The mainstream perception of gaming has always, to some extent, perceived those that look for an escapism into that fantastical dragon world as something reclusive. But why?

“If I look at the mass I will never act. If I look at the one, I will." These are the words of a woman whose acts of charity and kindness earned her sainthood – Mother Theresa. They exemplify one of the most baffling aspects of the human response to the plight of others. While most of us will see a single death as a tragedy, we can struggle to have the same response to large-scale loss of life. Too often, the deaths of many simply become a statistic.

While you may not have been quite this isolated over the last few months, reentry into life after lockdown might be bumpier than you expect.

Paranoid hallucinations plague many coronavirus patients in I.C.U.s, an experience that can slow recovery and increase risk of depression and cognitive issues.

The effect of social media on mental health is complex and it depends a lot on the type of social media activity, real-life conditions, and type of interactions. Here is a summary of research on the psychological effects (positive & negative) of social media use on depression, anxiety, well-being, and social cognition.

A crude understanding of physics sees determinism at work in the Universe. Luckily, molecular uncertainty ensures this isn’t so

A study found that dog owners show heightened well-being not only when their pets meet their psychological needs, but when they make an effort to meet ...

Psychology shapes the likelihood that readers will conclude contested information in news reports has been intentionally falsified.

Older people more likely to hoard toilet paper; Americans hoarded more than Europeans.

Do our sexual preferences affect our personalities? Aussie researchers reviewing the findings of 21 past studies have found that men and women who identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual tend to show different personality traits to those who identify as straight, especially among younger adults...

A University of Rochester study finds that playing hard to get can work as a potential mating strategy.

A fascinating question, and an intriguing study, come to us via University of Nevada Reno psychologist Daniel Jones and four co-authors. The team looked into the tension between the Golden Rule that is considered to be at the heart of most religions, and the savagery that millions of believers are so clearly capable of.

Do antidepressants work? If so, which antidepressants are most effective? These two questions have been posed again and again over the last few decades, but the answer has remained elusive. The latest answer to the question of which antidepressants are most effective and well-tolerated comes from a 2018 paper. Published in The Lancet, the paper reported the results of the largest meta-analysis conducted to date on the acceptability and efficacy of 21 antidepressant treatments

A new study provides evidence that women’s reliance on intuition and “gut” feelings helps to explain why they tend to report more magical beliefs than men do. The research has been published in the Journal of Research in Personality.

A new study finds differences in how lonelier people's brains represent others.

Personality traits help to explain why some people and not others hoarded a humdrum product in the face of a deadly virus.

Being a child is amazing, you have no responsibilities, you don't have to worry about finances, and you don't have to work. But unless you're Peter Pan the reality is you'll have to grow up one day, or do you? There are some people out there who fight tooth and nail to stay childish and deny adulthood. But what causes a person to do this and not grow up?

Vegetarianism and veganism are growing in popularity. In this Spotlight, we ask why these dietary choices can ignite rage in some meat eaters. The answer, it seems, is complex.

Whether you have the voice of a songbird or sound like some ball-bearings in a blender, singing can have some remarkably positive effects.

We make numerous assumptions about strangers merely based on their physical appearances or the emotions they express. For example, we might think baby-faced people are naïve, weak, honest, submissive, or warm. And we often consider attractive people competent, intelligent, healthy, outgoing, and sexually receptive. Similarly, we usually view happy individuals as both dominant and social, judge sad and fearful ones as moderately social but low on dominance, and consider angry people as low on affiliation but high on dominance.