References: Bowdon, T. (2007). 50 psychology classics who we are, how we think, what we do: Insight and inspiration from 50 key books. London: Nicholas Brealey Pub. Stone, D., & Patton, B. (1999). Difficult conversations: How to discuss what matters most. New York, N.Y.: Viking. Handling Difficult Conversations Whether in the context of interpersonal relationships, […]
Female and Male Brains: What Does Science have to Say?
Throughout human history, a widespread belief has been that differences exist between the sexes. In the mid-twentieth century, however, various political and social movements sought to close the so-called “gender gap.” And why not? On average, women still earn less money than men, and globally, some countries maintain draconian customs that strip women of political […]
Lateral Thinking: An Approach to Creativity
Achieving Insight through ‘Lateral Thinking’ When a person thinks of “lateral thinking,” one name may come to mind: Edward de Bono. In the 1960s, in the era before books of popular psychology began to dominate, De Bono remained one of the first psychologists to have his ideas reach a mainstream audience. In his books such as […]
The Psychology of Mass Movements
In 1951, a virtually unknown dock laborer in San Francisco published a book that would have a wide-ranging impact in psychology, politics and philosophy. That book was “The True Believer” by Eric Hoffer. Hoffer, who did not receive a formal university education, probed into the nature of mass movements, and pondered why anyone would give […]
Boosting Your Self-Esteem
The concept of self-esteem remains cloudy: some individuals seem not to have enough while others have so much that it may resemble something more like narcissism. That said, however, defining and implementing self-esteem may not remain an easy task, which is what brought psychologist Nathanial Branden to publish his seminal work, “The Psychology of Self-Esteem,” in 1969. […]
A Tour of Multiple Intelligences
For many years, researchers and others have used the standard IQ (intelligence quotient) test to measure an individual’s intelligence and the likelihood that they will succeed in life. That said, however, in the 1980s, psychologist Howard Gardner threw out a radical new approach to human intelligence. Gardner proposed that the standard view of human intelligence had been […]
Living Happily, the Epictetus Way
Epictetus’ Strangely ‘Modern’ Psychology Although the field of psychology is more than a century old, its roots, arguably, can be traced back even further. Psychology, much like the natural and physical sciences centuries earlier, split off from philosophy in the late 19th Century. Williams James, many histories argue, remains the first “true” psychologist in the modern […]
Buddhist Parallels in Western Psychology
For several decades, psychologists in the western world have been turning eastward in an effort to better understand the psychological offerings of Buddhism. Buddhism, in short, contains a broad range of concepts, many of which have direct import for contemporary psychology. Indeed, often described as a “religion,” “spiritual practice” or simply as “a way of life,” Buddhism tends […]
The ‘Mad Genius’ Hypothesis: Probing into the Mental Health of Creatives
A long-standing idea persists: that in order to be exceptionally gifted in the arts, one must possess one or more mental health issues. This idea has been perpetuated in the popular media as well as in the lives of artists themselves. Vincent van Gogh, whose paintings are on everything from coffee mugs to posters, is […]
Words for Thought: How Language Influences Our Thinking (Or Doesn’t)
Many decades ago, two linguists, Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf, formulated a radical new idea for its time: the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, a controversial idea arguing that language can shape the way humans think. It had been an appealing proposal, especially during the mid-20th Century, when psychologists, philosophers, and the literati alike became obsessed with the […]