Political Breakups, Female-Fearing Birds, and Women Outearning Men
The Nature-Nurture-Nietzsche Linkfest for May 2026
In Case You Missed It…
An Evolutionary Enigma: Same-Sex Sexual Orientation is Biological But Largely Non-Genetic
Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex Differences but Were Too PC to Ask
Welcome to the May 2026 edition of the N3 Newsletter Linkfest: a collection of links to papers and articles that grabbed my attention over the last month. On the menu today…
Surprising news about the gender pay gap
Psychological myths that won’t die
The political divide separating men and women
The media’s hate-crime blind spot
And we’ll ask: Can positive thinking extend your lifespan? Are some delinquents born while others are made? And can you tell how intelligent someone is from just a few seconds of video?
Around half the items are free to read for everyone; the rest are behind a paywall. I tend to put the spicier content behind the paywall, so if you want a taste of that, consider becoming a paid subscriber.
You can access the complete collection of Linkfests here.
Political Breakups
More than one in three Americans has lost at least one family relationship, friendship, or romance over politics. Democrats are especially prone to such “political breakups” - and people who’ve experienced them tend to see their political opponents not merely as wrong but as selfish and extreme. [Link.]
Murderous Intent
Millions of people in the US have seriously contemplated shooting someone. [Link.]
Birds Fear Women More Than Men
A curious finding from Europe: City birds are more afraid of women than men, consistently fleeing sooner when approached by a woman. This pattern was found in five out of five countries, survived a battery of controls, and left researchers scratching their heads about what on earth might be going on. [Link.]
Humorless Humans, Serious Monkeys
Here are two potentially related findings I happened to spot this month:
In human societies with stricter social norms and lower tolerance for deviance, people are less likely to make jokes or be skilled at humor. [Link.]
In monkey and ape societies with despotic leaders, adults are less likely to clown around and have fun. [Link.]
The Latest on the Gender Pay Gap
Among young Australians, women now earn more than men. The same pattern has also been observed in many US and UK cities. It’s a real and growing trend. [Link.]
The Replication Crisis
Non-replicable research gets cited more than replicable research. This is consistent with what I call Steve’s law: Boring findings and non-PC findings are more replicable than interesting or PC ones. [Link.]
Psychological Myths and Misconceptions
People believe a lot of myths about psychology - even after they’ve taken an intro psych class. The myths in question include everything from learning styles to repressed memories to sugar-induced hyperactivity. For some reason, women believe more psychological myths than men. [Link.]
