Fulfillment at Any Age

How to remain productive and healthy into your later years.

by Susan Krauss Whitbourne, Ph.D.

A How-To Guide for Boosting Your Mind-Reading Powers

Do you ever wish you could read someone’s mind? Think you need to develop psychic abilities to figure out what others are feeling? It turns out that reading minds starts with being able to read eyes. A simple online test will allow to measure- and improve- your ability to read thoughts, emotions, and more. Read More

The Five Things You Need to Know About Self-Help Books

With the growing number of self-help books, there’s a good chance you’ll get help from one of the thousands of titles available on the shelves of your local library, bookstore, or online retailer. These 5 guidelines will help you find out whether or not the advice you’re getting will work for you. Read More

The Complete Guide to Understanding Your Emotions

Emotions are central to the quality of our everyday lives. Our highs and lows also contribute heavily to the outcomes of our interactions with loved ones, colleagues, and even strangers. This brief, but complete, guide to emotions will help you understand yours and- just as importantly- how to regulate them. Read More

Freud’s Not Dead; He’s Just Really Hard to Find

News of Freud’s death is over-rated. His work lives on in many areas of contemporary research, teaching, and practice. From defense mechanisms to unconscious motivation to the practice of psychotherapy, if you look hard enough, you can find plenty of evidence to support his continued influence in psychology and beyond. Read More

19 Reasons to Exercise

You’ve heard it many times. Don’t be a couch potato. Work that body. Now, here in one easy reference list, are the best reasons to work your body, your mind, and, in the best of all cases, both. Read More

Our Superstitious Minds: The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking

No matter how rational you think you are, see if you can identify your own irrational beliefs in this list of 7 magical types of thinking. By learning how, and why, you hold these beliefs, you can gain insight into some of the most fundamental questions about life that confront us on a daily basis. Read More

Get Ready for the Real Battle of the Sexes

Henry Kissinger once said "Nobody will ever win the battle of the sexes. There’s too much fraternizing with the enemy." That may be true, but in the meantime, this 16-item psychological Battle of the Sexes quiz can give you some ammunition of your own. Read More

Don’t Be Fooled by a Narcissist

Narcissists know how to get what they want by putting on a scintillating show. Unfortunately for the rest of us, it’s all too easy to be tricked into believing these people are what they only pretend to be. By learning what narcissists do, we can all become better at resisting their manipulative tactics. Read More

10 Ways to Read Your Lovemap

We all have a lovemap—our mental image of what we want in a relationship. Like a GPS, our lovemap directs our relationship travels. Take this 10-item quiz to evaluate the direction, time to destination, and obstacles and figure out which lovemap best describes you. Read More

Give Your Career Mindset a Tune-up

Are you a victim of the traditional career mindset? You are if you believe that you need to rise through the career ladder as you progress through life's three boxes of school, work, and retirement. The 4 ways out of the 3 box mindset will help you achieve job satisfaction, no matter where you are in your career right now. Read More

Rethinking Psychology: Time for a Reality Check

Psychology’s popularity rests on its potential to give us insight into our behavior. It’s time to rethink what you thought you knew and open your mind to the field’s most important insights. Read More

Eight Ways to Make Online Dating Sites Work for You

New research reveals that online sites can’t possibly deliver on their promises to find you the perfect mate. What’s worse, they may even cause more harm than good. By using what we know from this research, though you can maximize your online matches with these 8 important tips. Read More

Show Off Your Social Self

Struggle with occasional shyness? Do you feel that your quiet personality hampers your ability to achieve your goals? It doesn't take a personality transplant to learn how to put your best social self forward, just a few readjustments of your thoughts. Read More

The Paradox of Procrastination

Procrastination is a natural human tendency to put off completing a task we know needs to be done. Among the many possible explanations for this nearly universal behavior are the irrational beliefs we have about our abilities to succeed. By challenging the four most common irrational beliefs, you can change from procrastination to timeliness before it’s too late. Read More

It’s a Fine Line Between Narcissism and Egocentrism

All of us are egocentric to a certain degree. When our self-centeredness keeps us from seeing how other people view the world, though, we can cross the line into pathological forms of narcissism. By practicing five simple strategies, you can nip your narcissism in the bud. Read More

