The hottest Psychology Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Culture Topics

Hidden Brain and Evil Explain

Moral Understanding • 98 implied HN points • 31 Jan 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Political divide Morality Political Behavior Psychology Polarization
  1. Political beliefs are often driven by perceptions of threat and protecting different groups from harm.
  2. Misunderstandings about the views of political opponents can lead to false polarization and animosity.
  3. Having open conversations with people who have different political views is crucial for a healthy society and understanding each other's humanity.

Re-post: Welcome to Disaffected

Disaffected Newsletter • 499 implied HN points • 30 Dec 22
🎭️ Culture Mental health Family Dynamics Political culture Psychology Social Commentary
  1. Understanding Cluster B personality disorders can help explain certain behaviors seen in both personal relationships and broader society. It's important to recognize these patterns to better navigate relationships.
  2. The author's experiences with their mother's behavior highlight the impact of narcissism and emotional instability, which can lead to trauma and dysfunction in families.
  3. Current cultural issues reflect similar behaviors seen in Cluster B personalities, suggesting that these traits are not just personal but also prevalent in politics and media today.
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Is It Necessary to Have a Mystical Experience With Psychedelics?

Tripsitter • 179 implied HN points • 17 Aug 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Psychedelics Personal Growth Spirituality Psychology
  1. Having a mystical experience with psychedelics may lead to successful outcomes in some cases.
  2. Various factors contribute to mystical experiences with psychedelics, including dosage and individual mental state.
  3. Seeking only mystical experiences without integrating the lessons into one's life could lead to spiritual bypassing.

On The Fear Culture

Castalia • 259 implied HN points • 27 May 23
🎭️ Culture Workplace dynamics Psychology Societal norms Hierarchy
  1. In many workplaces, fear drives people's actions more than money. People often act scared to maintain their status and avoid losing prestige.
  2. The culture of fear in organizations can lead to conformity and a lack of courage among employees. This leaves many feeling hollow and unable to stand up for their values.
  3. When organizations face crises, their true fragility is revealed. Those who have climbed the corporate ladder through fear often struggle to uphold their institutions' values when challenged.

Should You Watch People Die

Regress Studies • 176 implied HN points • 18 May 23
🎭️ Culture Media Ethics Society Psychology
  1. There is a difference between witnessing war and seeking out death for personal satisfaction.
  2. Social media can worsen our consumption of war as content, leading to desensitization.
  3. The concept of 'bearing witness' to human suffering can be complex and may not always have a clear moral imperative.

Curator

Castalia • 259 implied HN points • 21 May 23
🎭️ Culture Art Media Theater Psychology Social Issues
  1. There's a cultural shift where therapy and acting classes are now influenced by performance, politics, and social justice, which can lead to people feeling pressured rather than genuinely understood.
  2. Art has become bland and unoriginal, often falling into the trap of needing to fit into institutional standards, instead of embracing creativity and individuality.
  3. The Great Resignation reflects a change in how people see work; many are valuing their time and personal interests more than just traditional job expectations.

Why Do We Laugh?

Pryor Questions • 522 implied HN points • 18 Apr 23
🎭️ Culture Psychology Evolution Humor Health Society
  1. Laughter is a physiological response to humor involving various body responses like facial muscle movements and disrupted respiratory systems.
  2. Humans laugh to create social bonds, show friendliness, and signal group cohesion.
  3. There are multiple theories explaining why we find things funny, such as relief theory, superiority theory, and incongruity theory, influenced by factors like age and cultural differences.

Dark Patterns: using human psychology to manipulate users

UX Psychology • 198 implied HN points • 02 Feb 23
🕹 Technology UX Design User Experience Manipulation Psychology
  1. Dark patterns in UX are manipulative design tactics used to influence user behavior for the benefit of the company, often at the expense of the user's experience and trust.
  2. Dark patterns have different categories like asymmetrical, covert, restrictive, and deceptive, which aim to coerce and deceive users into unintended decisions.
  3. To combat dark patterns, designers should prioritize user transparency, education, testing with real users, and compliance with ethical design guidelines and regulations.

mathiness instills confidence

bad cattitude • 165 implied HN points • 22 Feb 24
🔬 Science Mathematics Psychology Cognitive Science Research Climate Science
  1. Mathiness can make people feel more confident, especially if they aren't familiar with math.
  2. Adding complex math or 'mathiness' to information can influence how people perceive its quality, especially if they lack knowledge in math and models.
  3. It's important to be cautious of trusting information just because it includes numbers or complex equations; don't assume accuracy or rigor without verifying.

