Peace isn't just a feeling - it's a currency

 If it costs your peace, it’s too expensive.

Traditional Psychology

You have two extremes, you have pop psychology – celebrity therapists writing best sellers, getting on talk shows, and making some miserable couple weep on television – it’s kind of a pornography really.

And then on the other hand, you’ve got the experts – the psychologists – orthodox, authority figures – everything under control and supervised, examined under a bright light – examined to death; completely and utterly divorced from real life.

Rising road fatalities

The current rising fatalities in the U.S. are caused by what University of Utah cognitive neuroscientist David Strayer, PhD, calls the “four horsemen of death.” Together, they are speed, impairment, distraction, and fatigue, the human foibles behind more than 90% of vehicle crashes.

Ben Franklin effect

Ben Franklin was one of the American founding fathers. He was a politician, writer, publisher, diplomat, scientist and inventor. It is Franklin’s picture on the $100 note. In his autobiography, Franklin relates a story about an unnamed hostile rival in the Pennsylvania Assembly who treated him with disdain.

Franklin set out to turn this antagonistic rival into a fan. Franklin was quite a book collector and discovered his rival had a particularly scarce book. He sent the rival a letter asking to borrow the rare book. His rival was flattered and agreed to lend Franklin the book. A week later Franklin sent it back with a thank-you note. The Ben Franklin effect comes from what happened next. The next time the legislature met, the rival approached Franklin and spoke to him in person with “a readiness to serve”. They became great friends, and their friendship continued to Franklin’s death.

Ben Franklin observed that if he asked a colleague for a favour, the colleague liked him more than if he did not ask him for a favour. At first glance, this seems counterintuitive. If you ask a person for a favour, you would think you would like the person more because they did you a favour; however, this is not the case. When a person does someone a favour, they feel good about themselves. The Golden Rule states that if you make a person feel good about themselves, they will like you. Asking someone to do you a favour is not all about you. It is all about the person doing you the favour.

"He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged." 

~ The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Do not overuse this technique because Ben Franklin also said, "Guests, like fish begin to smell after three days" (as do people who ask too many favours). Getting people to like you is easy if you follow the Golden Rule. The hard part is following the Golden Rule because we must put the interest of others above our own.

The Ben Franklin effect disputes the idea that we do nice things for people we like, and ignore or mistreat those we don’t. The psychology shows we grow to like people for whom we do nice things, and end up disliking those to whom we are unkind. This leads to us building more social support with others the more we help them.

So next time you need to build rapport with someone who doesn’t seem to like you - try the Ben Franklin effect to improve your relationship with them.

The Streisand Effect

The Streisand effect is a phenomenon whereby an attempt to hide, remove, or censor a piece of information has the unintended consequence of publicizing the information more widely, usually facilitated by the Internet. 

You get more bang for your buck by being banned. More column inches by causing offence. 

It is an example of psychological reactance, wherein once people are aware that some information is being kept from them, their motivation to access and spread it is increased. 

It is named after American entertainer Barbra Streisand, whose 2003 attempt to suppress photographs of her residence in Malibu, California, inadvertently drew further public attention to it.

Meaningful Growth Requires Challenge and Stress.

Six months of focus and hard work can put you 5 years ahead in life. 

Don’t underestimate the power of consistency and desire.

“Never say that you can't do something, or that something seems impossible, or that something can't be done, no matter how discouraging or harrowing it may be; human beings are limited only by what we allow ourselves to be limited by: our own minds. 

We are each the masters of our own reality; when we become self-aware to this: absolutely anything in the world is possible.


Master yourself, and become king of the world around you. 

Let no odds, chastisement, exile, doubt, fear, or ANY mental virii prevent you from accomplishing your dreams. 

Never be a victim of life; be it's conqueror.” ~ Mike Norton

Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.

Fear and doubt are natural – embrace them. 

Idea doubt is healthy, 

Self-doubt is not.

Well-being is based on mental maintenance

Seeking support is not a weakness, it’s a necessity. Reach out. Get professional help. For some people, going through a difficult time in life will not require professional help, however for some, a qualified and experienced ear can be hugely beneficial when it comes to finding your way in this new world. It’s about processing your emotions around the situation and learning ways to navigate the tough times that are emotionally helpful. 

~ Fitzpatrick, PSI, 2018

Contact| Pieta 

SpunOut.ie - Ireland's Youth Information Website 

Samaritans Ireland

Depression Support | Depression Help Ireland | Aware

Mental Health First Aid Ireland - What is MHFA? (mhfaireland.ie)

See Change | Say No To Mental Health Stigma

Welcome to ReachOut.com | ReachOut Australia

A Lust For Life - Irish Mental Health Charity in Ireland

Try not to Grease your 'Emotional Slope'

When going through a hard time,
try to imagine your future, happier self,
sending you back a message saying
“please keep going,
I promise you you’ll get through this
and life will be better again”.

The Screw You Effect

A form of experimental sabotage where the research participant does not want to conform to the experiments' demands. When a participant is in an experiment you may not get accurate results because they are aware of the experiment and in turn go out of their way to do everything wrong or go against everything you ask them to, in essence, they may deliberately try to ruin the experiment (the "screw you effect"; Masling 1966).

In Psychology, demand characteristics refers to when a person changes his/her behaviour because he/she is in an unfamiliar situation, carrying out artificial tasks and tries to make sense of this by 'working out' what the researcher wants. After 'working out' what the researcher wants, he/she will either try to 'please' the researcher by doing what he/she thinks the researcher wants them to do (known as the please you effect) or go against what the researcher wants by doing the opposite of what he/she thinks the researcher wants them to do (known as the 'screw you' effect).

For example, the children in Bandura's (1966) study of TV violence and aggression may have punched and kicked 'bobo dolls' because they thought that the study was a 'game' and that this was what Bandura wanted them to do (please you effect), rather than because they'd previously watched an adult punching and kicking the dolls on a video, as Bandura argued (i.e. it wasn't the video that caused the aggression but the expectations of Bandura).

The Formative Years of Life

All children develop at different speeds. Popcorn is prepared in the same pot, in the same heat, in the same oil, and yet the kernals do not pop at the same time. Don’t compare your child to other children. Their turn to pop is coming!

The Psychogenesis of a Case of Homosexuality in a Woman

Freud’s (1920) case, the psychogenesis of a case of homosexuality in a woman, with reference to other relevant texts.

Freud’s 1920 case presents an examination of the psychogenesis of homosexuality in an 18 year old girl who pursued the adoration of a lady ten years her senior (p. 147). Early on, the young girl’s father meets the two of them together and casts an angry glance (p. 147). This instigated a suicide attempt by the young girl which had the secondary gain of making the parents ‘back off’, with the addition of an increased respect from the society lady (p. 147). In Freud’s case of hysteria (1905), Dora’s parents discover her suicide note but question her intent. Similarly, a secondary gain for Dora was not only making her father concerned and thus allowing her to grow closer to him, but it also may have been an attempt to keep her father away from Frau K. Both cases have the undertones of a suicide attempt being used to make the parents first take note of their daughter’s pain.

The girl’s libido, or manifestation of her ‘sexual instinct’ (Freud, 1916-1917, p. 313) was never directed towards young men (Freud, 1920, p. 147). Her father was outraged when he discovered her homosexual tendencies and if psychoanalysis failed, a speedy marriage would ensue (Freud, 1920, p. 148). Little Hans (Freud, 1909) was given threats of castration from his mother due to his fascination with his ‘widdler’. Not too dissimilar, the father of the young girl (1920) was threatening a castration between his daughter and the society-lady if her fascination did not cease. Freud remarks that during analysis the young girl didn’t hold back on what she said about the father (1920, p. 148). However, at this stage of development the father is only viewed as nothing more than a ‘troublesome rival’ (Freud, 1931, p. 2).

