Human sexuality is rarely as straightforward as conventional expectations suggest. Attraction, intimacy, jealousy, vulnerability, and power can interact in ways that appear contradictory, creating desires that challenge familiar ideas about romantic relationships. One particularly intriguing example is cuckolding, a sexual…
Being wrong should, in theory, be simple. A belief conflicts with reality, new evidence appears, and we replace the mistaken belief with a better one. Yet human beings rarely experience correction so mechanically. Tell someone that they misunderstood a fact,…
You hear a song recorded decades before you were born and experience an almost inexplicable homesickness. An old photograph of a 1950s diner, a Victorian street, a 1970s living room, or a childhood scene from the 1990s can create the…
It seems irrational that someone we dislike can still get under our skin. We may consider a person rude, shallow, dishonest, arrogant, or simply incompatible with us, yet their criticism can replay in our minds for hours. A dismissive comment…
What is the relationship between the mind and the body? Are thoughts, emotions, and consciousness simply products of neurological activity, or does the human mind possess characteristics that cannot be reduced to physical processes? These questions have occupied philosophers, psychologists,…
Most people understand how a toilet works. Or at least they believe they do. They know what happens when the handle is pressed, recognize the sound of rushing water, and understand that waste disappears through the plumbing. Yet when asked…
Psychopathology is the scientific study of psychological disorders, abnormal experiences, and patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior associated with mental distress or impaired functioning. The term can refer both to the academic discipline that studies mental disorders and to the…
Love is one of the most familiar experiences in human life and one of the hardest to define. People use the same word to describe desire for a romantic partner, devotion to a child, loyalty to a friend, attachment to…
Few psychology studies have entered popular culture as deeply as the Stanford Prison Experiment. Conducted in August 1971 by psychologist Philip Zimbardo and colleagues Craig Haney and Curtis Banks, the study transformed the basement of Stanford University’s psychology building into…
The feeling that everyone else is ahead of you can appear at almost any age. You may look around and see friends buying homes, advancing in their careers, getting married, having children, traveling, building businesses, publishing work, or simply seeming…
There are periods when life seems to be happening somewhere just beyond reach. Weeks disappear into work, errands, routines, screens, and responsibilities, while other people appear to be traveling, falling in love, building careers, starting families, creating things, or experiencing…
Being average should not be frightening. Statistically, most people will fall somewhere near the middle on most abilities, achievements, incomes, appearances, and measures of success. No one can occupy the top tier of every hierarchy, and even highly accomplished people…