Women Are Crazy, Science Finally Admits

Torture Chamber Small Talk • 159 implied HN points • 05 Mar 24
🎭️ Culture Psychology Gender Studies Humor
  1. The article discusses the misinterpretation of women's behavior as 'crazy' and highlights the need to distinguish between actual psychopathy and common stereotypes.
  2. Female psychopathy is often subtler and harder to diagnose than male psychopathy, which is a result of existing biases in how psychopathy is recognized and studied.
  3. There's a call for more awareness and understanding of female psychopathy, breaking stereotypes, and approaching the topic with a sense of unity and cooperation rather than division.

The Tale of the Shaman: Science, Magic, and Super Placebo (v2)

Secretum Secretorum • 555 implied HN points • 27 Feb 23
🔬 Science Psychology Neuroscience Magic Research
  1. Magical healing techniques are psychosocial technologies for eliciting superordinary placebo responses.
  2. In a disenchanted world, achieving magical effects is challenging due to shifts in belief and worldview.
  3. The placebo effect may be rooted in evolutionary processes related to immune system activation and resource allocation.

The Role of Personality and Cognitive Ability in the Measurement of Usability

UX Psychology • 158 implied HN points • 08 Sep 23
🔬 Science Psychology Personality Traits Cognitive ability User Experience
  1. The usability of a product varies among individuals based on their knowledge, experience, and attitudes, not just a fixed attribute.
  2. Personality traits like emotional stability, openness to experience, and conscientiousness play a significant role in shaping subjective usability ratings.
  3. Cognitive ability did not have a significant impact on usability ratings, indicating that individual personality traits are stronger predictors.

Nostalgia in UX Design

UX Psychology • 158 implied HN points • 11 Aug 23
🕹 Technology UX Design Psychology User Research
  1. Nostalgia has evolved from being seen as a medical ailment to a cultural touchstone, becoming more relevant today in marketing and design.
  2. Nostalgia offers psychological comfort during distressing times, increasing well-being, optimism, and a sense of meaning in life.
  3. When incorporating nostalgia into UX design, it's essential to understand the audience, innovate while evoking the past, ensure coherence, and avoid the potential pitfalls of manipulation and inhibiting innovation.

The Creator's Blind Spot

UX Psychology • 158 implied HN points • 28 Jun 23
🕹 Technology AI Psychology Product Development UX Research
  1. Understanding the psychology of AI creators is crucial as they may have an overly optimistic view of their own creations, known as the Inventor's Bias Effect.
  2. Inventors may view their products more positively due to personal identification with their creations, indicating biased decision-making.
  3. The importance of diverse input in decision-making processes to prevent overblown expectations about fairness and efficiency in AI tools.

Math Problems

The Better Letter • 157 implied HN points • 17 Mar 23
🔬 Science Mathematics Probability Sports Psychology Economics
  1. Unlikely events happen more often than we realize, influencing outcomes in sports, investments, and life.
  2. Probability plays a significant role in determining outcomes, such as in coin tosses, NCAA brackets, and market predictions.
  3. Randomness, noise, and unpredictability are intrinsic to life, affecting decision-making and the way we perceive events.

Cybernetics: The Key to a Unifying Framework for Psychology

Mind & Mythos • 299 implied HN points • 27 Feb 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Psychology Mental health Therapy Personality Behavioral Science
  1. Psychology lacks a unifying framework like biology's evolutionary theory. This makes it hard to connect different areas of psychology effectively.
  2. Human personality can be explained using the Big Five traits, which show how people behave and react. These traits can also help us understand mental illness.
  3. Psychopathology, or mental illness, happens when there's a breakdown in managing personal goals. It's linked to how we handle challenges based on our personality traits.

10x your mind 🧠

10x your mind • 479 implied HN points • 12 May 22
🚌 Education Psychology Learning Mental health Self-Improvement Research
  1. Underutilizing mental abilities is common; many of us make suboptimal decisions in various aspects of life.
  2. Training our minds is crucial for making smarter decisions and improving overall well-being; psychologists and neuroscientists provide valuable insights.
  3. Awareness of common mental mistakes and cognitive biases is key to enhancing decision-making and reaching our full potential.