Freud (1920) adds that during her childhood the girl passed through the normal attitude of the feminine Oedipus complex (p. 150). The later comparison of her brother’s genitals did leave a strong impression on her (p. 150), in that she felt inferior or that she had ‘come off badly’ (Freud, 1924). The girl showed signs of a maternal instinct to a small boy when she was 13 years old (1920, p. 151). Later, during a revival of her infantile Oedipus complex, the girl began to desire an unconscious wish for a child with the father (p. 152). ‘Normal’ women and homosexuals may desire the phallus and rebel against the frustration of castration (Riviere, 1929, p. 310), thus the earlier genital comparisons with her brother had led her to want a child as a substitute for her inferior organ. Here Freud is making a reference to 'penis-envy' (1925). This ‘penis-child’ equation (1925) was denied when it was the mother, her unconscious rival, who bore the child – her third brother (Freud, 1920, p. 152).

Owing to this disappointment, the girl gave up her wish and discarded the father as love-object (p. 152). Instead, the mother became the love-object and Freud’s analysis of the girls dreams revealed the society lady to be a substitute (1920, p. 151). The recognition of the anatomical difference between the sexes can force girls away from masculinity to adopt the development of femininity (Freud, 1925). In contrast, this incident led the girl to become a homosexual ‘out of defiance against her father’ (Freud, 1920, p. 152), and to repudiate the feminine role in general (p. 152), in favour of what Freud later discussed as a ‘masculinity complex’ (1925).

Freud (1920) broke off the treatment with the girl when he recognized the transference of the girl’s hatred towards her father and men (p. 154). In a similar fashion, Freud’s treatment of Dora (1905) was cut short when she ended analysis abruptly, which Freud felt to be an act of betrayal or vengeance on Dora’s part (1905, p. 157). Advising for the treatment to be continued by a woman doctor, Freud adds, that the girl promised her father to give up seeing the society lady (1920, p. 154).

Talk to your friends, Talk to wrong numbers, everyone!

The secret to small talk is putting yourself out there, being open, genuine, and vulnerable in your desire to connect with others. This is more important than managing every interaction perfectly.               

                "Well, if this means opening your door to those in need,

                those in pain,

                caring for them, listening to them,

                if this is practicing medicine, if this is treating a patient...

                then I am guilty as charged.

                Transference is inevitable...

                Every human being has an impact on another.

                Why don't we want that in a patient/doctor relationship?

                A doctor's mission should be not just to prevent death...

                but also to improve the quality of life.

                That's why you treat a disease, you win, you lose.

                You treat a person, I guarantee you, you win, no matter what the outcome.

                Don't let them anesthetize you. Don't let them numb you out to the miracle of life.

                Always live in awe of the glorious mechanism of the human body.

                Let that be the focus of your studies and not a quest for grades...

                which'll give you no idea what kind of doctor you will become.

                Don't wait till you're on the ward to get your humanity back.

                Start your interviewing skills. Start talking to strangers.

                Talk to your friends, Talk to wrong numbers, everyone."

~ Robin Williams, Patch Adams (1998)

Your ambition means nothings without execution.

Time to start those mid-year resolutions. You know, the ones you said you'd do back in January...

Every morning can be the first data point of a new goal. Setting goals and reviewing them frequently is one way to keep your focus on what’s important, and to help you take action that will ultimately move you closer toward where you want to go. Yes it totally screams of effort, but the time is going to pass whether you do or don't. Pick something. Anything.

Success comes from being persistent.

You Have One New Follower

The fear of chaos can invite more chaos. If you’re afraid of being mugged while walking down the street, you will become very cautious. As you become cautious, you become a target, therefore you are inviting the very thing that you’re afraid of.

Women and Leadership

Why are women chosen to lead organisations in a crisis? (The following passage is from the BPS Research Digest, 2010).

The majority of major corporations and countries are headed by men. When women are appointed to leadership positions, it tends to be when an organisation is in crisis – a phenomenon known as the glass cliff. Recent examples include: the appointment of Lynn Elsenhans as CEO of the oil company Sunoco in 2008, just after their shares had halved in value; and the election of Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir as prime minister of Iceland, just after her country's economy had been crippled by the global recession (2012 update: or the appointment of Marissa Mayer as Yahoo CEO?).

Real life examples are supported by lab studies in which male and female participants show a bias for selecting female candidates to take charge of fictitious organisations in crisis. Further investigation has ruled out possible explanations for the glass cliff - it's not due to malicious sexism nor to women favouring such roles.

