Focus 26 January 2021

Social sciences

Just as humans and their behaviour are diverse, so too is their scientific study, crossing many disciplines. The purpose of this page is to showcase recent advances in social science published in Nature Communications. We cover an array of fields spanning the intrapersonal to societal level.

Featured articles

Phylogenetic evidence reveals early Kra-Dai divergence and dispersal in the late Holocene

Kra-Dai language family exhibits great linguistic diversity and tremendous socio-cultural importance in East Asia. In this study, the authors found that Kra-Dai languages initially diverged ~4,000 years ago in Southern China coinciding with prehistoric demic and agricultural diffusions likely driven by climate change.
- Yuxin Tao
- Yuancheng Wei
- Menghan Zhang
ArticleOpen Access30 Oct 2023 Nature Communications
Air quality related equity implications of U.S. decarbonization policy

U.S. federal climate policies can reduce air pollutant emissions and associated health impacts from fine particulate matter. However, near-term CO₂ reductions alone are insufficient to address racial/ethnic disparities in pollution exposure.
- Paul Picciano
- Minghao Qiu
- Noelle E. Selin
ArticleOpen Access19 Sep 2023 Nature Communications
Location is a major barrier for transferring US fossil fuel employment to green jobs

This study tests the case for the absorption of current fossil fuel workers in emerging green jobs from the perspective of their skills and location. It finds location to be a barrier in a Just Transition for these workers.
- Junghyun Lim
- Michaël Aklin
- Morgan R. Frank
ArticleOpen Access26 Sep 2023 Nature Communications
Truck platooning reshapes greenhouse gas emissions of the integrated vehicle-road infrastructure system

Truck platooning allows for trucks to travel synchronously in close proximity to improve fuel efficiency. Here, authors evaluate the decarbonization effects of platooning on the vehicle-road system at a large-scale road network level revealing a trade-off between emission reduction and cost rise.
- Huailei Cheng
- Yuhong Wang
- Tian Jin
ArticleOpen Access15 Aug 2023 Nature Communications
How climate policy commitments influence energy systems and the economies of US states

In the US, states vary in their efforts to address climate change. Stronger state climate policies reduce CO2 emissions without harming the economy, but these reductions are unlikely to meet the goals in the Paris Climate Accord.
- Parrish Bergquist
- Christopher Warshaw
ArticleOpen Access10 Aug 2023 Nature Communications
A spatio-temporal analysis investigating completeness and inequalities of global urban building data in OpenStreetMap

Building data is needed for assessing progress towards urban Sustainable Development Goals. An international team of scientists studies the spatial distribution of buildings in all cities globally and unveils their uneven coverage in OpenStreetMap.
- Benjamin Herfort
- Sven Lautenbach
- Alexander Zipf
ArticleOpen Access6 Jul 2023 Nature Communications
Built structures influence patterns of energy demand and CO₂ emissions across countries

Extent and spatial patterns of settlements and infrastructures strongly affect resource demand of national economies worldwide. Their influence on final energy and CO2 emissions is almost as large as that of gross domestic product (GDP).
- Helmut Haberl
- Markus Löw
- Juan Antonio Duro
ArticleOpen Access3 Jul 2023 Nature Communications
Global air pollution exposure and poverty

This study shows that 716 million of the world’s lowest income people live in areas with unsafe levels of air pollution, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. With limited access to healthcare, they are especially vulnerable.
- Jun Rentschler
- Nadezda Leonova
ArticleOpen Access22 Jul 2023 Nature Communications
Quantitative evaluation of large corporate climate action initiatives shows mixed progress in their first half-decade

More companies are setting climate targets, but detailed evaluations remain scarce, raising questions on their effectiveness. Here, authors assess the progress of 102 of the largest companies in the world by revenue for the period 2015–2019.
- Ivan Ruiz Manuel
- Kornelis Blok
ArticleOpen Access13 Jun 2023 Nature Communications
Trust within human-machine collectives depends on the perceived consensus about cooperative norms

Humans and machines are increasingly participating in mixed collectives in which they can help or hinder each other. Here the authors show the way in which people treat machines differently than humans in a stylized society of beneficiaries, helpers, punishers, and trustors.
- Kinga Makovi
- Anahit Sargsyan
- Talal Rahwan
ArticleOpen Access30 May 2023 Nature Communications
The global power sector’s low-carbon transition may enhance sustainable development goal achievement

The low-carbon power transition could enhance global sustainable development goal (SDG) progress, but hinder that of developing economies under fossil fuel-based scenarios. Meanwhile, SDG synergies and trade-offs exist within and between economies.
- Kun Peng
- Kuishuang Feng
- Jiashuo Li
ArticleOpen Access30 May 2023 Nature Communications
Food demand displaced by global refugee migration influences water use in already water stressed countries

While minimal in most host countries, the water needed to produce the food consumed by refugees can have a large effect on water stress in vulnerable countries. Small changes to food trade and refugee resettlement policies can alleviate this unequal burden.
- Leonardo Bertassello
- Marc F. Müller
- Michèle C. Müller-Itten
ArticleOpen Access23 May 2023 Nature Communications
Value chain carbon footprints of Chinese listed companies

A paper led by Prof. Zhang evaluates the value chain carbon footprints of Chinese listed companies. The results could encourage collaborative climate actions along value chains and help investors understand the environmental impacts of their investment.
- Zengkai Zhang
- Jiaoyan Li
- Dabo Guan
ArticleOpen Access16 May 2023 Nature Communications
Unselfish traits and social decision-making patterns characterize six populations of real-world extraordinary altruists

Here, the authors show that real-world extraordinary altruists, including heroic rescuers and altruistic kidney donors, are distinguished by unusually unselfish traits and decision-making patterns. This pattern was not predicted by a general sample of adults who were asked what traits would characterize altruists.
- Shawn A. Rhoads
- Kruti M. Vekaria
- Abigail A. Marsh
ArticleOpen Access31 Mar 2023 Nature Communications
Nationwide geospatial analysis of county racial and ethnic composition and public drinking water arsenic and uranium

Environmental justice and drinking water in the US: Higher proportions of Hispanic/Latino, American Indian/Alaskan Native, and non-Hispanic Black residents were associated with higher public water arsenic and uranium at the county-level, findings differed by region.
- Irene Martinez-Morata
- Benjamin C. Bostick
- Anne E. Nigra
ArticleOpen Access3 Dec 2022 Nature Communications
Using performance art to promote intergroup prosociality by cultivating the belief that empathy is unlimited

People tend to feel less empathy toward people who do not belong to their social group (outgroup members). Here, the authors show that leading people to believe that empathy is unlimited increases empathy, support for prosocial actions, and empathic behaviors toward outgroup members.
- Yossi Hasson
- Einat Amir
- Eran Halperin
ArticleOpen Access16 Dec 2022 Nature Communications
Community voices: broadening participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine among persons with disabilities

Disability has too often been peripheral to efforts to widen the STEMM pipeline, hampering research quality and innovation. Inspired by change in education delivery and research collaborations during the pandemic, we offer a structure for efforts to recruit and retain disabled scientists and practitioners.
- Siobhán M. Mattison
- Logan Gin
- Katherine Wander
CommentOpen Access3 Dec 2022 Nature Communications
Neural implementation of computational mechanisms underlying the continuous trade-off between cooperation and competition

Social interactions change continuously from cooperation to competition. Here, using an economic game, the authors show how the social context and inferences about others’ intentions modulate cooperativeness, and examine the neural network underlying the continuous cooperation competition trade-off.
- M. A. Pisauro
- E. F. Fouragnan
- M. G. Philiastides
ArticleOpen Access11 Nov 2022 Nature Communications
Measuring exposure to misinformation from political elites on Twitter

