Psychology for You!

My first blog post tells the story of my discovery of the conditions that reveal the political biases of liberals and conservatives. It’s also a story of coming to terms with my own biases. more

Even though the death of Trayvon Martin drew much public attention in the last year and a half, the shooting of an unarmed, innocent black male is in no way an isolated case in America. Jonathan Ferrell, a 24-year-old African-American man in Florida, was recently killed by police officers when he was looking for help after crashing his car. Roy Middleton, a 60-year-old Florida man, was crippled after the sheriff’s deputies mistook him for a car thief and shot him 15 times in his own driveway. Omar Edwards, an African-American policeman, was shot in Harlem by another officer who mistook him for a car thief. And Jordan Davis, 17, was shot and killed by a 45-year-old man who said he felt threatened in an argument at a gas station. more

Have you ever been in a situation where you couldn’t resist a little smile when someone else had a setback? Have you ever experienced joy when another person suffered a mishap? We’ve all probably been in that situation and we’ve all felt that joy. The German language coined the word Schadenfreude—a compound word of the German words 'Schaden' meaning 'harm' and 'Freude' meaning 'joy'—for the pleasure at the misfortunes of others and nowadays it is used as a loanword in the English language. more

Marc Fucarile, a 34-year old native of Stoneham MA, lost his right leg, nearly lost his left, was peppered with shrapnel, and suffered severe burns when the second bomb exploded at the 2013 Boston Marathon.  Shortly thereafter, from his hospital bed, Marc described his situation saying, “There’s more good in the world than there is bad” (LaPierre, 2013).  Given his circumstances, this is an extraordinary observation, one that inspires awe and admiration. more