Speaking of Psychology

How often do you “go along to get along,” or say yes when you really want to say no? Organizational psychologist Sunita Sah, PhD, author of “Defy: The Power of No in a World That Demands Yes,” talks about why it can be so hard to speak up and and how can you strengthen your resolve and ability to say no when the situation calls for it.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoice...

Each year, more than 50 million U.S. adults experience chronic pain. Increasingly, researchers and patients are finding that behavioral treatments and therapies can be an important part of pain treatment. Pain psychologist Rachel Aaron, PhD, discusses what effective treatments are available, the link between chronic pain and mental health, how our emotions and life experiences affect pain, and wha...

What’s the difference between an inspiring boss and an infuriating one? What qualities do the best coaches, teachers and mentors share? Adam Galinsky, PhD, author of “Inspire: The Universal Path for Leading Yourself and Others,” discusses why leaders often have even more power than they realize, the universal qualities of good leadership, and how anyone can learn to become a more inspiring leader...

From Columbine to Sandy Hook to Uvalde, the list of schools and communities devastated by gun violence grows every year. Dewey Cornell, PhD, an expert in school violence prevention, discusses how schools can respond when faced with a potential threat, and how students, teachers, administrators and law enforcement can work together to keep schools safe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megap...

The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study has been tracking the health and life experiences of more than 1,000 New Zealanders since 1972. Terrie Moffitt, PhD, a professor of psychology at Duke University and one of the leaders of the Dunedin study, discusses what researchers have learned from this remarkable study about how people age, why some of us age faster than others, and ho...

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has called to add cancer warnings to alcohol labels. For many people, “Dry January” offers a chance try out a low- or no-alcohol life. Health psychologist Richard de Visser, PhD, talks about what’s driving public interest in Dry January and other “sober curious” trends; how temporarily giving up drinking can affect your mental and physical health; and how to succeed if...

From Ponzi schemes to email phishing identity thieves, the world can seem full of people who want to deceive us. Daniel Simons, PhD, and Christopher Chabris, PhD, co-authors of Nobody’s Fool: Why We Get Taken In and What We Can Do About It, talk about the cognitive habits that put us at risk of believing lies; famous frauds and cons from the worlds of business, science, and competitive chess; and...

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is one of the most frequently diagnosed personality disorders, and one of the most misunderstood. Carla Sharp, PhD, of the University of Houston, discusses how BPD is diagnosed, defined and treated, how family members can help children and adults with BPD, and how the disorder fits in with researchers’ evolving understanding of personality disorders in general...

Our dreams can be exhilarating, surprising, terrifying, even mundane. But where do they come from and what, if anything, do they mean? Dream researcher Antonio Zadra, PhD, talks about why some people remember their dreams vividly while others don’t remember them at all; whether exploring dreams can offer insight into our waking lives; why nightmares happen and effective treatments for problematic...

In job interviews and in life, perfectionism is often seen as a selling point – an asset disguised as a flaw. But as psychologists have found rising rates of perfectionism in the United States and around the world in recent decades, they’ve begun to recognize the toll that the drive to be perfect can take on people’s mental health and well-being. Thomas Curran, PhD, author of “The Perfection Trap:...

Are you dreading the cold, dark months ahead? In Scandinavia, where the winters are among the coldest and darkest on earth, many people look forward to winter as a time of coziness, beauty and rest. Psychologist Kari Leibowitz, PhD, author of “How to Winter,” talks about how cold weather and darkness affect our body and mind and what can we learn from the way that residents of cold-weather places...

Does shopping bring you joy? Or do you feel a bit of pain and regret every time you have to make a purchase? Many of us will be shopping for gifts in the upcoming weeks—whether we enjoy it or not. Scott Rick, PhD, of the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, discusses how our emotions drive our buying behaviors, why some people spend money so easily while others find it so difficult, w...

Strong, supportive relationships are key to our mental and even physical health. But what are the keys to a healthy, loving relationship? John Gottman, PhD, and Julie Schwartz Gottman, PhD, talk about why it’s so important to pay attention to your partner’s “bids for connection,” how to have productive rather than destructive fights, whether any couple can learn to communicate better, and why it’s...

