Social & Behavioral Sciences

Smile when you say 'Mommy, may I?'

Words with the “hard e” (/ē/) sound are preferred, especially when asking favors of "Mommy."

Matthew Evangelista on the 'American Way of Bombing'

Air warfare "norms" are still evolving, authors say in "American Way of Bombing."

Feeling entitled leads to more creativity, study shows

An ILR School study finds that a feeling of entitlement leads to greater creativity, a finding that has implications for the work place.

Study: Nothing's too trivial for important confidantes

When it comes to social support, it isn’t what you talk about that matters, but whom you talk to.

Activist discusses anti-Islamophobia work

Donna Nevel, a Jewish-American anti-Islamophobia activist in New York City, discussed her work in a campus talk Nov. 6.

Elder-to-elder abuse is common in nursing homes

Nearly one in five nursing home residents in 10 facilities across New York state were involved in at least one aggressive encounter with fellow residents during the four weeks prior to a study by researchers at Cornell and Weill Cornell.

Alienated voters have turned U.S. into a plutocracy

At the Conference on the Histories of Capitalism on campus Nov. 7, Harvard sociologist Orlando Patterson said the U.S. is devolving into a plutocracy due to disengaged voters.

U.S. death penalty is broken, judge says

Judge William A. Fletcher of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit told a Law School audience Nov. 4 that the death penalty does not work.

Young children actively transmit culture

A Cornell study finds that toddlers notice subtle social clues to figure out what actions of others may be socially or culturally important, then preferentially share this information with others.