Now a brand new study suggests the phenomenon occurs firstly, because a crisis shifts people's stereotyped view of what makes for an ideal leader, and secondly, because men generally don't fit that stereotype. ‘…[I]t may not be so important for the glass cliff that women are stereotypically seen as possessing more of the attributes that matter in times of crisis,’ the researchers wrote, ‘but rather that men are seen as lacking these attributes …’.

Susanne Bruckmüller and Nyla Branscombe first established when the glass cliff is most likely to occur. They presented 119 male and female participants with different versions of newspaper articles about an organic food company. Participants were more likely to select a fictitious female candidate to take over the company if it was described as being in crisis, and its previous three leaders had all been male. For participants who read that the previous managers had all been female, the glass cliff disappeared - they were just as likely to select a fictitious male candidate to take over the crisis stricken firm as they were to select a female.

This finding suggests the glass cliff has to do with people believing that a change from the status quo (from male leaders to a female) is what's needed in a crisis. However, this explanation breaks down because the reverse pattern wasn't found. Participants didn’t show a bias for a male candidate to take over a crisis-stricken company that had had a run of three previous female leaders.

A second study explored the role of gender and leadership stereotypes and involved 122 male and female participants reading about a supermarket chain described either as thriving or in crisis. Next the participants rated their impression of two briefly described, fictitious managerial candidates, one male, one female, using attributes previously identified as being stereotypically male (e.g. competitive) or stereotypically female (e.g. strong communication skills). Finally, the participants rated the suitability of each candidate and stated which of them they'd hire.

In a successful context, the male candidate was judged to be more suitable for the role and was more likely to be selected – a replication of the bias seen in real life. More intriguing was that a crisis context led participants to attribute fewer stereotypically female attributes to the male candidate and to judge him as less suitable for the managerial role. Meanwhile, the crisis context didn't alter the qualities attributed to the female candidate, nor the perception of her suitability. Crucially, however, she was more likely to be selected in the crisis situation - you might say almost by default, given that the male candidate was now seen as being less suitable and having fewer appropriate attributes.

‘Our findings indicate that women find themselves in precarious leadership positions not because they are singled out for them, but because men no longer seem to fit,’ Bruckmüller and Branscombe explained. ‘There is, of course, a double irony here. When women get to enjoy the spoils of leadership (a) it is not because they are seen to deserve them, but because men no longer do, and (b) this only occurs when, and because, there are fewer spoils to enjoy.’


______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Bruckmüller, S. & Branscombe, N. (2010). The glass cliff: When and why women are selected as leaders in crisis contexts. British Journal of Social Psychology, 49 (3), 433-451 DOI: 10.1348/014466609X466594

Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest. Visit the DIGEST BLOG https://digest.bps.org.uk/ to search past items and discover more links.

Stereotypes

A great example of in-groups versus out-groups.

In a study from 1942, Americans were asked to describe the top two features of Russians. And they described them as 'brave and hard-working'. In 1948, during / coming to the end of the Cold War, they were asked the same question. They described them as 'cruel and conceited'. The Russians didn't change, what changed was their relationship to them over the intervening years. They went from being part of a group that they were, to being part of the out-group.


~ Paul Bloom 'The Psychology of Everything'

G.E.T. A. C.A.B

A great infographic outlining the 7 dimensions of Applied Behaviour Analysis. Applied behaviour analysis (ABA) is "the science in which tactics derived from the principles of behaviour are applied systematically to improve socially significant behaviour and experimentation is used to identify the variables responsible for behaviour change" (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2007, p. 20). The beginning of ABA can be traced back to 1968, when Donald Baer, Montrose Wolf, and Todd Risley from University of Kansas published the seminal paper, "Some Current Dimension of Applied Behaviour Analysis." These founding fathers outlined 7 characteristics of ABA that have defined the field (Baer, Wolf, & Risley, 1968).

(The designing authors are listed at the bottom of the image).

 

Baer, D. M., Wolf, M. M., & Risley, T. R. (1968). Some current dimensions of applied behavior analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1(1), 91–97.



Slow Progress is Better than no Progress

Final hurdles are Coming

More Game of Thrones please and less of this academic pressure...