Social Sciences

News about UB’s social sciences programs, including anthropology, psychology and social work. (see all topics)

  • UB Researchers to Develop Communication Strategies to Improve Lives of Mothers, Infants in WNY
    10/23/12
    Significant change can stem from a small adjustment. In the case of infant and mother mortality in Buffalo, improving communication can save lives.
  • Famous 'Door-In-The-Face' Persuasion Strategy Results in Verbal, But Not Behavioral Compliance, Study Finds
    10/23/12
    The well-known "door-in-the-face" (DITF) persuasion strategy predicts greater compliance with a target request if it is preceded by a larger and more objectionable request. It has been a popular tool of those in the persuasion trade since it was introduced nearly 40 years ago.
  • Flu Season Has Begun, but Most College Students Ignore the Vaccine
    9/27/12
    Influenza spreads like wildfire on college campuses because of high-density living conditions. Its symptoms -- weakness, muscle pain, vomiting and diarrhea are unpleasant but usually not serious, although many people get very sick and thousands die every year in the U.S. from complications of the flu.
  • UB Anthropologist to be Named Honorary Chief of Nigerian Town
    9/24/12
    Along the quiet corridors of the University at Buffalo Department of Anthropology labors a man who, unknown to his colleagues, has been a hero to the Igbomina Yoruba town of Esie (ess-ee-YEH) in southwest Nigeria for nearly five decades.
  • Batman Saves the Day -- and Men's Body Image!
    9/14/12
    Batman's awesome power may come not only from his ability to defeat the likes of Mr. Freeze and the Joker, but from the fact that his mere presence makes his devoted fans feel strong and physically fit.
  • Favorite TV Reruns May Have Restorative Powers, says UB Researcher
    9/6/12
    We hear all the time that we need to get off the couch, stop watching TV and get moving.
  • UB's School of Social Work Adopts Trauma-Informed Care as a Guiding Principle
    8/20/12
    Like many powerful ideas, the essence is simple. Those dealing with people who have a mental illness or addiction problem have to start asking what has happened to the person that may be causing the issue, not just focus on what the person did and what went wrong.
  • UB Archaeologists Digging Up Buffalo's Canalside
    8/15/12
    For several years, teams of University at Buffalo archaeologists from the Buffalo Archaeological Survey have conducted digs in downtown Buffalo along what was the Erie Canal. The artifacts they've found, when considered together, help describe how Buffalonians lived and worked from the early 1800s onward.
  • RIA Gets Close to $1 Million to Study Aspects of Gambling, Alcoholism and Smoking
    8/14/12
    What are the effects of gambling availability among specific populations? How do you control that impulse to have "just one more drink"? Can a spouse really help a loved one quit smoking?
  • Undergrad Research Conference Draws Students Nationwide to UB and WNY
    7/15/12
    More than 500 undergraduates from around the country, most of them first-generation college students, will arrive in Western New York this week for a research conference intended to spark their interest in careers in academia.