Explore the dynamics of human communication.
It’s common to see two people getting stuck in an argument where one of them says something like: “Answer my question! You’re deflecting!” When humans ask questions, they expect a straightforward answer. They don’t want you beating around the bush because it means extra and unnecessary cognitive processing. While some can handle the meandering, others …
Name-calling or labeling is calling someone by degrading and demeaning names. The goal of name-calling is to hurt someone and make them look bad. It can occur in any relationship but is particularly damaging in a romantic relationship. A few incidences of name-calling here and there are forgivable, but if it happens repeatedly, it’s verbal …
In a healthy and ideal relationship, when you tell someone they hurt you, they own their mistake and apologize. Or they communicate openly and honestly to clear misunderstandings and reach common ground. But why do some people get mad when you tell them they hurt you? There can be many reasons behind this behavior: Your …
Ever gotten a “love you” from your partner that left you wondering what it meant? What’s the difference between saying “I love you” and “love you”? ‘Love you’ and ‘I love you’ have the same literal meaning. The former is a shortened version of the latter. Both are used to express affection. However, omitting the …
Annoyance is a negative emotion that tells us we should avoid a particular situation, activity, or person. Annoyance is a weak signal of pain that can turn into full-blown anger if the thing annoying us doesn’t stop or go away. Avoiding people, things, and activities that annoy us brings relief, fulfilling the purpose of annoyance. …
A polygraph or a lie detector test is a device that supposedly detects lies. ‘Poly’ means ‘many’, and ‘graph’ means ‘to write or record’. The device has many sensors that record a person’s physiological responses, such as: A marked increase in the above measures indicates sympathetic nervous system arousal, a more technical term for stress …