Psychology

What Is a Pathological Liar? Definition and Examples

A pathological liar is an individual who chronically tells grandiose lies that may stretch or exceed the limits of believability. While most people …

How to change mindset and behavior

July 16, 2018 – <i>by Anna Güntner, Bill Schaninger and Julia Sperling</i><p>Our understanding of the unconscious mind has come a long way since Sigmund Freud, …

From Love Island to HD brows, what you need to know about narcissism

The TV show of the summer, Love Island, is fascinating for many viewers – but especially so for personality psychologists. Mainly because the …

Why Our Brains Are Wired for Negativity — and What to Do About It

If you’ve noticed that you tend to focus on the negative in your life, you’re definitely not alone. In fact, human beings are biologically predisposed toward negative thinking. In his book, <i>Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence</i> ($16), Dr. Rick Hanson, …

Why bad technology dominates our lives, according to Don Norman

“We are serving the wrong masters.”<p>“Science Finds–Industry Applies–Man Conforms.” That was the motto of the Chicago 1933 International Exposition. I used it as the epigraph of my 1993 book, <i>Things That Make Us Smart</i>, suggesting that it be flipped to read “People Propose, Technology Conforms.” I have …

Curiosity — Scientists Used Hypnosis to Alter People's...

In “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet play ex-partners who have had each other erased from their memories in order …

How to Get Your Intuition Back (When It’s Hijacked by Life)

Earlier this year, I wondered if my husband and I were going to separate. We’d been having ups and downs for a few years, but in the weeks right before our 10th anniversary, I found myself trapped in a cycle of personal conflict around splitting up, a kind of “will they or won’t they?” — like some …

Why Do Good People Become Bad Online?

<i>The following post was previously published in an earlier edition of Media Insider.</i><p>Here are some questions I have:<p>When do crowds turn ugly?<br>• Why do …

Can We Reinvent Ourselves?

Is self-transformation possible and, if so, how can it be achieved?<p>An initial reading of Buddhist philosophy might suggest a simple but perhaps …

“Mommy loved me more.”

Research on parental favoritism has explored both the perceived as well as real preferences parents have toward their children. Various studies have …

I-Team: First responders suffering from emotional wounds of PTSD

Public safety advocates are sounding the alarm on the increasing number of first responders suffering from post-traumatic stress and mental illness.

Research suggests that people stop discovering new music at age 30

French-streaming service Deezer has conducted a study to figure out the age at which people tend to stop discovering new music. After surveying 1,000 …

Research: We Take More Risks When We Compete Against Rivals

Rivalry is everywhere. We see rivalries in sports, business, school, and basically any arena where there is competition. Whether it is rivalry between people (Bill Gates versus Steve Jobs; Roger Federer versus Rafael Nadal), between organizations (e.g., Ford versus GM), or between nations (e.g., …

A Psychologist Explains Why It Took So Long to Call Out the Chef with the Racist Instagram Account

Reaction to former Som Saa chef Sean Beagley's offensive social media uploads shows the many ways in which we turn away from things that we find uncomfortable.<p>I’m an orbiting member of the London food scene. After finishing as a finalist on <i>The Great British Bake Off</i> in 2013, I developed …

New today from Psych Central

by Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D.<p>Most of us want to do things well. Some of us want to be perfect. No matter where you fall on this spectrum, at some point …

More Myths of Stocks for the Long Run

<b>The Problem Of Psychology</b><p>During this series so far we have primarily discussed the more mechanical issues surrounding <i>“investing myths”</i> over the …

Massive study finds that a sizeable minority of us are in jobs that don’t fit our primary occupational interests

In theory, our personal traits and interests should affect the jobs we pursue and where we thrive the most. This assumption is baked into the Work …

Technically Speaking: A Look At The A/D Line

In yesterday's post on investor psychology, we discussed the issue of confirmation bias. To wit:<p><i>"As individuals, we tend to seek out information that</i> …

What psychological science can offer to reducing climate change

For some years, there is a good deal of consensus among scientific experts that climate change is real, and that it is caused by human behavior. The …

Hypnotic Love: Chemistry and Limerence

Editor’s note: The post below is excerpted from Chapter 4 of “The Human Magnet Syndrome: The Codependent Narcissist Trap” (2018)When two romantically …

Study: Being in a bad mood can boost performance

Being grumpy can actually make you a better problem solver, as it boosts executive function. This doesn't give you free range to be a grouch.<br>Read More

What is Less Scary in the Dark?

Fears come in all shapes and sizes. Some of us are afraid of heights, loud noises, or tight spaces, while others have fears of more specific things …

Bad mood may help your brain with everyday tasks: Study

Being in a bad mood can help some people's executive functioning, such as their ability to focus attention, manage time and prioritise tasks, …

Jim Simon: Loneliness is becoming an American epidemic

It’s been more than 50 years since we first heard the following lines from “Eleanor Rigby,” the Beatles’ song: “All the lonely people, where do they …

Trump and Putin: A bromance between narcissists?

Today President Donald Trump stunned most of the world, including the United States’ closest allies, when he sided with proud Russian dictator …

The Overlooked but Important Type D Personality

One of the most well-known concepts in psychology is the “Type A Behavior Pattern,” marked by extreme competitiveness, impatience, and a hard-driving …

Do Snorts Suggest Horses are Happy?

New evidence suggesting that horses reliably produce more snorts in favorable situations could help improve animal welfare practices, according to a …

Major insurers won’t be impacted negatively by halted ACA risk adjustment payments

The Mechanics of Moral Judgments

If you realize you never received an invitation to your friend’s housewarming party, you might wonder — accidental omission or purposeful slight?<p>If …

Teen, Marijuana and Depersonalization.

A teen smokes weed and ends up with a disturbing experience of an alarmingly strange shift of existence. Loss of reality, loss of the old familiar …