Disappointed? Six Ways to Recover From Emotional Setbacks

Disappointment is the third most frequent emotion we experience in life. Sports fans, rejected lovers, and frustrated job seekers all know the feeling. These six strategies can help you cope more successfully with disappointment, no matter what the cause. Read More

The Top 10 Relationship Myths and Why They're Myths

How much do you really know about relationships? After reading these top ten myths, covering everything from cohabitation to sex in the midlife and later years, you may find yourself challenging your own conceptions of how to have happy and fulfilling close relationships. Read More

What Mindfulness Can Do For the Nation

Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan’s new book, “A Mindful Nation,” makes the radical proposal that by practicing mindfulness, the United States can tackle our most significant challenges from education to the environment. It’s an exciting concept that brings psychology vitally into the mainstream of today’s political dialogue. Read More

What's So Nice about Nostalgia?

TV shows that hail from the 60s, classic rock and Golden Oldies, and even throwback jerseys never seem to lose their appeal, especially if they bring us back to our own golden age of early adulthood. Why does the past hold such allure? The answer is in a simple trick of the mind called the "reminiscence bump." Read More

5 Principles of Effective Couples Therapy

Couples in distress may feel that there’s no way that they can reclaim their relationship. Fortunately, researchers have identified the five principles of successful couples therapy and counseling. Even if you’re not in a troubled relationship, you can benefit from learning these five basic principles. Read More

What’s Your Intimacy Quotient?

Long-term close relationships form the foundation of our fulfillment in life. We normally think of intimacy as a quality of couples, but it is also a quality that everyone possesses as an individual. Based on the “3 C’s” of closeness, communication, and commitment, this six-question quiz will help you identify your predominant intimacy pattern. Read More

11 Ways That Active Listening Can Help Your Relationships

The ability to communicate depends as much on listening as on speaking. When others speak you may hear, but do you actually listen? This brief test of active empathic listening will help you discover where you need to develop this vital communication skill. Read More

We’re Not Psychologists but We Play Them on Television

Television writers can’t seem to get it right when it comes to portraying psychologists and other mental health professionals. Whether these televised therapists serve as comic buffoons, telepathic crime consultants, or reality show interventionists, their unprofessional and often unethical behavior is potentially harmful. Read More

Are You a Neophiliac?

We all need to change, but some of us need change more than others. A true "neophiliac" seeks novelty with a passion and finds sameness to be insufferable. See how you rate on the 4 key dimensions of this basic personality trait. Read More

Are You Having an Identity Crisis?

Identity crisis is a term we normally associate with adolescence. However, adults continue to grapple with identity issues throughout life. Find out how you rate with this 4-question identity quiz that will test your own status on identity issues no matter what your age. Read More

How Emotionally Attached Are You to Your Pet?

Pets can offer a safe haven and a secure base for our emotional lives. Psychology is discovering just how vital they are to our well-being by investigating the deep emotional bonds that can exist between humans and animals. Rate yourself on these 10 items test to see what role pets play, or have played, in your life. Read More

Psychology Jargon Made Simple

Psychology's key terms can be confusing, but with a few simple tricks you'll have no trouble keeping them straight. These memory aids will allow you to master the jargon whether you are an avid psychology consumer, or student of introductory or AP psychology. Read More

7 Ways to Diagnose Your Caffeine Habit

Love it or hate it, caffeine is a part of almost everyone’s daily life. Surprisingly, many of caffeine’s effects may be due to how you think it will affect you. See if you’re getting a true daily jolt or just a placebo with this 7 factor caffeine expectancy test. Read More

Psychology's Best-Kept Secrets

How much do you really know about how much psychology knows? These 10 well-established facts will give you insight into some of the field’s most significant (and cool) findings. Read More

Five Steps to a Great Workout

Is your exercise routine getting blah? Add some zest by moving to the music. Zumba, Jazzercise, and Bodystep combine the self-expression of dance therapy with proven benefits to physical health to boost your mood, your self-image, and even your cognitive skills. Read More

Susan Krauss Whitbourne, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her latest book is The Search for Fulfillment.

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About Fulfillment at Any Age

Weekly blog postings on Tuesday's cover a range of topics relating to happiness, fulfillment, health, and aging. Saturday mornings feature "weekend psychology" topics focusing on teaching tips, general psychology, and psychology in the media. My goal is to educate my readers on how to maximize your effectiveness in life.