Social & Behavioral Sciences

U professor Tariq Banuri to lead Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission

University of Utah Professor Tariq Banuri has been appointed chairman of Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission. Banuri moves into the role from his positions as an economics professor and associate director of the  U.S.-Pakistan Centers for Advanced Studies in Water at the U. He also serves on the executive committee of the U Water Center. The […]


U center receives grant from Boeing to expand treatment program for military service members

An innovative program at the University of Utah proven to be effective in treating military service members and veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and suicidal thoughts has received a significant grant from the Boeing Company that will allow its expansion. With the $3.1 million grant, the National Center for Veterans Studies — in collaboration with […]


Promiscuous America: Smart, secular and somewhat less happy

Sexual promiscuity is uncommon in America, but a subtle shift has occurred over the past three decades: Men are engaging in such behavior less frequently while more women are sexually adventurous. Nicholas H. Wolfinger, a professor in the University of Utah’s Department of Family and Consumer Studies, published this finding Wednesday online at the Institute […]


The connection between money and happiness is real — to a point

Money is definitely linked to happiness, but how much money it takes to be happy varies greatly around the world and there is a threshold beyond which more money doesn’t equal greater life satisfaction. A new study on happiness found the average income globally for optimum life satisfaction is $95,000 for an individual. The study […]


What is the cost of interrupting a radiologist?

A first of its kind study shows typical interruptions experienced by on-call radiologists do not reduce diagnostic accuracy but do change what they look at and increase the amount of time spent on a case. The implication of the finding is that as radiologists contend with an increasing number of workplace interruptions, they must either […]


Scientists discover evidence of early human innovation, pushing back evolutionary timeline

An international collaboration, including the Natural History Museum of Utah at the University of Utah, has discovered that early humans in eastern Africa had—by about 320,000 years ago—begun trading with distant groups, using color pigments and manufacturing more sophisticated tools than those of the Early Stone Age. These newly discovered activities approximately date to the […]


Drivers of hate in the U.S. have distinct regional differences

In a new study, University of Utah geographers sought to understand the factors fueling hate across space. Their findings paint a rather grim reality of America; hate is a national phenomenon, and more complicated than they imagined. The researchers mapped the patterns of active hate groups in every U.S. county in the year 2014, and […]


Tracking the impact of early abuse and neglect

Children who experience abuse and neglect early in life are more likely to have problems in social relationships and underachieve academically as adults. Maltreatment experienced before age 5 can have negative effects that continue to be seen nearly three decades later, according to a new study led by Lee Raby, an assistant professor of psychology at […]


Somebody has to dust!

Older married women shoulder more housework than their husbands do even when neither of them are in the labor force — and health problems she may have don’t change that arrangement unless they are significant. A new study from the University of Utah that examined gender, health and housework among married, heterosexual couples who are […]


Is he really that into you?

Women who grow up without a caring father, or who even are reminded of painful and disappointing experiences with their father, see more sexual intent in men. New research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology finds that women who were reminded of a time that their dad was absent from their lives […]