting styles—demonstrating that without early intervention, these behaviors can evolve into lasting patterns with long-term psychosocial consequences.

How climate change contributed to the demise of the Tang dynasty

Climatic and sociocultural changes may have contributed significantly to the demise of the Tang dynasty by weakening border defenses.
Image Credit: Scientific Frontline

Scientific Frontline: "At a Glance" Summary

• Main Discovery: Hydroclimatic instability, characterized by extreme droughts and floods between 800 and 907 CE, functioned as a critical driver in the socio-political collapse of the Tang Dynasty.
• Methodology: Researchers reconstructed historical runoff behavior in the Yellow River basin by analyzing long-term tree-ring data archives to model local hydroclimatic trends during the 9th century.
• Specific Mechanism: Vulnerability to climate extremes was exacerbated by an agricultural shift from drought-resistant millet to water-intensive wheat and rice, resulting in uncompensated crop failures during dry periods.
• Systemic Consequences: Compounded by collapsed supply corridors, widespread malnutrition weakened northern border defenses and precipitated mass migration southward, destabilizing the empire's political structure.
• Significance: The study establishes a historical precedent for how environmental stressors, when intersecting with specific socio-cultural choices, can trigger irreversible tipping points in complex societal systems.

New study reveals major gaps in global forest maps

A Copernicus Sentinel-2B satellite map of South Sudan shows the tropical forests, swamps and grassland that comprise the majority of the country's terrain.
Photo Credit: European Space Agency
(CC BY-SA 4.0)

Scientific Frontline: "At a Glance" Summary

• Global Dataset Discrepancy: A comparative analysis of eight major global forest datasets reveals that they concur on the identification of forest locations only 26% of the time, highlighting severe inconsistencies in digital baselines.
• Methodological Divergence: The study attributes these variations to differing technical definitions of "forest"—specifically regarding canopy cover thresholds (e.g., 10% vs. 50%)—and the specific remote sensing technologies employed to interpret land use.
• Socioeconomic Impact Data: In a specific case study of India, estimates of the population living in poverty near forests ranged dramatically from 23 million to 252 million, depending solely on the forest map utilized.
• Scale of Uncertainty: Definitional variances result in uncertainty factors of up to 10, capable of instantly reclassifying millions of hectares between "forest" and "non-forest" status in global inventories.
• Implications for Climate Policy: These discrepancies undermine the reliability of carbon storage estimates and nature-based markets, posing risks to the accurate allocation of climate finance and the validation of conservation policies.
• Proposed Resolution: The researchers introduced a decision-support flowchart to assist stakeholders in dataset selection and advocated for hybrid models that validate satellite imagery with ground-level data to improve accuracy.

Hidden heartache of losing an animal companion

Chimmi April 09, 2010 -February 23, 2025
My best friend.
Photo Credit: Heidi-Ann Fourkiller

The emotional toll of losing a beloved pet during the COVID-19 pandemic has been revealed in an international study, revealing that grief for animals is often profound, enduring, and still widely misunderstood. 

Co-authored by Professor Damien Riggs from Flinders University and led by Professor Elizabeth Peel from Loughborough University in the UK, the research challenges the long-standing assumption that grief for animals is somehow less valid than grief for humans. 

Drawing on survey responses and interviews with 667 pet owners in the UK, the study found that the death of a pet — particularly a dog — was frequently described as heartbreaking, devastating, and in some cases, more painful than the loss of a human family member. 

Study Underscores Role of Sleep in Reducing Toll of Social Adversity on Breast Cancer Survivors’ Health

Photo Credit: Ivan Oboleninov

Where someone lives can affect their health. For breast cancer survivors, their neighborhood can influence their recovery from treatment.

Researchers in UConn’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) led a National Institutes of Health-funded study that found getting good sleep may buffer against the negative effects of living in a disadvantaged neighborhood, easing the transition from active treatment to survivorship.

Crystal Park, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences, and Keith Bellizzi, professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences (HDFS), explored whether factors within breast cancer survivors’ control would influence recovery from treatment. Their findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal, Current Oncology.