The Need To Pee

Living Fossils • 16 implied HN points • 06 Nov 24
🔬 Science Biology Health Psychology Anatomy Behavior
  1. Tycho Brahe's story shows how ignoring the urge to pee can have serious consequences for health, as it may lead to fatal infections. It's a reminder that some bodily needs shouldn't be ignored, even in social settings.
  2. The bladder fills and sends signals to the brain that motivate us to pee. This system is controlled by specialized cells that detect stretching, similar to how we feel full after eating.
  3. We have the ability to control when we pee, which helps us navigate social norms and situations. This skill allows us to prioritize different needs but can sometimes lead to difficult choices.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy: A Cybernetic Perspective

Mind & Mythos • 259 implied HN points • 31 Mar 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Therapy Psychology Mental health Behavioral Science Cognitive Science
  1. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) helps people deal with mental health issues by changing negative thoughts and behaviors. It focuses on understanding one’s feelings and gradually facing fears to feel better.
  2. The Cybernetic Theory of Psychopathology suggests that mental health issues relate to how well a person's goals and strategies match their experiences. If a person struggles to meet their goals, it can lead to anxiety and depression.
  3. In therapy, helping clients identify their goals and tackle their negative thoughts is key. Techniques like behavioral experiments and scheduling enjoyable activities can help clients regain confidence and improve their mood.

Navigating Uncertainty: Fostering Innovation in Times of Change

UX Psychology • 138 implied HN points • 27 Oct 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Uncertainty Psychology Research Strategies Personal Growth
  1. Uncertainty can lead to stress and anxiety, impacting individual and team performance.
  2. Reframing uncertainty positively can spark creativity, growth, and better adaptation to change.
  3. Strategies for managing uncertainty include focusing on what can be controlled, embracing experimentation, celebrating small wins, fostering psychological safety, transparent communication, and reminding of organizational purpose.

Predicting the Future

The Cosmopolitan Globalist • 4 implied HN points • 02 Jan 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Forecasting Intelligence Psychology Cognition Political trends
  1. Predicting the future is hard because people often think they're better at it than they really are. Many make mistakes like being too confident or not paying attention to the facts.
  2. Some people, called superforecasters, are really good at making accurate predictions. They focus on facts, break problems into smaller parts, and keep track of their past predictions to learn from them.
  3. To improve predictions, it's important to express guesses as probabilities, look for different opinions, and stay open to changing your mind when new information comes in.

Episode 102: Put Up or Shut Up

Disaffected Newsletter • 359 implied HN points • 16 Jan 23
🎙 Podcasts Media Culture Society Politics Psychology
  1. Ontario's psychology board is putting pressure on Jordan Peterson, asking him to write a public letter to keep his license. This has raised concerns about freedom of speech and professional integrity.
  2. An activist group called Gays Against Groomers is raising alarms about the dangers of transitioning minors, likening it to Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy, which has sparked significant debate.
  3. There is growing fear in society about things like gas cookstoves, showing how easy it is for people to panic and stop thinking critically about issues.

What the DSM-5 Gets Wrong About Mental Illness

Mind & Mythos • 299 implied HN points • 20 Jan 23
🏥 Health Politics Mental health Psychology Diagnosis Health Systems
  1. The DSM-5 categorizes mental illnesses, but it fails to recognize that human traits exist on a spectrum. This means someone might feel varying levels of anxiety on different days, rather than simply being anxious or not.
  2. People often show symptoms of multiple disorders at once, making current diagnostic categories too rigid. For example, two people diagnosed with the same mental illness might have very different experiences and symptoms.
  3. Instead of labeling normal behaviors as disorders, we should focus on a person's distress and functioning. A new model called HiTOP offers a better way to understand mental health by looking at underlying dimensions rather than strict categories.

Sexual Competition, Social Media & Algorithms

The Great Gender Divergence • 137 implied HN points • 20 Feb 23
🎭️ Culture Social media Psychology Beauty Inequality Algorithm
  1. Female beautification is inevitable, especially under intense sexual competition
  2. Sexual competition heightens beautification, with greater competition leading to more focus on appearance
  3. Algorithms on social media platforms like Instagram manufacture an inequality of adoration by showcasing the most popular posts, distorting girls' perception of peer competition

The Story of Us

The Weasel Speaks • 137 implied HN points • 15 Apr 23
💼 Business Self-Improvement Psychology Management Leadership Productivity
  1. Understanding your own strengths can be more beneficial than relying on personality assessments like MBTI.
  2. The Working Genius model by Patrick Lencioni highlights the importance of focusing on your strengths and collaborating with others.
  3. Identifying your working genius areas and frustrations can guide you on how to approach projects effectively and work with a team.