Our culture tends to prize being bold and outgoing, making the world harder to navigate for kids who are shy. Dr. Koraly Pérez-Edgar talks about temperament in young children, how shyness develops from babyhood on, the difference between shyness and introversion, how parents and other caregivers can best support shy kids, and recognizing the advantages of a shy temperament. Learn more about your a...

“Birdbrain” may be an insult, but birds are far smarter than they’re often given credit for. Irene Pepperberg, PhD, talks about her five decades of research with gray parrots, how she teaches parrots to communicate with English words, how birds’ mathematical and other abilities compare with young children, how the field of animal cognition has evolved over the decades and what it can teach us abou...

From the surgical suite to the battlefield to the driver’s seat of a car, robots and other autonomous systems are increasingly part of people’s workplaces and their daily lives. Ericka Rovira, PhD, a professor of engineering psychology at the United States Military Academy West Point, talks about how robots are being used in the military, in medicine and in other complex, high-stakes arenas; how t...

Over the past few decades the U.S. has become an increasingly less religious country, and many people who grew up with religion have chosen to leave the faith they were raised in. Daryl Van Tongeren, PhD, author of “Done: How to Flourish after Leaving Religion,” talks about the changing religious landscape in the U.S.; what’s driving these religious “dones”; the spiritual, social and other challen...

Even as the average family size shrinks in much of the world, myths about only children remain common – including that they’re lonely, spoiled or maladjusted. Toni Falbo, PhD, talks about her decades of research with only children that have dispelled many of these myths, explains what researchers have found instead, and offers advice for parents of only children. Learn more about your ad choices....

Between raising young children, climbing the career ladder and handling the everyday demands of adult life, the 30s and 40s can be a particularly busy time. Developmental psychologist Clare Mehta, PhD, talks about the challenges and rewards of “established adulthood”; how relationships, friendships and work life change; and why it’s useful to think of the 30s and 40s as its own distinct life stage...

Every year, there are more than 2.8 million traumatic brain injuries in the U.S. The risks of brain injury among youth athletes, pro football players and military veterans have all made headlines in recent years. But other populations are at increased risk as well – including people in the criminal justice system and domestic violence survivors. Concussion researcher and brain health advocate Kim...

The U.S. feels more polarized than ever, and with election day around the corner, many of us are feeling the strain of political divisions among our friends, family members and loved ones. Keith Payne, PhD, author of “Good Reasonable People: The Psychology Behind America’s Dangerous Divide,” discusses the psychology that underlies how most people think about politics, how U.S. history has led us t...

Dr. Alfiee Breland-Noble, a psychologist who has spent decades working to advance the mental health of youth of color, was selected as one of 12 global leaders to receive a $20 million grant-making fund from philanthropist Melinda French Gates. Dr. Alfiee discusses the state of youth mental health, particularly for intersectional youth of color, the biggest challenges facing young people today, ho...

Today, music therapies are being used to help treat mental and physical health conditions as diverse as chronic pain, Parkinson's disease and stroke. Renowned soprano Renée Fleming, editor of a new book on music, the arts and health, joins music cognition researcher Aniruddh Patel, PhD, to talk about the connections between music, mind and body, whether humans evolved to be an inherently musical s...

Is your commute the most stressful part of your day? Traffic psychologist Dwight Hennessy, PhD, talks about what’s going on when we get behind the wheel -- including what causes “road rage,” why some people find driving more stressful than others and how our personality affects our driving, what’s going on with the “zipper merge,” and how driving may change with more automated and self-driving car...

For those with health anxiety, worrying about sickness can be a constant struggle that can harm their mental health, relationships and even physical health. Karen Lynn Cassiday, PhD, author of the book “Freedom from Health Anxiety,” talks about how to recognize health anxiety (once known as hypochondria), why the internet and “Dr. Google” can make health anxiety worse, and what to do if you or som...