Current reporting, research and professional developments across Psychology, curated for psychologists and behavioral-health professionals.
Psychology says people who learn from others' mistakes aren't afraid to learn from failure. This behavior can show how people observe outcomes, understand risks and change their decisions without ...
People using paper calendars are not old-fashioned. Discover how handwriting and big-picture planning boost your memory.
Psychology says people who still believe in superstitions aren't necessarily irrational. Superstitions can help people manage uncertainty, reduce anxiety and feel a sense of control. Psychology links ...
Posted August 18, 2026 | Reviewed by Monica Vilhauer Ph.D. Over the course of my ten years of Psychology Today submissions, I have explored various topics within my own life’s journey. One of the most profound for me and…
Posted August 18, 2026 | Reviewed by Monica Vilhauer Ph.D. Interestingly, it often turns out that issues in everyday life provide remarkable insights into psychology, psychoanalysis, and the internal working of the mind…
Posted August 18, 2026 | Reviewed by Margaret Foley As heat waves this summer shatter world records and dry up rivers and lakes, and wildfires pour smoke over thousands of miles, climate change is ever more apparent. Yet…
Updated August 18, 2026 | Reviewed by Lybi Ma “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” That was Friedrich Nietzsche’s idea, way back in his 1888 book Twilight of the Idols. As someone who studies trauma and…
Posted August 18, 2026 | Reviewed by Margaret Foley Someone I know well recently attended a Buddhist retreat at which they described their heartbreak at learning a person they were in love with—a person with whom they…
Posted August 18, 2026 | Reviewed by Abigail Fagan In 2001, during my outpatient neurorehab at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute (TRI), I enrolled in a 10-week stress management course as part of TRI’s clinical…
Posted August 18, 2026 | Reviewed by Margaret Foley Co-authored by Kennedy Hack-Juman & Amy Vigliotti, Ph.D. As the newest members of the workforce, Generation Z has become the generation most often associated with…
Posted August 18, 2026 | Reviewed by Margaret Foley We can understand perfectionism as an attachment and a striving to be perfect. Perfectionism goes beyond endeavoring to improve. It’s driven by a compulsive need to…
Posted August 18, 2026 | Reviewed by Margaret Foley The pandemic brought young adults home to parents—millions of them. Some stayed, while many forged out on their own when it was safe to do so. Once again, the number of…
You finally get the promotion, clear the exam or reach a goal you've worked towards for years, yet the happiness doesn't last. Psychology suggests this emotional dip isn't necessarily ingratitude.
Posted August 18, 2026 | Reviewed by Margaret Foley Can someone who has struggled with addiction be an expert on their own addiction and recovery? This may seem a puzzling question, but it is one that is emerging in the…
Updated August 18, 2026 | Reviewed by Kaja Perina There has been a lot of interest in the ability of dogs to learn human languages, mostly focusing on spoken words, but sometimes including written words or symbols. I was…
Posted August 18, 2026 | Reviewed by Margaret Foley Marriage is perennially associated with young couples who, after some period of engagement and/or cohabitation, decide it’s time to make their relationship official. To…
Posted August 18, 2026 | Reviewed by Margaret Foley Will AI get you a better job? No, not by itself. Expecting AI to hand you a job is like expecting a calculator to put money in your bank account: It's simply not how…
Posted August 18, 2026 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk Warning: This post contains discussion of postpartum psychosis and a case involving child death. There are intentionally no descriptions of the case; however, some…
Emotion-regulation training helped students respond to negative experiences with less distress and altered communication between brain networks.
Posted August 18, 2026 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk "What fun games have you been playing lately?" I ask this question at every visit when I have a patient I know likes to play video games. For someone who regularly…
Posted August 18, 2026 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk Much of the focus of conversations about artificial intelligence (AI) and suicide risk has been about how AI responds when a person is at risk. The specific concern is…
Once upon a time, being offered a cocktail in a can would have seemed like an insult. Cocktails were supposed to be shaken, stirred, garnished, and served in an appropriate glass. A can was reserved for cheaper drinks on…
Posted August 18, 2026 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk I just got off a project that was told to do more with less. The realization didn’t come at first. The leader delivered the news well. There was no spin, no jargon, no…
Updated August 18, 2026 | Reviewed by Lybi Ma By Chitra Raghavan, Ph.D., and Lisa Aronson Fontes, Ph.D. Both sides in contentious family court cases increasingly turn to artificial intelligence to analyze diaries and…
Posted August 18, 2026 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk As a marriage counselor, I often ask couples, as a diagnostic tool, if the problems that brought them to therapy get better or worse when they’re on vacation. Best-case…
Posted August 18, 2026 | Reviewed by Abigail Fagan I recently rewatched Disney’s Tangled and had some difficulty articulating exactly why Mother Gothel was so evil and not a remarkably devoted parent. While she does keep…
Posted August 18, 2026 | Reviewed by Abigail Fagan Australia, Canada, France, Israel, Spain, Sweden, Japan, Chile, Denmark, and England. These are the nations, among others, the US has joined in issuing cell phone bans…
Updated August 18, 2026 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk The Stoic Seneca (d. 65 CE) was the master of the "consolation," a letter written for the express purpose of comforting someone who has been bereaved. Seneca wrote at…
Posted August 18, 2026 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk The advent of the GLP-1 and GIP agonist drugs has brought along with it an increased focus on “food noise.” Many people on one or both of those medications report a…
True crime’s popularity can be explained by human psychological mechanisms and social needs.
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