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People who are dogmatic about their views seek less information and make less accurate judgements as a result, even on simple matters unrelated to politics, according to a study led by UCL and Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics researchers. The researchers say their findings, published in PNAS , point to differences in thinking patterns that lead people to hold rigid opinions.

A short online game in which players are recruited as a "Chief Disinformation Officer" and use tactics such as trolling to sabotage elections in a peaceful town has been shown to reduce susceptibility to political misinformation in its users. Fake news and online conspiracies will continue to chip away at the democratic process until we take seriously the need to improve digital media literacy across populations Sander van der Linden The free-to-play  Harmony Square  is released to the public today, along with a study on its effectiveness published in the  Harvard Misinformation Review.

Fighting in baboons can be fierce David Clode Like Napoleon Bonaparte, chimpanzees are masters of intergroup conflict Franceso Ungaro [chimpanzee photograph] Vigilance is key in a world of rival outsiders Andy Radford [meerkat photograph]; Michalis Mantelos [red-ruffed lemur photograph] 6 October 2020 From ants to primates, 'Napoleonic' intelligence has evolved to help animals contend with the myriad cognitive challenges arising from interactions with rival outsiders, suggest researchers at the University of Bristol in a paper published today [Tuesday 6 October].

The way politicians communicate with constituents has never been more important than during the Covid-19 pandemic, say experts. Dr Nikki Soo of Cardiff University led a study with Dr James Weinberg and Dr Kate Dommett at the University of Sheffield, which investigated how people reacted to different communications they might receive from an MP.

New research by academics from four Universities including the University of Birmingham has found that anti-immigrant attitudes in the UK softened immediately following the Brexit referendum of 2016, among both Leave and Remain supporters. The report, ' A Populist Paradox? How Brexit Softened Anti-Immigrant Attitudes ' concludes that attitudes towards anti-immigration and anti-refugees were significantly softer even several months after the referendum.

Study suggests that TV appearances by Bolsonaro led to millions more Brazilians ignoring social distancing in the days following broadcast. The attitude of a leader can have a significant and possibly devastating impact on individual health and the healthcare systems of a nation Tiago Cavalcanti Jair Bolsonaro's public undermining of pandemic prevention efforts reduces social distancing in the parts of Brazil where his voter base is strongest, according to a new study using location data from over 60 million phones.

Mayoral governance in Bristol has boosted the visibility of city leadership and helped promote Bristol on the national and international stage, a new study has found. The research by UWE Bristol and the University of Bristol also showed the mayoral model of leadership had unnecessarily restricted the role of councillors and reduced citizens' belief in their ability to influence decisions.

Our researchers are the history detectives, unearthing exciting things from our past and helping us learn from our ancestors. We are also the home to important cultural archives available for study. Here's From finding long a lost medieval chapel fit for a king, to discovering documents from our royal past.

Female MPs are roughly 20% more vocal in parliamentary debates where the cabinet minister is female than when the responsible minister is male, finds a new study by UCL. The research, published in the British Journal of Political Science , is the first to consider whether female leadership affects the processes or outcomes of political debate.

Politicians need to get people to trust them more if they want their speeches to be heard says a new report launched by the University of Birmingham and the University of East Anglia. The research project " The Crisis of Rhetoric: Renewing Political Speech and Speechwriting " argues that public debate and the freedom to make arguments and counterarguments are essential for democracy.

Research findings were released today by a UK-Nigerian research team examining the role of WhatsApp in Nigeria's 2019 elections. Drawing on citizen surveys and interviews with political campaigns, the report underlines the ways in which WhatsApp has promoted the spread of "fake news" around elections, but has also strengthened accountability and promoted inclusion in other areas.

A unique new project led by the University of Bristol has received a £960,000 boost to improve integration across Bristol by exploring how its citizens and communities share spaces and move around the city. University researchers on the 'Everyday Integration' project, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), will work with Bristol City Council and 29 community partners to identify existing best-practice and better understand how to overcome the various barriers people currently face.

Living in a warzone is linked with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke among civilians, even years after the conflict ends. The findings come from the first systematic review of the effects of armed conflict on heart disease risk, carried out by researchers at Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

A lack of evaluation of the impact of countering violent extremism (CVE) and counter-terrorism (CT) efforts may actually be increasing the threat and risk of terrorism, a new study points out. Researchers say that national and international agencies' efforts to counter terrorism and violent extremism have lacked two key ingredients - a clear and coherent theory of how individuals change and consistent evaluation of evidence of their changing attitudes.

Evidence of the Kremlin-backed Internet Research Agency's long-term interest in European politics and elections has been revealed in two new studies from Cardiff University's Crime and Security Research Institute. Taken together the findings provide a strong indication of the kinds of disinformation campaigns that could be directed towards the 2019 European Parliamentary elections on 23 May.

An international collaboration has investigated how people perceive politicians when they spread misinformation. The research found supporters of the politicians reduced their belief in misinformation once corrected, yet their feelings towards the political figure remained unchanged if misinformation was presented alongside an equal number of facts.

An unprecedented global study has analysed and ranked leading cities in the worldwide "smart city" phenomenon. Based on a comprehensive webometric study, in total 27 cities made it onto the list of the world's leading smart cities, led by London, Singapore and Barcelona. The group of 27 were whittled down from a full list of over 5550 worldwide cities with 100,000 inhabitants or more.

Complex systems theory is usually used to study things like the immune system, global climate, ecosystems, transportation or communications systems. But with global politics becoming more unpredictable - highlighted by the UK's vote for Brexit and the presidential elections of Donald Trump in the USA and Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil - it is being used to examine the stability of democracies.

A new study from the University of Nottingham has revealed the Twitter habits of UK politicians and how they use social media to influence and participate in public debate. Dr Roderick MacKenzie from the Faculty of Engineering conducted the research over a 12-month period, while based as a parliamentary fellow in the House of Commons Library.

Learning about someone's political beliefs interferes with a person's ability to assess expertise, as people judge like-minded peers as being more expert in fields completely unrelated to politics, finds a new UCL-led study. In the paper, published in Cognition , the researchers found that people turned to peers with similar political views for help on a shape categorisation task that had nothing to do with politics, instead of seeking help from someone who was doing better at the shape categorisation task but didn't share their political leanings.