Sleep has been found to enhance physical recovery and regulate inflammation, and this study is the first to show that poor sleep may exacerbate the health impact of residential hardship among breast cancer survivors.

What Is: The Capitalocene

"Anthropocene" names a symptom; "Capitalocene" names the disease.
Image Credit: Scientific Frontline

At a Glance Summary

• The Core Concept: A theoretical alternative to the "Anthropocene," arguing that the current ecological crisis is not caused by "Humanity" as a species, but specifically by the political and economic dynamics of capitalism.
• Key Distinction: While the Anthropocene suggests humans biologically altered the planet, the Capitalocene argues that a specific historical system (capitalism) organized nature to produce the crisis. It reframes the problem from "too many people" to "the way capital accumulates."
• Origin: Coined in 2009 by Andreas Malm; expanded significantly by sociologist Jason W. Moore and feminist scholar Donna Haraway.

Major Frameworks

• World-Ecology (Moore): Capitalism is not just an economy but a way of organizing nature ("The Oikeios"). It relies on the "Four Cheaps" (Labor, Food, Energy, Raw Materials) to function. Dates the crisis to the 1450s.
• Fossil Capital (Malm): Focuses on the shift to coal and steam in the 19th century, arguing steam was adopted not for efficiency, but as a weapon of class war to control labor.
• Why It Matters: Proponents argue that naming the "disease" (Capitalism) rather than the "symptom" (Anthropocene) is crucial for finding political solutions to climate change, rather than relying on geo-engineering or population control.

How doubting your doubts may increase commitment to goals

Research explores what happens when people face goal obstacles
Image Credit: Scientific Frontline

When it comes to our most important long-term goals in life, it is not uncommon to face obstacles that may lead us to doubt whether we can achieve our ambitions.

But when life hands you doubts, the answer may be to question your doubts, a new study suggests.

A psychology professor found that when people who were worried about achieving an identity goal were induced to experience what is called meta-cognitive doubt, they actually became more committed to achieving their goal.

“What this study found is that inducing doubts in one’s doubts can provide a formula for confidence,” said Patrick Carroll, author of the study and professor of psychology at The Ohio State University at Lima.

Social Science: In-Depth Description

Image Credit: Scientific Frontline / AI generated (Gemini)

Social Science is the systematic study of human society, social relationships, and the complex interactions that govern individual and collective behavior. It encompasses a broad spectrum of academic disciplines that seek to understand how societies function, how they evolve over time, and how individuals navigate the structures of power, culture, and economy that surround them. Unlike the natural sciences, which focus on the physical world, social science investigates the intangible yet powerful forces of human organization and thought.

Research finds self-control runs in the family

A WVU study finds when parents model discipline in work, health and finances, their teens tend to follow suit.
Photo Credit: Jennifer Shephard/WVU 

When it comes to self-control, adolescents tend to follow the patterns their parents establish, according to West Virginia University psychology research.

Professor Amy Gentzler of the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences led a six-month survey of 213 Appalachian adolescents and their parents, learning about their self-control in areas like health, work and school, money management, leisure activities and relationships.

She found that teens’ academic determination and the choices they made about wellness and money almost always reflected their mothers’, fathers’ or both parents’ self-control in similar areas.

The ability to resist immediate temptation in favor of long-term goals, self-control affects people’s academic achievement, physical health, financial stability and even the quality of their relationships, according to Gentzler.

True trans visibility requires better data

The influential book Invisible Women articulates some of the countless ways in which women are missing from the data we use to understand the world, including the testing of many drugs, consideration of how best to support refugees, and others. The book is powerful, because it shines a light into how, by missing women out, we (unintentionally) do harm.

This trans visibility day, we’ve been thinking about whether a similar book could be written for trans people, and have had to conclude that it could not. Trans people and their experiences are so missing from the datasets that shape social science that we cannot even begin to fully understand the extent of their absence, and how this affects their lives.

Trans identities are missing from our datasets, meaning that their experiences in a number of domains cannot be studied quantitatively. The way in which many of our datasets are constructed reinforces a cis-normative understanding of the world, where people are pushed into the false binary of describing themselves as either male or female. Even less desirably, their gender is often assumed by the person administering the dataset, or worse, lumped into the amorphous category of “other” – literally othering survey respondents with a trans or non-binary identity.

