Read about and understand the various psychological phenomena you observe in your day-to-day life. Get answers to common curiosities about everyday behavior. Understanding the root causes of your behaviors and those of others will greatly improve your understanding of human psychology. No human behavior, however small, is insignificant.
The goal of hypnosis is to program the mind of a person with a desired belief or a suggestion or a command. This is done by inducing a highly suggestible ‘trance state’ in the person in which he becomes highly receptive to ‘suggestions’ and his conscious resistance is greatly weakened, if not entirely turned off. …
This article will throw light on the concept of psychological identity, how it’s related to ego, and the causes of an identity crisis. We have many identities that we acquire from our past experiences and cultural backgrounds. These identities may be broadly classified as positive (the identities we like) and negative (the identities we dislike). …
Our self-image is how we see ourselves. When someone has a distorted self-image, it means how they see themselves is inaccurate. Our self-image or self-concept not only includes our physical appearance but also the beliefs we have about our own abilities, talents, values, etc. However, in this article, my focus will be on physical appearance. …
I recently came across a mind-blowing story about how Pepsodent was launched in the market and how brushing teeth became a worldwide habit. I came across the story in a book titled The Power Of Habit by Charles Duhigg. To those of you who have read the book, this post will serve as a nice little reminder …
Why do addicts want higher and higher doses of a drug, even if it’s ruining their lives? Why do people spend endlessly on gambling only even though it saps their financial resources? Why do people who are addicted to junk food even though it’s fattening them up? When it comes to how addiction works, drug addicts …
This article will discuss the psychological process of addiction with a focus on the primary reasons behind getting addicted. The word addiction comes from ‘ad’, which is a prefix meaning ‘to’, and ‘dictus’, which means ‘to say or tell’. The words ‘dictionary’ and ‘dictation’ are also derived from ‘dictus’. Hence, etymologically, ‘addiction’ means ‘to tell …
Sheena was an over-eater. One day she finally realized that she was indulging in her bad habit only to lift her mood. This awareness increased her determination to quit and she did. For two weeks, she didn’t eat more than necessary and was happy that she had finally gotten hold of her habit. However, after …
A habit is a behaviour that is repeated again and again. Based on the type of consequences that we face, habits are of two types- good habits and bad habits. Good habits that have positive effects on our lives and bad habits that negatively impact our lives. Human beings are creatures of habit. Our habits …
This article will discuss the nature of stress with a focus on two perspectives that explain what causes it. Stress has been turned into such a modern-day enemy that even the word ‘stress’ sounds stressful. Still, there are some who say that it is your friend, in that it spurs you into action. Who’s right …
A large part of human behavior is driven by unconscious motives and goals that we aren’t generally aware of. Some go a step further and claim that we have no free will. Whether or not we have free will is not the topic of my discussion but rather I’d like to throw some light on …