Psychological concept known as the principle of charity

Psychological concept known as the principle of charity

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/misinformation-desk/202009/photographic-evidence-it-s-easy-believe Why was it so easy to believe these wildlife stories? One reason is the psychological concept known as the principle of charity, which suggests that humans more readily believe than doubt. That is, the human brain is built to believe (the skepticism has to be learned). Just click on those hyperlinks, above, and look at…

What is “intimacy avoidance”?

What is “intimacy avoidance”?

Fear of intimacy may be obvious, but it can be misinterpreted as anger, indifference, or coldness. Someone who fears intimacy may: have low self-esteem have trust issues experience episodes of anger actively avoid physical contact have trouble forming or committing to close relationships have a history of unstable relationships be unable to share feelings or express emotion…

Angry man

The Paradox of Anger: Strength or Weakness?

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evolution-the-self/201106/the-paradox-anger-strength-or-weakness And not only can anger help you conceal feelings of fear, inadequacy, and self-doubt by turning them into external conflict. It can also keep at bay states of depression, and emotional pain generally. Embarrassment, humiliation, guilt, and shame—as well as feelings of refusal, dismissal, and abandonment—can all be buried (however temporarily) beneath the self-righteously moralistic or “morally superior”)…

Religious beings psychologically useful and ambiguous

http://bit.ly/2oyAvMk “This ambiguity attribute is interesting as it gives people latitude to form interpretations of religious beings that are personally appealing and plausible,” Dr Swan says. And whereas fictional beings were given character traits that defined them as heroes or villains, religious beings were more ambivalent and associated with similar ratings of benefit and harm,…

Why Love Isn’t Enough

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/intimacy-path-toward-spirituality/201909/why-love-isnt-enough When we feel emotionally safe, we feel internally relaxed with a person. Our guard is down and our shields don’t go up when we interact. We feel free to be authentic, which includes expressing our hurts, discontents, and longings without fearing that we’ll be criticized or shamed. According to John Gottman’s research on marital…

Uber: The Psychology of Manipulation

Uber: The Psychology of Manipulation

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/04/02/technology/uber-drivers-psychological-tricks.html?_r=1 To keep drivers on the road, the company has exploited some people’s tendency to set earnings goals — alerting them that they are ever so close to hitting a precious target when they try to log off. It has even concocted an algorithm similar to a Netflix feature that automatically loads the next program,…

They’re just not that into music.

They’re just not that into music.

https://www.inverse.com/article/49563-why-some-people-love-music-and-others-don-t But in a study published today in Current Biology, Spanish and Canadian researchers report on a group of “music anhedonics” — literally, those who do not enjoy music. This is an intriguing phenomenon, and we presume very rare. Importantly, these people are not “amusic” — an affliction that often results from acquired or congenital…

Terminator: Why do you cry?

Terminator: Why do you cry?

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201804/its-not-easy-diagnose-personality-disorder To begin with, emotionally crying appears to be a uniquely human behavior. Animals shed tears as part of a normal ocular functioning, and there have been anecdotal reports of animals shedding the occasional emotional tear, but for the most part only humans routinely cry out of sadness and other complex emotions. Interestingly, humans cry…

Albert Bandura’s work and the cognitive revolution in psychology

Albert Bandura’s work and the cognitive revolution in psychology

https://www.verywellmind.com/albert-bandura-biography-1925-2795537 Albert Bandura’s social learning theory stressed the importance of observational learning, imitation, and modeling. “Learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had to rely solely on the effects of their own actions to inform them what to do,” Bandura explained in his 1977 book on the subject. His theory integrated…