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Human Natures

People's Conceptions of Human Nature
by Nick Haslam, Ph.D.
Nick Haslam is a social/personality psychologist who is currently Professor of Psychology at the University of Melbourne, in Australia. See full bio
June 9, 2009

Dismal science

The public image of scholars in the humanities is not one of abundant cheerfulness. From the news media to the pages of campus novels, they are pictured as grim culture warriors, bitter combatants in intellectual struggles, persecutors of innocent texts, and debunkers of comforting illusions. Read More

March 9, 2009

Prejudice is not phobia.

People who express prejudiced attitudes often find themselves diagnosed with a mental disorder. Opposition to gay marriage is ascribed to homophobia, hostility towards immigrants and refugees to xenophobia, and criticism of Muslims to Islamophobia. The language of phobia pervades public and academic discussions of social attitudes, but you won't find these conditions in a psychiatric classification. So are they really phobias, or are they something else? Here are five reasons why we shouldn't mistake prejudice for phobia. Read More

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Personality Basics

Personality

Questions of personality have vexed mankind from the dawn of personhood: can people change? How do others perceive me? What is the difference between normal and pathological behavior? One's personality is so pervasive and all-important that it presents a clinical paradox of sorts: it is hard to assess our own personality, impossible to overlook that of others.

Go to the Personality Basics page for more on Personality including:
  • Can You Change Your Temperament?
  • The Big Picture
  • PT's Field Guide to Personality Types
Go to Personality Basics

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