Psychology
Cognitive science, behavioral patterns, mental health, and human decision-making
Stanford Prison Experiment Debunked
Philip Zimbardo's 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment — long taught as proof that ordinary people turn sadistic when given power — was substantially debunked by 2017-2019 evidence showing guards were coached, the famous breakdown was faked, and the 'study' was closer to improvised theater than science.
Milgram Obedience Experiments
Stanley Milgram's 1961-1963 Yale experiments on obedience to authority — in which participants delivered what they believed were dangerous electric shocks to a confederate on researcher instruction — have held up better than the Stanford Prison Experiment, but modern readings emphasize conditional engaged followership rather than blind obedience.
Parasocial Relationships: The One-Sided Bonds We Form with Media Figures
Parasocial relationships are one-sided emotional bonds with media figures — felt as genuine intimacy despite no reciprocal awareness, amplified by social media's simulation of interaction.
The Johari Window: A Self-Awareness Framework from 1955
The Johari Window (Joseph Luft + Harrington Ingham, 1955) divides personal knowledge into a 2×2 matrix: known/unknown to self × known/unknown to others. Four quadrants: Arena (mutually known), Facade (hidden from others), Blind Spot (seen by others but not self), and Unknown (undiscovered). Growth means expanding the Arena through disclosure (sharing the Facade), soliciting feedback (revealing Blind Spots), and deliberate new experiences (exploring the Unknown).
Altruistic Punishment: Paying a Personal Cost to Enforce a Norm
In public goods experiments people routinely pay their own money to reduce a free-rider's payoff, even in one-shot anonymous settings with no reputational or future benefit. Groups with a punishment option sustain cooperation; groups without one see it decay. The hard distinction is altruistic versus spiteful punishment — the same act can be either depending on whether it enforces a norm or protects relative standing, and participants generally experience it as the former.
Inequity Aversion and Last-Place Aversion
People prefer fair outcomes to merely favourable ones, and the disadvantageous form (disliking receiving less) is much stronger than the advantageous form. Last-place aversion is sharper still: people near the bottom of a ranking will oppose changes that benefit them if those changes lift someone past them. This supports the 'everyone must suffer' reading of hostility to people who dodge shared discomforts — but it is indistinguishable from a legitimate free-rider objection.
Queue Fairness Is a Moralised Norm, Not a Practical One
Research on queuing psychology finds people care more about first-in-first-out fairness being observed than about actual wait time, and violations produce reactions wildly out of proportion to the seconds lost. That disproportion is the point — a proportionate response would deter nothing. Queues have no paid enforcer, so participants' willingness to punish at personal cost is the entire enforcement infrastructure, which is why the norm is defended even when nothing is scarce.
How Childhood Experiences Affect You Without Conscious Awareness
Children absorb relational patterns (deception, trust, emotional norms) without conscious understanding. These become unconscious templates for adult relationships — affecting behavior without the person knowing why.
Retroactive Traumatization: Can You Become Traumatized Long After an Event?
Retroactive traumatization is real: recontextualizing a past event as harmful can trigger full trauma responses years later. Childhood abuse causes inherent neurobiological harm independent of social stigma.
How Information Changes Self-Perception and Identity
New information (like ancestry results) can reshape identity even when nothing material changes — because identity is partly narrative, built on perceived heritage and group membership frameworks.
The Self-Love Message in Media: When Acceptance Becomes Counterproductive
Unconditional "love yourself" messaging conflates self-worth (should be unconditional) with self-acceptance of circumstances (should not be). Works for children building foundations, counterproductive for adults avoiding growth.