Sit Up Straight! Be Confident!
At school all the cool kids were slouchers. No one wanted to be seen sitting up straight, paying attention or, heaven forbid making an effort to learn. It was only the geeks in the front row, hoovering up all that useless knowledge, who kept their backs straight. The rest were doing their best to reach the horizontal, and sometimes exceeding it.
Essentials of Group Psychology
When we're in a group other people have an incredibly powerful effect on us. Groups can kill our creativity, inspire us to work harder, allow us to slack off, skew our decision-making and make us clam up.
Group Polarization: The Trend to Extreme Decisions
Say you put 10 people in a room and asked them to design a car. Would they design something average or something wacky? Would they be more likely to come up with the Ford Focus or 'The Homer', designed by Homer Simpson in this classic episode of The Simpsons?
The Acceptance Prophecy: How You Control Who Likes You
The mystical-sounding 'acceptance prophecy' is simply this: when we think other people are going to like us, we behave more warmly towards them and consequently they like us more. When we think other people aren't going to like us, we behave more coldly and they don't like us as much.
Brainstorming Reloaded
· Why brainstorming is ineffective and how to fix it.
Brainstorming was once thought a fantastic way for groups to generate new ideas. Although not as fashionable as it once was, brainstorming is still frequently used in business and, often inadvertently, for all sorts of personal decisions; people happily brainstorm for holiday destinations, restaurants and even new careers.
Why Groups Fail to Share Information Effectively
"No, leaks aren't on the agenda..."
In 1985 Stasser and Titus published the best sort of psychology study. Not only does it shine a new light on how groups communicate and make decisions, it also surprises, confuses and intrigues. Oddly, the results first look as if they can't be right, then later it seems obvious they are right, then attention turns to what can be done about it.
happier.com: Online Tools to Improve Happiness
· Sponsored post: happier.com gives you the tools to live better. Includes special offer for PsyBlog readers.
The people at happier.com have been working hard to come up with new ways to make you happier. Now boasting 32,000 users in their community, happier.com is a website that contains online tools, tests and exercises to help you measure, track and improve your happiness.
40 Superb Psychology Blogs
Forty of the best psychology blogs, chosen to give you a broad sweep of the most interesting content being produced online right now.
The list is split into three sections: first are more general psychological blogs, followed by those with an academic slant, followed by condition specific and patient perspective blogs. Other than that the blogs are presented in no particular order:
