Speaking Of Psychology

Whatever your dreams consist of, you’ve probably wondered where they come from and what they might be trying to tell you. Psychologists, too, have long studied the origin and purpose of dreams. Mark Blagrove, PhD, of Swansea University, talks about what we know – and don’t know – about why we dream; the relationship between our dreams and what’s happening in our waking life; why some dreams seem so common – like being unprepared for class or flying; why some people have particularly vivid and memorable dreams while others hardly dream at all; whether animals dream; and whether our dreams are entirely out of our conscious control or whether it’s possible to influence their content. For transcripts, links and more information, please visit the Speaking of Psychology Homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Parasocial relationships -- the relationships that people have with media figures such as actors, celebrity influencers, or even television characters -- sometimes get a bad rap. But psychologists who study parasocial relationships say that they can be good for us: They can help us expand our world view and can have positive effects on our mental health and well-being. Researchers Rebecca Tukachinsky Forster, PhD, and Karen Dill-Shackleford, PhD, talk about how a parasocial relationship is different from fandom, whether these relationships give us any of the benefits of real-life friendship, and what happens when a parasocial relationship goes sour -- when your favorite character or your celebrity crush disappoints you?   For transcripts, links and more information, please visit the Speaking of Psychology Homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Math is essential to our everyday lives, from household budgeting to buying the right size rug for your room. But for people with math anxiety, any tasks involving math can cause dread and fear. Molly Jameson, PhD, of the University of Northern Colorado, talks about where math anxiety comes from, whether you can be good at math but still suffer from math anxiety, how it affects people’s lives, and what parents and teachers can do to help math-anxious kids overcome their fears and excel in math. For transcripts, links and more information, please visit the Speaking of Psychology Homepage. This episode is sponsored by NPR's special 6-part series Body Electric with Manoush Zomorodi on the TED Radio Hour Podcast. Listen to Body Electric with Manoush Zomorodi today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People often use the words “guilt” and “shame” interchangeably, but the two emotions affect us in different ways. June Tangney, PhD, of George Mason University, talks about the difference between shame and guilt, what role these emotions play in our mental health and how they affect our behavior, why some people are especially prone to shame or guilt, and what you can do when guilt or shame is harming your mental health – especially when you feel guilty over something that isn’t your fault or that you cannot change. For transcripts, links and more information, please visit the Speaking of Psychology Homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For most of us, the idea of jumping off a bridge with a parachute or surfing a wave 70 feet tall seems to defy comprehension.  Psychologists, too, have wondered what drives people to participate in extreme sports. Eric Brymer, PhD, talks about why many of our preconceived notions about adventurers are wrong, what draws people to extreme adventure, the role fear plays in how adventurers approach what they do, and what lessons less adventurous people can learn from research on extreme adventure sports. For transcripts, links and more information, please visit the Speaking of Psychology Homepage. Learn a new language. Get 55% off at babbel.com/apa. (Rules and restrictions may apply.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve all heard the advice: Save for retirement, start saving early, don’t spend more than you earn. But rules like these are far easier said than followed, especially when you’re short on time, or money, or both. Wendy De La Rosa, PhD, of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, talks about why it’s so hard to take financial action, how financial stress affects us and our relationships, and why we need to get rid of ‘financial shame’ and talk more openly about money. For transcripts, links and more information, please visit the Speaking of Psychology Homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite the sexist jokes, the menstrual cycle doesn’t cause significant changes in mood or behavior for most people. But a small percentage do suffer severe premenstrual symptoms, or premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). Tory Eisenlohr-Moul, PhD, of the University of Illinois Chicago, talks about how hormones and the menstrual cycle interact with mental health, why premenstrual symptoms are not caused by a “hormone imbalance,” and what treatments are available for severe premenstrual symptoms. For transcripts, links and more information, please visit the Speaking of Psychology Homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Microaggressions, the indirect, subtle, sometimes unintentional incidents of racism and bias that members of marginalized groups experience every day, can take a large toll on people’s mental and physical health. Dr. Derald Wing Sue, PhD, of Teacher’s College Columbia University, discusses what makes something a microaggression, why microaggressions are so harmful, and what you can do to disarm and neutralize these everyday instances of racism and bias. For transcripts, links and more information, please visit the Speaking of Psychology Homepage.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you’re sad, do you say that you’re feeling blue? Have you ever felt green with envy? Domicele Jonauskaite, PhD, of the University of Vienna, discusses why language so often links color with emotion, whether those links are universal or differ by culture, whether colors can actually make us feel calm or sad or angry, why people’s favorite colors don’t really tell us anything about their personality, and more. This episode is supported by Babbel, get 55% off at babbel.com/apa. And, Rocket Money, learn more at rocketmoney.com/apa. For transcripts, links and more information, please visit the Speaking of Psychology Homepage.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Almost everyone lies occasionally, but for a small percentage of people, lying isn't something that they do every once in a while -- it's a way of life. Drew Curtis, PhD, of Angelo State University, and Christian L. Hart, PhD, of Texas Woman’s University, authors of a new book on pathological lying, talk about what drives “big liars” to lie, why they believe pathological lying should be classified as a mental health disorder, whether liars really are more prevalent in some professions, such as politics and sales, and how you can recognize lies and protect yourself from being duped. For transcripts, links and more information, please visit the Speaking of Psychology Homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s a common stereotype is that teenagers’ brains are immature and underdeveloped, and that teens are “hard-wired” to take unwise risks and cave to peer pressure. But psychologists’ research suggests these negative stereotypes are unfounded and that the teen years are a time opportunity and growth as well as risk. Eva Telzer, PhD, explains why teens take more risks and why that risk-taking is sometimes beneficial, why parents have more influence than they think, and how social media and other technology use may be affecting teens’ behavior and development.   For transcripts, links and more information, please visit the Speaking of Psychology Homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is there anything more agonizing than being in limbo? Time may seem to slow to a crawl when you’re waiting for high-stakes news like a hiring decision, a biopsy result – or the end of a pandemic. Kate Sweeny, PhD, of the University of California, Riverside, discusses what makes waiting so stressful, how the stress of waiting differs from other types of stress, the relationship between waiting and worrying, and strategies people can use to lessen anxiety and make waiting easier. For transcripts, links and more information, please visit the Speaking of Psychology Homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It used to be that if you wanted to gamble, you had to go to a casino or a racetrack to do it. But the expansion of online gambling and newly loosened laws around sports betting mean that people can now place bets from just about anywhere. Shane Kraus, PhD, of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and Lia Nower, PhD, JD, of the Rutgers University Center for Gambling Studies, talk about whether that increased access could lead to an increase in gambling addiction, who is at risk, stigma around gambling, what treatments are available, and the increased exposure kids now have to gambling via ads and video games. This episode was supported by Babbel, get 55% off at babbel.com/apa. And, Rocket Money, learn more at rocketmoney.com/apa. For transcripts, links and more information, please visit the Speaking of Psychology Homepage.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Ponzi schemes to e-mail phishing identity thieves, the world can seem full of people who want to deceive us. Daniel Simons, PhD, and Christopher Chabris, PhD, co-authors of the “Nobody’s Fool: Why We Get Taken In and What We Can Do About It,” talk about the cognitive habits that put us at risk of believing lies; famous frauds and cons from the worlds of business, science and competitive chess; and what you can do to protect yourself, and your wallet, by spotting scammers before it’s too late. For transcripts, links and more information, please visit the Speaking of Psychology Homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When someone hurts you, it can feel justifiable or even satisfying to nurse a grudge. But psychologists have found that forgiveness, when done right, can lead to better mental, emotional and even physical health for the forgiver. Robert Enright, PhD, of the International Forgiveness Institute and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, discusses how you know if you’re ready to forgive, the difference between forgiveness and reconciliation, whether any harms are truly unforgivable, and how to forgive someone who isn’t sorry for what they’ve done. For transcripts, links and more information, please visit the Speaking of Psychology Homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From ChatGPT to self-driving cars, AI is everywhere these days – but its rollout hasn’t always been entirely smooth. Tom Griffiths, PhD, a professor of psychology and computer science at Princeton University, talks about how artificial intelligence works, how AI differs from human cognition, how it’s changing the way science is done, and how studying human cognition can help researchers improve AI systems. For transcripts, links and more information, please visit the Speaking of Psychology Homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Religion and spirituality can be a source of comfort and strength but can also cause stress and conflict in people’s lives, when for example they wonder why God has allowed something terrible to happen or feel rejected by their religious community. Julie Exline, PhD, of Case Western Reserve University, talks about how spirituality and spiritual struggle affect mental health and well-being; what spiritual struggle looks like for religious believers, atheists and agnostics; how should psychologists and other mental health professionals can address spirituality and religion with their patients; and the causes and consequences of people’s belief in messages from God, after-death communication, and other supernatural attributions. For transcripts, links and more information, please visit the Speaking of Psychology Homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whether your idea of the perfect vacation involves the beach, exploring a city or just relaxing at home, you probably look forward to your time off all year. Sarah Pressman, PhD, of the University of California Irvine, and Jessica de Bloom, PhD, of Groningen University in the Netherlands, talk about why taking a break from work is important for physical and mental health, what you can do to make the most of your vacation time, and differences in work and vacation culture around the world. For transcripts, links and more information, please visit the Speaking of Psychology Homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everyone gets stuck sometimes: in a creative pursuit that stalls, in a job or a relationship that isn’t working out, or even just at an exercise plateau. NYU psychologist Adam Alter, PhD, author of “Anatomy of a Breakthrough: How to Get Unstuck When It Matters Most,” talks about why getting stuck is such a universal experience, what you can do to get stuck less often, how you know when it’s time to quit versus push ahead, and the practical steps you can take to get past the mental or emotional hurdles that are keeping you stuck. For transcripts, links and more information, please visit the Speaking of Psychology Homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the U.S. struggles with a shortage of mental health providers, advocates say that digital therapeutics – evidence-based mental health treatments delivered via app -- could provide an important tool to expand access to mental health care. Vaile Wright, PhD, a clinical psychologist and senior director of healthcare innovation at the American Psychological Association, talks about how digital therapeutics work, how they’re regulated, how they differ from other mental health and wellness apps, the kinds of mental and behavioral health conditions they can treat, and the role they might play in mental health treatment in the future. For transcripts, links and more information, please visit the Speaking of Psychology Homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices