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Psychology

Human behavior is fascinating — and we still have a lot to learn. Keep up with news and updates from the field of psychology.

“Our calm is contagious”: How to use mindfulness in a pandemic
The Vox guide to navigating the coronavirus crisis

Meditation teacher Tara Brach offers some tips for calming your coronavirus anxiety — so you can better care for others.

By Sigal Samuel
The haunting of GirlstownThe haunting of Girlstown
The Highlight

A mysterious outbreak. Hundreds of stricken schoolgirls. Was it an illness, or was something darker to blame?

By Daniel Hernandez
Capitalism is turning us into addicts
Science

How Big Business shapes our habits and desires.

By Sean Illing
Why Buddhism is trueWhy Buddhism is true
Science

Robert Wright on the wisdom of mindfulness meditation.

By Sean Illing
The surprising altruism of babiesThe surprising altruism of babies
Future Perfect

Infants will give away food to a stranger even when they’re hungry, a new psychology study finds.

By Sigal Samuel
A Stanford psychologist on the art of avoiding assholesA Stanford psychologist on the art of avoiding assholes
Culture

“Not giving a shit takes the wind out of an asshole’s sails.”

By Sean Illing
Is it okay to sacrifice one person to save many? How you answer depends on where you’re from.Is it okay to sacrifice one person to save many? How you answer depends on where you’re from.
Future Perfect

A new study uses the famous trolley problem to show how our culture shapes our moral beliefs.

By Sigal Samuel
Is rationality overrated?Is rationality overrated?
Future Perfect

Sometimes, it’s better to be reasonable.

By Sigal Samuel
Why willpower is overratedWhy willpower is overrated
Science

Psychologists increasingly think effortful restraint is not the key to the good life. So what is?

By Brian Resnick
Why humans are cruelWhy humans are cruel
Science

A psychologist explains why humans are so terrible to each other.

By Sean Illing
Moral grandstanding is making an argument just to boost your status. It’s everywhere.Moral grandstanding is making an argument just to boost your status. It’s everywhere.
Science

A psychologist’s advice for arguing your moral beliefs without grandstanding.

By Brian Resnick
American happiness is plummeting. Could a few words change that?
Psychology

A psychologist claims that learning “untranslatable words” from other cultures may be a key to being happy. I experimented on myself to see whether it’s true.

By Sigal Samuel
Is positive psychology all it’s cracked up to be?
Psychology

The field of positive psychology has captivated the world with its hopeful promises — and drawn critics for its moralizing, mysticism, and serious commercialization.

By Joseph Smith
How to spend money to squeeze more joy out of life
Personal Finance

Simply having a lot of it won’t automatically increase your sense of well-being. “But using it well can,” says one expert.

By Laura Entis
Why old people will always complain about young peopleWhy old people will always complain about young people
Science

Prediction: Today’s “OK boomer” Gen Z will complain about the youth one day. Blame human memory.

By Brian Resnick
I treat teens who attempted suicide. Here’s what they told me.
Psychology

Suicide deaths have been rising in recent years. Thoughtful treatment is necessary.

By Stephanie Doupnik
The brutal mirror: what the psychedelic drug ayahuasca showed me about my life
The mind, explained

Four trips in four days was the best — and worst — thing I’ve ever done.

By Sean Illing
Meat is unhealthy, meat is okay: Why science keeps overturning what we thought we knewMeat is unhealthy, meat is okay: Why science keeps overturning what we thought we knew
Science

Don’t be surprised that scientists keep updating their advice.

By Brian Resnick and Julia Belluz
These scientists want to make psychotherapy sessions much, much shorterThese scientists want to make psychotherapy sessions much, much shorter
Science

Can single, 30-minute sessions of therapy help kids struggling with depression?

By Brian Resnick
The “10,000-hour rule” was debunked again. That’s a relief.The “10,000-hour rule” was debunked again. That’s a relief.
Science

Improvement is exhausting. It’s okay to enjoy when you don’t excel.

By Brian Resnick
How desire can warp our view of the worldHow desire can warp our view of the world
Science

Can we trust our own eyes? The science of “motivated seeing” says not always.

By Brian Resnick
22 percent of millennials say they have “no friends”22 percent of millennials say they have “no friends”
Science

Loneliness can be helpful, unless it becomes chronic.

By Brian Resnick
Is GPS really ruining our brains?Is GPS really ruining our brains?
The mind, explained

A neuroscientist on fears that GPS navigation might lead to our brains shrinking.

By Brian Resnick
An expert on human blind spots gives advice on how to thinkAn expert on human blind spots gives advice on how to think
Science

How to fight the Dunning-Kruger effect, explained by psychologist David Dunning.

By Brian Resnick
Have smartphones really destroyed a generation? We don’t know.
The mind, explained

But here’s how to find out: Scientists need to ask better questions — and big tech needs to help.

By Brian Resnick
Bored and lonely? Blame your phone.
Technology

Our emotions today are radically different from what 19th-century Americans felt. That’s partly due to technology.

By Sean Illing
Yes, the internet is destroying our collective attention spanYes, the internet is destroying our collective attention span
Science

Trending topics rise and disappear faster than ever.

By Brian Resnick
Teen girls are now poisoning themselves at alarming rates. There are ways to help.Teen girls are now poisoning themselves at alarming rates. There are ways to help.
Science

In teen suicide data, deaths are rare but just the tip of the iceberg.

By Brian Resnick
Why shame is goodWhy shame is good
Science

Shame is known as a toxic feeling. But it can also be a force for good.

By Joseph Burgo
Mindfulness meditation in America has a capitalism problem
The mind, explained

Can the mindfulness movement resist becoming a tool of self-absorption?

By Sean Illing
How digital technology is destroying our freedom
Technology

“We’re being steamrolled by our devices” —Douglas Rushkoff

By Sean Illing
The extraordinary therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs, explained
The mind, explained

I spent months talking to psychedelic guides and researchers. Here’s what I learned.

By Sean Illing
How the West became a self-obsessed cultureHow the West became a self-obsessed culture
Science

A new book explores the history of individualism in the West.

By Sean Illing
A promising new clue to prevent teen suicide: empower adults who careA promising new clue to prevent teen suicide: empower adults who care
Science

Teens were hospitalized for suicide. Researchers then asked them to think about the adults who cared about them.

By Brian Resnick
Why your desk job is so damn exhaustingWhy your desk job is so damn exhausting
Audio
Science

One of the great mysteries of adult life — and psychology.

By Brian Resnick
How the Enlightenment sold us a twisted view of human nature
Culture

Why the historian David Wootton thinks we should question our assumptions about human psychology.

By Sean Illing
I work with kids. Here’s why they’re consumed with anxiety.I work with kids. Here’s why they’re consumed with anxiety.
The mind, explained

It’s not social media.

By John Thornton Jr.
9 essential lessons from psychology to understand the Trump era
Science

Motivated reasoning, bias, fake news, conspiracy theories, and more, explained.

By Brian Resnick
Why humans evolved into such good bullshittersWhy humans evolved into such good bullshitters
Psychology

A psychologist explains our obsession with other people’s opinions.

By Sean Illing