Misinformation online can be shared by major political figures and organizations. Here, the authors developed a method to measure exposure to information from these sources on Twitter, and show how exposure relates to the quality of the content people share and their political ideology.
- Mohsen Mosleh
- David G. Rand
ArticleOpen Access21 Nov 2022 Nature Communications
Public attitudes value interpretability but prioritize accuracy in Artificial Intelligence

For many AI systems, it is hard to interpret how they make decisions. Here, the authors show that non-experts value interpretability in AI, especially for decisions involving high stakes and scarce resources, but they sacrifice AI interpretability when it trades off against AI accuracy.
- Anne-Marie Nussberger
- Lan Luo
- M. J. Crockett
ArticleOpen Access3 Oct 2022 Nature Communications
Revisiting COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy around the world using data from 23 countries in 2021

Vaccine hesitancy is a public health challenge. Here the authors examine COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in June 2021 using a survey including individuals from 23 countries, and report differences compared to a year earlier.
- Jeffrey V. Lazarus
- Katarzyna Wyka
- Ayman El-Mohandes
ArticleOpen Access1 Jul 2022 Nature Communications
Accuracy prompts are a replicable and generalizable approach for reducing the spread of misinformation

Prompting people to consider accuracy can improve the quality of news they share online. Here, using an internal meta-analysis, the authors show that this effect is replicable and generalizes across headlines, types of accuracy prompt, and various participant characteristics.
- Gordon Pennycook
- David G. Rand
ArticleOpen Access28 Apr 2022 Nature Communications
Leveraging the science of stress to promote resilience and optimize mental health interventions during adolescence

Adolescence is marked by heightened stress exposure and psychopathology, but also vast potential for opportunity. We highlight how researchers can leverage both developmental and individual differences in stress responding and corticolimbic circuitry to optimize interventions during this unique developmental period.
- Dylan G. Gee
- Lucinda M. Sisk
- Nessa V. Bryce
CommentOpen Access28 Sep 2022 Nature Communications
Contrasting inequality in human exposure to greenspace between cities of Global North and Global South

Through an analysis of global differences in human exposure to greenspace, a new study identifies a contrasting pattern of greenspace exposure between Global South and North cities and finds seasonal variations in greenspace exposure inequality.
- Bin Chen
- Shengbiao Wu
- Peng Gong
ArticleOpen Access8 Aug 2022 Nature Communications
Electrocorticographic evidence of a common neurocognitive sequence for mentalizing about the self and others

The individual roles of default network regions in social thinking remain unclear. Using electrocorticography, the authors show a spatiotemporal hierarchy of neurocognitive specialization across temporoparietal and prefrontal default network regions.
- Kevin M. Tan
- Amy L. Daitch
- Matthew D. Lieberman
ArticleOpen Access8 Apr 2022 Nature Communications
Pathway to a land-neutral expansion of Brazilian renewable fuel production

Fuel output of Brazilian sugarcane ethanol facilities may be increased by over 40% without using additional land if production is combined with synthetic fuel processes. This amounts to 100TWh of fuel, sparing 27,000 km² of land.
- Luis Ramirez Camargo
- Gabriel Castro
- Johannes Schmidt
ArticleOpen Access7 Jun 2022 Nature Communications
Prosocial correlates of transformative experiences at secular multi-day mass gatherings

Mass gatherings may elicit experiences of profound personal change. Here the authors show across six field sites that reporting of transformative experiences at mass gatherings are common, increase over time, and predict lasting increases in participants’ circle of moral regard.
- Daniel A. Yudkin
- Annayah M. B. Prosser
- M. J. Crockett
ArticleOpen Access27 May 2022 Nature Communications
Indigenous oyster fisheries persisted for millennia and should inform future management

‘Commercial fisheries have decimated keystone species, including oysters in the past 200 years. Here, the authors examine how Indigenous oyster harvest in North America and Australia was managed across 10,000 years, advocating for effective future stewardship of oyster reefs by centering Indigenous peoples.’
- Leslie Reeder-Myers
- Todd J. Braje
- Torben C. Rick
ArticleOpen Access3 May 2022 Nature Communications
Contrasting influences of biogeophysical and biogeochemical impacts of historical land use on global economic inequality

