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An Open Letter to College Freshmen

By Mitchell M. Handelsman, Ph.D. on May 29, 2012 in The Ethical Professor

College is your first professional position! Your instructors are your new bosses, as well as your teachers, your collaborators, and your mentors. Let me explain the implications of your new position as a college student, and this new way of thinking about college: Read More

The D.M.V. Tried to Get Me to "Just Say No" to Organ Donation

By Randi Hutter Epstein, M.D. on May 29, 2012 in Birth, Babies, and Beyond

In today’s New York Times, Pauline Chen, a liver transplant surgeon, writes about checking the “yes” box on her renewed driver’s license, committing herself to organ donation should she get into a tragic accident. Even this experienced physician said the question took her off guard for a split second. Read More

Hidden Wounds

By Nancy Sherman, Ph.D. on May 29, 2012 in Stoic Warrior

Returning soldiers' search for inner peace and healing. Read More

On Happiness

By Arthur Dobrin, DSW on May 29, 2012 in Am I Right?

A gift of the heart is a gift of happiness. Read More

Don't Blame Yourself (or Others)

By John A. Johnson, Ph.D. on May 28, 2012 in Cui Bono

Getting blamed does not feel good, whether you deserve it or not. I share some thoughts on how to avoid self-blame, how to not let blame from others get to you, and why you might want to give up blaming others—for anything. Read More

Little Miss Pumpkin 1992

By David D. Nowell, Ph.D. on May 28, 2012 in Intrinsic Motivation and Magical Unicorns

For the next week, you and I have to reign together. Read More

How Trauma Is Carried Across Generations

By Molly S. Castelloe, Ph.D. on May 28, 2012 in The Me in We

What a person cannot contain of their experience, what has been traumatically overwhelming and unbearable, is passed onto the next generation as a vital mission. Read More

The Costs of War

By Stanton Peele on May 28, 2012 in Addiction in Society

Soldiers are suffering more physical and emotional traumas from war, a cost we don't comprehend in terms of either human suffering, or economically. Read More

Memorial Day Gratitude for Game Theorists

By Geoffrey Miller on May 27, 2012 in Pleiotrope

Why you should thank the Cold War strategists for saving your life Read More

Why You May Be a Bigot

By Gregg Murray, Ph.D. on May 26, 2012 in Caveman Politics

We are enthralled by stories of prejudice. Whether it’s voters’ responses to presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s Mormonism or the tragic case of Trayvon Martin, a young black man killed by a non-black community watch coordinator in Florida, we seem at times to be obsessed with how individuals and groups discriminate against other individuals and groups. Read More

Spitzer Recants: Why Can't APA Admit Mistakes and Correct Them

By Allen J. Frances, M.D. on May 26, 2012 in DSM5 in Distress

 

Spitzer Recants: Why Can't APA Admit Mistakes and Correct Them

 

Ben Carey's front page story in the New York Times movingly recounts Bob Spitzer's apology for an ill-advised study he conducted more than a decade ago.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/19/health/dr-robert-l-spitzer-noted-psychiatrist-apologizes-for-study-on-gay-cure.html?_r=1&emc=eta1 Read More

Ode to a Besserwisser

By Robert D. Stolorow, Ph.D. on May 25, 2012 in Feeling, Relating, Existing

There are no objective or neutral analysts, no immaculate perceptions (Nietzsche), no God’s-eye views of anyone or anything. Read More

Another Anti-Abortion Sting

By Marcy Darnovsky, Ph.D. on May 25, 2012 in Genetic Crossroads

An anti-choice sting operation aims to convince Americans that confronting sex selection is best done by restricting reproductive rights. Read More

The Native American Mascot: Tribute or Stereotype?

By Sam Sommers on May 25, 2012 in Science Of Small Talk

In yet another chapter of a continuing debate, the State of Oregon announced last week that its public schools must discontinue the use of Native American nicknames and mascots. For many people the debate comes down to one question: tribute or stereotype? Well, psychological research has something to say on the matter... Read More

The Madness of Honor Killing

By Steve Taylor on May 25, 2012 in Out of the Darkness

Why is the practice of 'honor killing' so widespread in some cultures? Why would seemingly sane people be willing to kill their own offspring – daughters they have conceived, given birth to and spent many years nurturing – for the sake of their reputation? Read More

What Faces Reveal about Emotions and Morals

By Arthur Dobrin, DSW on May 25, 2012 in Am I Right?

Studies of facial expressions underscore the idea that emotions are universal. Read More

Poverty and Difference Through the Eyes of a 10-Year-Old

By Mikhail Lyubansky, Ph.D. on May 24, 2012 in Between the Lines

Guest Blogger: "I believe that my motivation for activism to fight the structures of injustice is grounded in my personal experience of subjugation as well as bearing witness to the suffering of others. Let me now tell you about my introduction to Jim Crow." Read More

Sloth = Helpfulness

By Simon M. Laham, Ph.D. on May 24, 2012 in The Science of Sin

One of the many virtues of sloth. Read More

How often do you make a moral compromise?

By Susan L. Smalley, Ph.D. on May 24, 2012 in Look Around and Look Within

We face moral decisions when an action conflicts with our internal intention or conviction of right and wrong. There can arise dilemmas with the simplest of intentions. Read More

Fear and its Antidotes

By Gordon S. Livingston, M.D. on May 24, 2012 in Lifelines

A central idea of the society is interdependence: the conviction that we are all in this together and that we will succeed or fail based on our ability to hear heartbeats other than our own. This idea is where our best hopes reside. Read More

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