College of Liberal Arts

CORVALLIS, Ore. – If you really like holding hands and saying “I love you” but your partner doesn’t, your relationship is still probably better off than if both of you had modest interest in expressing affection.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, scientists have published a new study that suggests a romantic relationship’s total amount of affectionate communication is a much stronger predictor of relationship satisfaction, trust and intimacy than whether each partner communicates at a similar level.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – If you open a banking app, play a mobile game or scroll through a news feed every day while riding the bus, your commuting routine is probably bolstering your smartphone habit, according to new research that shows phone tendencies are stronger in locations chosen automatically.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The children of people who grew up with parental acceptance and lack of negativity tend to struggle less with their own parenting, a new analysis indicates.

The study by researchers at Oregon State University and Utrecht University in The Netherlands also shows that the parenting people experience as young children is more likely to correlate with how they raise their kids than the parenting they receive as teenagers.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A statewide study of more than 60,000 adult Oregonians shows that living near cannabis retail stores is associated with a greater tendency toward frequent cannabis use but a lower likelihood of heavy alcohol consumption.

The research led by Oregon State University scientist David Kerr looked at nine years of data from an ongoing telephone survey, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System directed by the Oregon Health Authority.

CORVALLIS, Ore – A new analysis of stone tools offers strong evidence for the theory that ancient people from the Pacific Rim traveled a coastal route from East Asia during the last ice age to become North America’s First Peoples, according to a paper published this week in the journal Science Advances.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new study from Oregon State University indicates that artificial intelligence can significantly enhance creativity in student writing, but only when instructors provide guidance about how to incorporate it into the creative process.

Researchers in the university’s College of Liberal Arts found that when students receive instruction on how to use AI, there is a significant increase in creativity over both their original writing and their AI use without instruction.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Hiking by yourself deep in a forest and similar episodes of intense solitude are not as likely to restore energy and enhance social connectedness as less complete forms of solitude, such as reading in a café or listening to Spotify while commuting, research by Oregon State University suggests.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Being lonely is a bigger hurdle to a good night’s sleep for college students than too much time at a computer or other electronic screen, a new study by Oregon State University suggests.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – People who are lonely are more apt to have bad dreams, according to a collaboration that included an Oregon State University scientist.

The findings are important because both loneliness and sleep disorders are serious public health issues, said OSU’s Colin Hesse. They are connected to increased risk of heart disease, stroke and premature death.

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Oregon State University researchers found that U.S. adults are fairly confident in linking wildfires and heat to climate change, but less confident when it comes to other extreme weather events like hurricanes, flooding or tornadoes.