Round-up: Does feminism induce a backlash?

The most interesting articles that came to our attention this week

The Effect of Deactivating Facebook and Instagram on Users’ Emotional State. Hunt Allcott and colleagues report findings from two randomised experiments testing the effect of social media deactivation on users’ emotional state before the 2020 US election. They find that users who deactivated Facebook experienced a 6% improvement in an index of happiness, depression and anxiety, while those who deactivated Instagram experienced a 4% improvement.

Political ideology and trust in scientists in the USA. Vukašin Gligorić and colleagues examine partisan differences in trust in scientists in the US. Analysing data from a large representative sample, they find that liberals are more trusting of all scientists—although the strength of the relationship varies across scientific occupations. They also find that, of five interventions designed to improve conservatives’ trust in scientists, none were successful.