At AIBRT we are conducting more than 40 cutting-edge behavioral research projects in 12 topic areas which have the potential to improve the well-being and functioning of people worldwide. Here are examples of recent research findings:

• Search Engine Manipulation Effect (SEME). In multiple experiments in the U.S., India, and elsewhere, we have shown that search rankings can have a dramatic effect on both opinions and election outcomes. Because people have come to place enormous trust in high-ranking search results, results that are biased to favor one candidate can easily shift 20 percent or more of the votes of undecided voters toward that candidate - up to 80 percent of the votes in some demographic groups. Related research we have conducted suggests that SEME is a very large effect because of the role that operant conditioning plays in teaching people to attend to and trust high-ranking search results. We also have published research that suggests that biased search results can change the opinions of undecided people on perhaps any issue at all. Because search engines are designed to favor one result over another, this means that they might be changing the opinions of billions of people worldwide every day.
• Search Suggestion Effect (SSE). In multiple experiments begun in 2016, we have shown that (a) search suggestions are influencing people's opinions from the very first character they type into a search bar and (b) search suggestions can be used to turn a 50/50 split among undecided voters into a 90/10 split without people's knowledge and without leaving a paper trail. More detailed findings on SSE can be viewed here.
• Answer Bot Effect (ABE). More and more people are now getting "the answer" to their questions, not from search results, but from personal assistants like Apple's Siri, Google's Home devices, Amazon's Alexa, and the answer boxes Google shows above search results. Our findings demonstrate that when answer boxes are shown, (a) people spend less time searching, (b) people click on fewer search results, and (c) opinions shift between 10 and 30 percent more than they do when search results alone are displayed.
• Targeted Messaging Effect (TME). In multiple randomized, controlled experiments performed on a simulation of Twitter we show that biased targeted messages that are inserted into a social media feed and appear to be sent by the social media company itself can shift voting preferences toward the political candidate favored by the bias by as much as 87%, with only 2.1% of users aware that they had been viewing biased content. More detailed findings on TME can be viewed at https://TargetedMessagingEffect.com.
• Differential Demographics Effect (DDE). We used retrospective data analysis to introduce and quantify the differential demographics effect (DDE). DDE occurs when the same potentially consequential content is sent to a large body of users which contains two subgroups of different demographic characteristics. Our analysis demonstrates how DDE can be used to flip the outcome of a close election – for example, when a go-vote reminder is sent to all members of a user population in which most users are members of one political party. More detailed findings on DDE can be viewed at https://DifferentialDemographicsEffect.com.
• Video Manipulation Effect (VME). In multiple randomized, controlled experiments performed on a simulation of YouTube we show that when a sequence of videos displayed by the simulator is biased to favor one political candidate, and especially when the “up-next” video suggested by the simulator favors that candidate, both the opinions and voting preferences of undecided voters shift dramatically toward that candidate. We also demonstrate how this manipulation can be masked to reduce the users’ awareness of the bias. More detailed findings on VME can be viewed at https://VideoManipulationEffect.com.
• Opinion Matching Effect (OME). We present data from real opinion matching websites that promise to help people form opinions about political candidates through a short quiz, showing that responding at random to their online quizzes can produce significantly higher proportions of recommendations for one political party or ideology than one would expect by chance. Then, in a randomized controlled experiment, we show that this type of matching when used on real, undecided voters can shift their voting preferences toward the quiz’s favored candidate by between 51% and 95%. More detailed findings on OME can be viewed at https://OpinionMatchingEffect.com.
• Digital Personalization Effect (DPE). In multiple randomized, controlled experiments performed on simulations of three popular online platforms – Google search, X/Twitter, and Alexa – we showed that the personalization of biased content shown to undecided voters can significantly increase the impact of such content. More detailed findings on DPE can be viewed at https://DigitalPersonalizationEffect.com.
• Multiple Exposure Effect (MEE). In three randomized, controlled experiments performed using simulations of three popular online platforms – Google search, X/Twitter, and Alexa – we showed that repeated exposures to biased content on each platform shifted the opinions and voting preferences of our participants more and more with each exposure. More detailed findings on MEE can be viewed at https://MultipleExposureEffect.com.
• Multiple Platforms Effect (MPE). In a randomized, controlled experiment, we used simulations of three online platforms – Google Search, Alexa, and X – to expose undecided voters to similarly biased content on all three platforms. The successive exposure of biased content on these platforms, presented one at a time, caused the number of votes to increase 42.4%, then 56.5%, then 66.7% toward the candidate favored by the bias. More detailed findings on MPE can be viewed at https://MultiplePlatformsEffect.com.
• Platform Messaging Effect (PME). In a randomized controlled experiment we exposed undecided voters to go-vote reminders simulation of a popular social media platform – Facebook – and measured the reminders’ impact on their voting behavior. We found that (a) the go-vote reminders significantly increased the magnitude of voting intentions (by over 40% under certain conditions) and (b) the vote reminders also had a significant impact on how people might vote. More detailed findings on PME can be viewed at https://PlatformMessagingEffect.com.
• Measuring sexual orientation. In extensive survey research with more than 1,100,000 participants in 219 countries and territories, we have confirmed Kinsey's finding that most people are attracted to people of both genders at some point in their lives.  We have also introduced the concept of Sexual Orientation Range (SOR), which is a measure of how much choice people have in expressing their sexual orientation. Our sexual orientation test is now available in 12 languages; the English version can be accessed at https://MySexualOrientation.com.
• Vulnerability Theory of Emotional Bonding (VTEB). In a randomized controlled experiment we found support for the vulnerability theory of emotional bonding (VTEB), according to which the strength of a new emotional bond can be predicted by measures of the vulnerability that each of two persons shows with respect to one another, where vulnerability is defined by measures of states of need and empathy. More detailed findings on VTEB can be viewed at https://vulnerabilitytheory.org.
• Assertiveness. With data from 16,033 people from 83 countries we have shown that (a) assertiveness was positively correlated with positive life outcomes, (b) passiveness was negatively correlated with those outcomes, and (c) the relationship between aggressiveness and those outcomes was orderly and complex, suggesting that aggressiveness has both benefits and costs. Our assertiveness test can be accessed at https://HowAssertiveAreYou.com.
• Extended Childhood Disorder (ECD). With data from extensive online survey research we propose adopting an ecologically-based diagnostic category we call “extended childhood disorder” (ECD), characterized by (1) excessive and sometimes harmful involvement with peers, (2) conflict centering around control issues with authority figures, and (3) moodproblems centering around control issues with authority figures. Our Extended Childhood Disorder Inventory can be accessed at https://ExtendedChildhoodDisorder.com.
• Building love. In ongoing research on how love arises in arranged marriages in ten different cultures, we have identified the main factors that appear to contribute to the growth of love of over time: commitment and sacrifice. In connection with this research, we are developing games and exercises that help Western couples take control over their love lives.  People can participate in this ongoing project at https://ArrangedMarriageSurvey.com.
  
• Relationship skills. We have identified seven trainable skills that are important for the success of long term love relationships, and we have shown that such skills are associated with improved relationship satisfaction and increased levels of happiness. A test that measures these skills is accessible at http://MyLoveSkills.com.
• Boosting creativity. We have identified four trainable skills that are important for creative expression and have shown which skills have the biggest impact. The most important skill?  Capturing new ideas as they occur. A test that measures these skills is accessible at http://MyCreativitySkills.com. We have also looked which which management skills are most effective in spurring creativity in employees.
• Good parenting. We have identified ten skills that are important for raising happy, healthy, productive children - The Parents Ten. The skill that predicts the best outcome with children is: expressing love and affection. A study with 2,000 parents comparing these skills appeared recently in Scientific American Mind and is accessible here. A preprint of a follow-up study with more than 15,000 parents in 133 countries can be viewed here. A test that measures The Parents Ten can be accessed at https://MyParentingSkills.com.
  
• Ending teen turmoil. We have accumulated evidence suggesting that the problems of American teens are caused by two elements of our culture: Teens are isolated from responsible adults and trapped with peers in the media-controlled world of teen culture, and teens are infantilized - that is, treated like children long after they have entered young adulthood. Our data show that teens are remarkably competent but that the general public views them as inherently incompetent. In one recent study with more than 55,000 participants over a wide age range, we found that 30 percent of our teens are at least as competent as half the adult population across a wide range of adult abilities. A test that measures adult competence can be accessed at https://HowAdultAreYou.com. An award-winning book on this topic, written by an AIBRT researcher and cited by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2010, can be viewed here. 
  
• Stress and happiness. We have studied four trainable skills that are important for managing stress, and in a recent study with more than 18,000 participants in 125 countries, we found that good stress management accounts for about 20 percent of the happiness people experience in life. A scientifically-validated test that measures stress-management skills is accessible at https://MyStressManagementSkills.com.