Two Models of Self-Determination (Part I)
Psychologists have advanced two competing models of self-determination. I will call these the Intrinsic-Extrinsic Motivation Model and the Theory of 16 Basic Desires. Both models imply that you are...
View ArticleMagical Thinking is a Refuge for Child of Borderline Mother
This guest post is by a man whose mother has borderline personality disorder.They say that helpless and powerless people most readily believe in magic. I suppose that since my Mom had borderline...
View ArticleFootball Follies: N.F.L. Plays Defense in Court
What do dementia, suicide, brain injury, touchdown, and interception have in common?They have become synonymous with the game of football. Medical terminology crept into football commentary last year...
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Conservatives Distrust Science. Are They Right to Do So?
Who is more anti-science, liberals or conservatives? There are at least two very different ways to think about this question: 1. Whose beliefs are more out of touch with science? and 2. Whose level of...
View ArticleThe Dangers of Narcissistic Parents
For me, one of the best examples of narcissistic parents is illustrated in the movie “The Joy Luck Club,” based on the novel by Amy Tan. In the film, a woman flashes back and, through voiceover, tells...
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Autism Prevalence: Can It Be 1 in 50?
Autism Prevalence: Can It Be 1 in 50?By John Elder Robison on April 9, 2013 in My Life With Asperger'sWhat does the latest autism prevalence report mean to us? What now? Read More
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Women, Power and Margaret Thatcher
Women, Power and Margaret ThatcherBy Ian H. Robertson, Ph.D. on April 8, 2013 in The Winner EffectMargaret Thatcher showed that the limits to women's power and leadership are social, not biological....
View ArticleThe Fraudulent $100,000 Claim about Happiness
Suppose you learned from a study that the death of a spouse is a very unhappy experience. The study authors claim that if you compare the happiness of people who are widowed to those who are currently...
View ArticlePope Francis Faces the Future
On a Tuesday several weeks ago, one hundred and fifteen men gathered in secret to decide who among them would become the most powerful religious leader in the world. As so-called Vicar of Christ and...
View ArticleSize Matters, Ladies
A big penis is an attractive feature on an already attractive man. For less comely men, it won't make much of a difference, according to new research.When you ask women what they prefer in a penis or...
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Why Changing Others’ Minds is So Hard
Existential psychologist Rollo May argued that all of us experience ontological guilt (i.e. guilt about being who and what we are and must be). This is in part because we are only ever able to perceive...
View ArticlePublic Support for "3-Parent," Genetically Modified Babies?
The UK agency that regulates assisted reproduction announced in a March 20 press statement that it has found “broad public support” for procedures that would modify the genes of future generations. But...
View ArticleIs A.D.H.D Being Over Diagnosed?
Is A. D.H.D. being over diagnosed?This interesting and informative NY Times article discusses the increased prevalence of A.D.H.D., increased rates of prescription drugs for treatment, and new widened...
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Intimate Peek Into Introverts' Brains
When fellow Psychology Today introvert blogger Sophia Dembling and I recently chatted by phone, we discovered that we both like communicating in sound bites—an efficient use of our introverts' energy....
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MCI is Like Being Stuck in the Middle
What is MCI?Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is often described as being in- between normal aging and dementia, hence being “stuck in the middle”. Like dementia, cognitive decline is present, though not...
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Homer and Homicide
The Iliad, which recounts a couple of weeks during the penultimate year of the Trojan War, has long been our main cultural reference point when it comes to violence in battle. The poem exists in a kind...
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Why Do We Sigh?
I sigh. A lot.And, I realize, it's only when I feel discontent.I sigh when I'm frustrated by statistics and can't make sense of the code on my computer screen. When I sit in class for three hours and...
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Mothers And Others (With Benefits)
Understanding the existence and persistence of homosexuality in the face of its apparently reproductive fitness costs has left many evolutionary researchers scratching their heads. Though research into...
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You Complete Me
When parents live out their dreams through their children, kids suffer.
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Do you believe in "Slow Living"?
For some of us, DIY domesticity is just for fun, or a way to have a hobby that’s in line with our beliefs about sustainability or the importance of good food – we knit to pass time on the subway, we...
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