The economy has brought the dire state of the American financial markets into the public's consciousness with sharp focus—along with the presidential candidates' positions on the issue. When insurance megacorporation AIG requested $85 million in taxpayer bailouts, John McCain stood firmly against it, saying We cannot have the taxpayers bail...

Hillary Rodham Clinton came close, but failed. Beyond the wrong turns pointed out by strategists, her political path this year was rooted in social biases, some scholars say. Gender stereotypes, for instance, put Clinton in a no-win situation, said Caroline Keating, a psychologist at Colgate University in New York. When...

Individuals with conservative ideologies are happier than liberal-leaners, and new research pinpoints the reason: Conservatives rationalize social and economic inequalities. Regardless of marital status, income or church attendance, right-wing individuals reported greater life satisfaction and well-being than left-wingers, the new study found. Conservatives also scored highest on measures of rationalization,...

News Flash: Biological anthropologist endorses presidential candidate. The wait is over. After months of speculation, and controversy, biological anthropologist, Dr. Earnest A. Hooton, of Harvard, has finally weighed in on his choice of presidential candidate. The endorsement goes to … a woman, any woman. As a professional student of man...

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama spent much of the last week distancing himself from controversial comments made by his longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. In several of his fiery sermons, Wright denounced racism in America and said that on September 11, 2001, God had not blessed but instead damned America....

For many people — more than you might think — public and political dialogue seems dominated by extreme views that don't resonate. A new study suggests a possible reason: People with extreme views seem more willing to share their opinions than others, but only if they believe, even falsely, that...

People who squirm at the sight of bugs or are grossed out by blood and guts are more likely to be politically conservative, new studies find. In particular, the squeamish are more apt to have conservative attitudes about gays and lesbians. Lots of other research has tied politics to biology...

There's an old joke about a man putting his young son to bed one night. Before the boy goes to sleep, he pulls out a whistle from under his pillow and blows it loudly. The father, startled, asks his son why he blew the whistle. It's to keep tigers away...

One of the hot issues discussed during the midterm elections was whether to continue to protect the current status quo of net neutrality. Under net neutrality, all content, users and devices are treated the same by broadband carriers such as AT&T, Verizon and Time Warner. That means that streaming video,...

President Obama announced on Oct. 1 that the White House chief of staff position would be filled by Pete Rouse while he searches for a long-term replacement. But what exactly does the chief of staff do, and what makes a person good at this job? As the highest-ranking member of...

Today marks the 90th anniversary of women winning the right to vote in the United States. While some states had allowed women to vote conditionally, it wasn't until the passing of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution on this date in 1920 that women throughout the country could enjoy...

Ever since Homo sapiens first wandered out of Africa, the story of humanity has been one of constant migration. Today, 213 million people in the world are living in a country other than the one in which they were born, according to U.N. statistics. Just ten countries absorb the majority...

Photographs of former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger grinning next to a self-commissioned, larger-than-life bronze statue of himself in his body-building days may be eyebrow-raising, but social scientists say that Schwarzenegger is simply following a trend laid down by thousands of years of human history. It's the kind of thing that...

Top 10 Ailing Presidents10 Historically Significant Political ProtestsAncient Lefties: The History of Obama's Handedness ...

Matters of birth and death are most likely to pit Americans against one another, according to new Gallup poll results finding that doctor-assisted suicide, abortion and having a baby out of wedlock are the most divisive issues in the United States. According to the poll results, released Tuesday (May 31),...