#Groupdynamics

Stress can pull people together or push outsiders away. A July 2025 study summarized by Psychology Today shows that stress chemicals like cortisol and noradrenaline can lead to generosity within one’s own group while eroding trust toward those outside it.

Research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences explains this as “parochial altruism.” Under pressure, people cooperate more with family, friends, and shared identities, yet may act against rival groups when resources are scarce. For Thai readers, this dual response resonates amid economic shifts, political change, and public health challenges.

Recent scientific research has illuminated a profound truth about how stress influences human social behavior: While stress may foster unity and generosity among members of the same group, it simultaneously stirs up aggression and suspicion toward those outside the group. These insights, highlighted in a July 2025 report by Psychology Today, draw from a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and have far-reaching implications for societal cohesion, especially in rapidly changing societies like Thailand.

A new study from a leading German university explores how stress can both strengthen in-group bonds and increase hostility toward outsiders. Published in a major scientific journal, the research provides a neurobiological lens on why group conflicts persist and how polarization takes hold in Thai communities and beyond.

Researchers in comparative psychology, with clinical neuroscience support from a major hospital, conducted a psychopharmacological experiment. Participants were given a cortisol analog to simulate stress, a drug to raise noradrenaline, both compounds, or a placebo. They formed groups and competed in economic games with real financial stakes to mirror cooperation and rivalry in real life.

Groundbreaking research from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf has illuminated the double-edged effects of stress: while it binds people more closely to their in-group, it simultaneously drives hostility toward perceived outsiders. Published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the findings provide a nuanced neurobiological perspective on why group conflicts—even when costly to all—remain so persistent worldwide. This research offers valuable insights into the psychological forces underpinning social divisions, with implications for Thai society and global communities navigating rising polarization.

A new study shows that groups of AI agents can spontaneously create shared ways of communicating and social norms without direct human guidance. Published in Science Advances, the research reveals that large language model teams, when interacting with each other, can converge on a common “language” and collective behaviors. This challenges the idea that AI can only operate as individual tools and suggests they may participate in social systems in surprising ways.

In a groundbreaking discovery, researchers have found that artificial intelligence (AI) systems can spontaneously develop human-like ways of communicating, forming social conventions and group norms without human direction. Published in Science Advances, the peer-reviewed study demonstrates that groups of large language model (LLM) AI agents like ChatGPT, when communicating together, are capable of building their own shared language and collective behaviors—a finding that could reshape how we think about both AI development and its integration into society (The Guardian).