Description: The debates and the research focused upon the impacts of video gaming and social media use on developing children and youth are heated and ongoing. The primary difficulty in sorting out the effects of video gaming and social media use is tied up in the comprehensive nature of their uptake in the population. As… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Group Processes
The Psychology of Incitement to Violence: It is Not New
Description: Discussion and debate about the factors that lead up to the violent actions taken by supporters of Donald Trump in Washington on January 6, 2021 are often wrapped in political stances and loyalties. As the Senate trial of Donald Trump on the single article of impeachment of encouraging insurrection approaches it is useful to… Read more »
Psychology of Covid-19: Pandemic Fatigue Meet Pandemic Anger
Description: What is the difference between shame and guilt (and what do they have to do with Covid-19)? Well, we could dive deeply into philosophy to try and sort that out but let’s start with how shame and guilt are viewed within Psychology. With roots in Psychodynamic (Freudian) theory, shame is the earlier arising feeling… Read more »
Black Friday: The Psychology of Retail Rage?
Description: Even if you are not in the United States you have certainly heard about the Black Friday sales. We have them up in Canada as well though they are not quite as big a deal as are our Boxing Day sales. Things are a bit different this year, to say the least, but predicting… Read more »
Protests that Produce Real Change
Description: In thinking about recent events and the Black Lives Matter movement, if you had to come up with a small number, how many different kinds of protests would you say there have been in North America focusing issues relating to the BLM movement? If you said 2 (non-violent and violent) then you have likely… Read more »
Psychology of Covid-19: Cultural Variation in Reactions to Social Restrictions
Description: We know a LOT about social distancing at this point in time (Fall 2020) don’t we? Well, we might think we do but as we need to consider increasingly comprehensive restrictions on social engagement as the pandemic surges into the winter months it is helpful to see that quite a bit of Psychological research… Read more »
The Psychology of Covid-19: Your Behavioral-Immune System
Description: You are wearing a mask when you need to right? Its has become clear that mask wearing is perhaps the most important thing we can do to limit exposure to Covid-19 until a vaccine become readily available. What is also clear is that there are many factors involved in determining when people feel more… Read more »
The Urge to Punish: It Is Not All About Revenge
Description: What comes to mind when you think of punishment? Violent criminals? Disobedient children? Now how about revenge? Is revenge essentially defined as punishment for another’s act that harmed you or someone you care about? Or are there situations that may not involve blatant or intentional wrongdoing that may still warrant or lead to a… Read more »
Psychology of Covid-19: Lies, Damn Lies, and Pandemic Lies
Description: There are lies, damn lies, and statistics, right? But what about pandemic lies? How many lies have you been telling lately, and about what? How common do you think it is these days for people to lie about their health status or symptoms? Why might people be lying more these days than was the… Read more »
The Psychology of Covid-19: Schooling and Cognitive Health
Description: I do not have a fully developed professional Psychological opinion as yet on the question of whether or how schools should re-open in the (soon) coming fall. Some aspects if such an opinion will, of course, involve vital matters of health-related safety; will students get sick, if so, how sick, and will they infect… Read more »
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