Historical land use impacts climate by biogeophysical and biogeochemical effects. Their combined effects on mean and extreme temperature may harm economically disadvantaged countries but benefit those in rich countries, raising questions of equality.
- Shu Liu
- Yong Wang
- Le Yu
ArticleOpen Access5 May 2022 Nature Communications
Cumulative lifetime stressor exposure assessed by the STRAIN predicts economic ambiguity aversion

Uncertainty is a factor in most decisions. Here the authors quantify tolerance for two forms of economic uncertainty—risk and ambiguity—and show that greater lifetime stressor exposure (as assessed by a comprehensive lifetime stressor exposure inventory) was associated with higher aversion to decisions involving ambiguity, but not risk.
- Candace M. Raio
- Benjamin B. Lu
- Paul Glimcher
ArticleOpen Access30 Mar 2022 Nature Communications
The world-wide waste web

The 2001–2019 web of international waste trade is investigated, allowing the identification of countries at threat of improper handling and disposal of waste. Chemical tracers are used to identify the environmental impact of waste in these countries.
- Johann H. Martínez
- Sergi Romero
- Ernesto Estrada
ArticleOpen Access29 Mar 2022 Nature Communications
High-resolution population estimation using household survey data and building footprints

A lack of up-to-date population figures may hamper effective decision-making. Here, the authors develop a Bayesian model to estimate population data at high resolution in five provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- Gianluca Boo
- Edith Darin
- Andrew J. Tatem
ArticleOpen Access14 Mar 2022 Nature Communications

Social sciences

Featured articles

Phylogenetic evidence reveals early Kra-Dai divergence and dispersal in the late Holocene

Air quality related equity implications of U.S. decarbonization policy

Location is a major barrier for transferring US fossil fuel employment to green jobs

Truck platooning reshapes greenhouse gas emissions of the integrated vehicle-road infrastructure system

How climate policy commitments influence energy systems and the economies of US states

A spatio-temporal analysis investigating completeness and inequalities of global urban building data in OpenStreetMap

Built structures influence patterns of energy demand and CO₂ emissions across countries

Global air pollution exposure and poverty

Quantitative evaluation of large corporate climate action initiatives shows mixed progress in their first half-decade

Trust within human-machine collectives depends on the perceived consensus about cooperative norms

The global power sector’s low-carbon transition may enhance sustainable development goal achievement

Food demand displaced by global refugee migration influences water use in already water stressed countries

Value chain carbon footprints of Chinese listed companies

Unselfish traits and social decision-making patterns characterize six populations of real-world extraordinary altruists

Nationwide geospatial analysis of county racial and ethnic composition and public drinking water arsenic and uranium

Using performance art to promote intergroup prosociality by cultivating the belief that empathy is unlimited

Community voices: broadening participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine among persons with disabilities

Neural implementation of computational mechanisms underlying the continuous trade-off between cooperation and competition

Measuring exposure to misinformation from political elites on Twitter

Public attitudes value interpretability but prioritize accuracy in Artificial Intelligence

Revisiting COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy around the world using data from 23 countries in 2021

Accuracy prompts are a replicable and generalizable approach for reducing the spread of misinformation

Leveraging the science of stress to promote resilience and optimize mental health interventions during adolescence

Contrasting inequality in human exposure to greenspace between cities of Global North and Global South

Electrocorticographic evidence of a common neurocognitive sequence for mentalizing about the self and others

Pathway to a land-neutral expansion of Brazilian renewable fuel production

Prosocial correlates of transformative experiences at secular multi-day mass gatherings

Indigenous oyster fisheries persisted for millennia and should inform future management

Contrasting influences of biogeophysical and biogeochemical impacts of historical land use on global economic inequality

Cumulative lifetime stressor exposure assessed by the STRAIN predicts economic ambiguity aversion

The world-wide waste web

High-resolution population estimation using household survey data and building footprints

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