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The Expert Guide to Taking Control of Your Emotions
Ethan Kross is a world expert in the psychology of emotions, and he has identified a set of tools that can help us to tend our wellbeing. Ever since he was a child, Ethan Kross has been "an observer of emotion" and the often counter-productive ways that we deal with difficult feelings. "It seemed as if we were all just stumbling along, occasionally finding an accidental or Band-Aid solution to help us manage our emotional lives. Sometimes our improvised tools helped. Sometimes they made things worse. It seemed so haphazard, isolating, and inefficient," he says.
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Searching for Structure and Purpose in Disordered Behavior
New articles in Perspectives on Psychological Science explore the nature of “noise” in human behavior.
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Untangling Mental Health Disparities in Bisexual Young Adults
Researchers break apart monoliths to find out why bisexual people are more burdened by mental health challenges than gay or lesbian people.
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Why It’s Important to Talk about Race with Children
When my son was three years old, he told me one day after preschool that he didn’t want to play with me because I was Black. He went on; Black people are mean, he said, and he only wanted to play with his dad because my husband was white, like him. We were shocked and I was hurt—my child thought I was bad because I was Black. And even though my son is biracial, he characterized himself as white. What my son said that day unfortunately reinforced what research has long shown: children absorb racial biases from their environment. I study racial socialization—the ways children learn about race and racism—and I know how early these biases form.
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Why People Feel Nostalgic for Terrible Times
... Psychologists define meaning as the feeling that one’s life is significant, coherent, and purposeful, says Constantine Sedikides, a psychologist at the University of Southampton, in the U.K. And many times, our actions during a challenging time meet this definition—they are significant, coherent, and purposeful. Turning points in our lives usually provide fodder for nostalgia—and they are rarely drama-free. Reminiscing about a difficult experience reminds you that at least you survived, and that your loved ones came to your aid. “The fact that those people did those things for you, or were there for you, reassures you that you have your self-worth,” Batcho said.
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Beyond Focus: How Attention Shapes Learning Differently for Children and Adults
Podcast: This episode explores whether children’s weaker selective attention is a hidden strength by addressing findings on attention, memory, and childhood learning.
