Posts by Neil Petersen

All good things must come to an end, and that includes psychotherapy. For some people, psychotherapy comes to an end quite quickly. A recent study by researchers from Portugal, Brazil and Israel looked at what happens to people who drop out of therapy after a short period of time. The study followed 40 patients who…

An awareness of how vast and complex the world around us is seems to go hand-in-hand with an awareness of how small and limited we are as individuals. At least, that’s what a new study establishing a link between feelings of awe and humility suggests. In the study, published in Journal of Personality and Social…

You might think that apologies would be a good way to soften the blow of social rejection. But apparently, saying “I’m sorry” when you turn down someone’s request to be included socially can be more like pouring salt in the wound. At least, that’s what a new study researchers from Dartmouth College and University of…

Psychologists are still working on piecing together the details of what exactly video game addiction is. One of the open questions is how similar gaming addiction is to other addictions like gambling and drugs. The latest version of DSM, a handbook commonly used for diagnosing psychiatric disorders, lists “Internet Gaming Disorder” as a “Condition for…

It’s no secret that, to some extent, people’s tendency to be happy may be hardwired into their personality. But psychologists are still sorting out what personality traits correlate with being more satisfied in life. Recently, a team of researchers from Canada, the United States and Japan ran a large study focusing on one personality trait…

Reading minds isn’t a superpower. It’s something we do every day, sometimes without even thinking about it. Of course, our attempts at guessing what’s going on in the minds of others aren’t always successful. And some people are better at mind reading than others. This latter phenomenon is what researchers from Germany and Sweden explored…

With too much time sitting increasingly being seen as a major health risk, standing desks are becoming more and more popular. After all, the idea of still being able to put in a full work day without the health effects of prolonged sitting is obviously appealing. “I see the point,” you say, “but standing desks…

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in the United States is 7.4 percent for people between ages 20 and 24, and 4.6 percent for those between 25 and 34. And of course, that’s not including many more people who are underemployed. So what does being unemployed in young adulthood mean in…

I’ll answer that question eventually. Just not right now. If you’re a skilled procrastinator, you probably already know this classic trick: procrastinate by doing something productive. For example, say you have a work project you really don’t want to get started on. You tell yourself: “I’d love to start that project, but I just have…

Having a child is one of the biggest changes you can experience in life, so it seems reasonable to guess that parenthood could bring all kinds of psychological changes. Recently, a group of researchers dived into the question of what these exactly changes are, focusing on how becoming mothers affects women’s self-esteem and satisfaction with…