Greenhouse gas emissions in Global South countries linked with IMF lending policies

New research by sociology professor Matthew Soener links loans from the International Monetary Fund to increased greenhouse gas emissions in Global South countries within several years. 
Photo Credit: Fred Zwicky

Greenhouse gas emissions significantly increase in countries in the Global South within a few years after initially borrowing from the International Monetary Fund using structural loans, but not when more flexible lending conditions are involved. 

However, with countries’ second or subsequent IMF loans, their emissions spike almost immediately, regardless of the lending conditions involved, a recent study suggests.

Structural loans, one of IMF’s two primary lending instruments, specify the precise changes borrowers are required to make to obtain the funds. By contrast, quantitative loans require that borrowers achieve quantifiable benchmarks – such as reducing their deficit by 5%, for example – but give them autonomy in deciding how they accomplish it, said study author Matthew Soener, a professor of sociology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Structural conditions impose coercive market constraints, reforms that pressure borrowers to increase their exports, indirectly raising countries’ greenhouse gas emissions through greater agricultural or manufacturing activities, Soener said.

“As a way to maintain growth and repay that loan, countries might decide, ‘Well, we can export more bananas, forest products or other agricultural products’ – or whatever specialty they might have,” he said. “In doing that, the country might be solving one problem, but they are causing another by increasing their greenhouse gas emissions.” 

Study shows social factors of low U.S. Breast cancer screening

Photo Credit: Marco Jean deOliveira Teixeira

To identify major social factors hindering breast cancer screening in women aged 40 and older in the U.S., researchers focused on race/ethnicity, employment, education, food security, insurance status, housing and access to quality health care.

There is a pressing need to explore and understand which social determinants of health (SDOH) and health inequities act as significant influential factors that contribute to low breast cancer screening behaviors in the United States.

Health disparities have been consistently associated with delayed screening, which then contributes to higher mortality rates among both Hispanic and Black populations. Moreover, poverty, lack of education, neighborhood disadvantage, residential segregation, racial discrimination, lack of social support and social isolation also play a role in the breast cancer stage at diagnosis.

Researchers from Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt College of Medicine conducted a scoping review of 72 peer-reviewed observational studies published between 2013 and 2023 to identify the major SDOH that hinder breast cancer screening in women aged 40 and older in the U.S. They focused on race/ethnicity, employment, education, food security, insurance status, housing and access to quality health care.

Sexism and poorer parenting: Auckland study suggests a link

Professor Nickola Overall (top left) with researchers Dr Annette Henderson, Dr Rachel Low, Dr Valerie Chang, Dr Caitlin McRae and Dr Nina Waddell.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of University of Auckland

Fathers and mothers who believe men should hold the power and authority in society and the family were less responsive to their children during family interactions, according to University of Auckland research.

The study was the first of its type.

“For decades, sexism has been known to predict negative behaviors toward women, from discrimination to violence,” says lead author Professor Nickola Overall, of Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland. “Our study suggests the effects flow through to poorer parenting.”

Video-recording family groups in the laboratory, researchers assessed parents’ responsiveness, including warmth, involvement, engagement, and sensitivity toward their children.

The less responsive parents – both mothers and fathers – had disclosed higher levels of “hostile sexism,” an academic term for attitudes favoring male authority and antagonism toward women who challenge men’s social power.

Negative attitudes towards breastfeeding in public still an issue

Photo Credit: seeseehundhund

International law supports women’s right to breastfeed in public. However, women report having been subjected to negative responses and judgmental looks when breastfeeding outside the home. This is according to a new study from Lund University in Sweden, based on surveys answered by women living in Sweden, Ireland and Australia.

The researchers behind the study say that societies everywhere need to give clearer, explicit support for breastfeeding in public – and that society needs to welcome breastfeeding, regardless of the setting.

“Women and children lack access to public spaces. This affects opportunities to breastfeed when children need it, which in turn has a negative effect on both women and children,” says Charlotta Dykes, doctoral student and pediatric nurse.

She illustrates that point with one of many similar statements from women in their study: “Just how hungry is my child, will they be okay until I get home? Is there a better spot close by? Can I easily turn to face the other direction?”

Researchers warn of future ‘fish wars’ as consequence of climate change

Photo Credit: Sabrina Eickhoff

How climate change could give rise to “fish wars” between nations is the subject of a new research project awarded a £1.1m grant by the US Department of Defense.

The project, entitled “Future Fish Wars: Chasing Ocean Ecosystem Wealth”, is one of 11 to receive a total funding of $18m as part of the US Department of Defense's Minerva Research Initiative, which supports research in social and behavioral sciences on topics relevant to US national security.

The researchers aim to develop new economic theory and approaches to measure the economic value of fisheries in the context of climate change and growing geopolitical ocean conflict.

They say illegal fishing, contested claims to fishing rights and future conflicts are likely outcomes as fish swim for the poles as a result of climate change warming the oceans. 

Over three years, the research team will develop new economic theory for valuing multiple stocks of marine resources, which they will use alongside novel data on conflict and cooperative events to achieve a deeper understanding of future fisheries conflict.

Natural flood prevention, higher trust through better communication

2013 flood on the Elbe near Dessau-Rosslau.
Photo Credit: André Künzelmann / UFZ

A UFZ study shows: If the population feels well informed, it has a more positive view towards nature-based flood prevention

In many places today, dikes are being moved back, and floodplains are being revitalized in order to give the river more space during times of flooding. This should make flood protection more effective and reduce the risk of flooding in inhabited areas. Nevertheless, natural flood prevention projects are often met with considerable resistance from the general population. Why is that? Researchers from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) and the University of Potsdam have investigated this question in a social science study. They found that fear, personal experience of flooding, and a lack of information play a particular role in this. According to the research team, when flood protection measures are planned, the general population should be involved and informed as early as possible. The study was recently published in Risk Analysis.

There have been repeated flood disasters in Germany in recent decades. For example, in 2002 and 2013 along the Elbe and in 2021 in the Eifel region. As climate change progresses, severe floods are expected to occur more frequently. It is therefore important to quickly implement effective protection measures in vulnerable areas. 

Location intelligence shines a light on disinformation

Each dot represents a Twitterer discussing COVID-19 from April 16 to April 22, 2021. The closer the dots are to the center, the greater the influence. The brighter the color, the stronger the intent.
Image Credit: ORNL

Using disinformation to create political instability and battlefield confusion dates back millennia.

However, today’s disinformation actors use social media to amplify disinformation that users knowingly or, more often, unknowingly perpetuate. Such disinformation spreads quickly, threatening public health and safety. Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic and recent global elections have given the world a front-row seat to this form of modern warfare.

A group at ORNL now studies such threats thanks to the evolution at the lab of location intelligence, or research that uses open data to understand places and the factors that influence human activity in them. In the past, location intelligence has informed emergency response, urban planning, transportation planning, energy conservation and policy decisions. Now, location intelligence at ORNL also helps identify disinformation, or shared information that is intentionally misleading, and its impacts.

A sense of purpose may have significant impact on teens' emotional well-being

Educational psychology professor Kaylin Ratner found in a study of more than 200 adolescents that feeling a sense of purpose had a significant impact on their emotional well-being. Those who scored high on purposefulness were more satisfied with their lives and experienced more positive emotions in general. 
Photo Credit: Fred Zwicky

Adolescents who feel a greater sense of purpose may be happier and more satisfied with life than peers who feel less purposeful, suggests a recent study of more than 200 teens.

Studies with adults have suggested that a sense of purpose in life is an integral component of well-being that fuels hope and optimism and has a variety of positive effects on individuals’ physical and mental health.

However, less is known about the effects of purposefulness in adolescents, who, while characteristically hopeful, are in the throes of developing their identities, making choices that reflect who they are and aspire to be, according to the study.

Educational psychology professor Kaylin Ratner of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign led the current study, which examined how youths’ feelings of purposefulness related to their daily levels of life satisfaction and subjective well-being.