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.
What does it mean when someone says they feel lost in life? We can begin to understand this phenomenon by looking at the words people who feel lost utter. Let’s start from there. Language, they say, is a window to the mind. Here are some of the common utterances of people who feel lost in …
Seeking validation from others means seeking their approval for your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, choices, values, and actions. The desire to seek validation stems from the basic human need to be liked and accepted by others. Since we’re a social species, we have a fundamental need to belong to our herd and be accepted by them. …
Learning is the process of moving from a state of not knowing to a state of knowing. Learning typically occurs by understanding new information, i.e., gaining knowledge or developing a new skill. Humans learn in a variety of ways. Some things are simple to learn while others are hard. The stages of learning described in …
Lima syndrome is when a captor or abuser develops a positive connection with the captive. This positive connection could be sympathy, empathy, attachment, or even love. The captor, having developed a bond with the captive, does things in favor of the captive. Lima syndrome is the opposite of Stockholm syndrome, where a captive develops a …
“Most misunderstandings in the world could be avoided if people would simply take the time to ask, ‘What else could this mean?’” – Shannon Alder The actor-observer bias occurs when people attribute their own behaviors to external causes and the behaviors of others to internal causes. External causes include situational factors that one has no …
When people talk about suddenly remembering old memories, the memories they’re referring to are usually autobiographical or episodic memories. As the name suggests, this type of memory stores the episodes of our life. Another type of memory that can also be suddenly remembered is semantic memory. Our semantic memory is the storehouse of our knowledge, …
Fear of change is a common phenomenon in humans. Why do humans fear change so much? Once you understand what’s going on in your mind that makes you fear change, you can better curb this tendency in yourself. In this article, we’ll discuss in-depth what causes fear of change and then look at some realistic …
Childhood emotional neglect occurs when one or both parents don’t respond to the emotional needs of a child. Human children, heavily depending on their parents, require material and emotional support from their parents. They especially require emotional support for healthy physiological and psychological development. While parents may both abuse and neglect their child, abuse is …
Cassandra syndrome or Cassandra complex is when a person’s warning goes unheeded. The term is derived from Greek mythology. Cassandra was a beautiful woman whose beauty seduced Apollo into granting her the gift of prophecy. However, when Cassandra refused Apollo’s romantic advances, he placed a curse on her. The curse was that nobody would believe …
Karma is the belief that your future is dictated by what you do in the present. Specifically, if you do good, good things will happen to you, and if you do bad, bad things will happen to you. Is karma real? Short answer: No. Keep reading for the long answer. Karma differs from fate. Fate …