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Beyond Heroes and Villains

Investigating the nature of good guys and bad guys in fiction and real life

Humor
What Flavor is Your Funny Bone?

Travis Langley Ph.D. on February 21, 2019

What makes your laugh? Humor researchers examine various dimensions of what we find funny and how we use humor in our lives.

What makes your laugh? Humor researchers examine various dimensions of what we find funny and how we use humor in our lives.

Law and Crime
Psychological Reasons Why Batman Does Not Kill the Joker

Travis Langley Ph.D. on January 22, 2019

Why doesn't Batman kill the Joker? Why does any person argue against ending a mass murderer's life? What psychological reasons drive such aversion to killing even the worst killer?

Why doesn't Batman kill the Joker? Why does any person argue against ending a mass murderer's life? What psychological reasons drive such aversion to killing even the worst killer?

Attention
Psych Write: Anonymity vs. Accountability Using Pseudonyms

Travis Langley Ph.D. on December 26, 2018

Pseudonyms may offer the protection of anonymity while lessening accountability for what we say. How do we cite unusual pseudonyms or single-letter surnames in APA style?

Pseudonyms may offer the protection of anonymity while lessening accountability for what we say. How do we cite unusual pseudonyms or single-letter surnames in APA style?

Fear
The Walking Dead Psychology, Case File: The Whisperers

Travis Langley Ph.D. on November 12, 2018

Has the AMC TV series The Walking Dead introduced talking zombies on the show? How might "becoming" a talker affect a person? And what does this have to do with real psychology?

Has the AMC TV series The Walking Dead introduced talking zombies on the show? How might "becoming" a talker affect a person? And what does this have to do with real psychology?

Fantasies
Westworld, the Holocaust, and the Filter of Fiction

Travis Langley Ph.D. on July 13, 2018

Survivors Viktor Frankl and Elie Wiesel educated the world about the Holocaust and shared some enlightenment about human nature. Is it wrong to analyze such horrors via sci-fi?

Survivors Viktor Frankl and Elie Wiesel educated the world about the Holocaust and shared some enlightenment about human nature. Is it wrong to analyze such horrors via sci-fi?

Identity
Symbolic Power Among Marvels

Travis Langley Ph.D. on July 1, 2018

Spider-Man, Captain America, and other fantastic heroes both dress themselves in symbols and turn into symbols themselves. A symbol is more than most people realize.

Spider-Man, Captain America, and other fantastic heroes both dress themselves in symbols and turn into symbols themselves. A symbol is more than most people realize.

Memory
Memory Malleability: A Secret of the Ooze

Travis Langley Ph.D. on May 17, 2018

Memory is essential and yet a terrible, unreliable thing. Recollection errors cast doubt on the value of eyewitness testimony, as both Elizabeth Loftus and Daredevil know well.

Memory is essential and yet a terrible, unreliable thing. Recollection errors cast doubt on the value of eyewitness testimony, as both Elizabeth Loftus and Daredevil know well.

Identity
What's in a Team Name? Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up Super Identity

Travis Langley Ph.D. on April 21, 2018

One group can be perceived as a single unit or plural individuals. DC and Marvel superhero teams have classically shown such a top-down vs. bottom-up distinction in group identity.

One group can be perceived as a single unit or plural individuals. DC and Marvel superhero teams have classically shown such a top-down vs. bottom-up distinction in group identity.

Motivation
Purpose: What Drives All the Things We Do?

Travis Langley Ph.D. on April 5, 2018

What drives us? Where does human motivation come from? Have the grand theories of motivation overlooked some huge and important piece of the puzzle?

What drives us? Where does human motivation come from? Have the grand theories of motivation overlooked some huge and important piece of the puzzle?

Adolescence
Why Popular Culture Psychology? The Power of Story

Travis Langley Ph.D. on March 10, 2018

What's the point in analyzing popular culture psychologically? Why look "inside the heads" of made-up characters?
Shouldn't we be studying real heroes instead of fictional?

What's the point in analyzing popular culture psychologically? Why look "inside the heads" of made-up characters?
Shouldn't we be studying real heroes instead of fictional?

Teamwork
Why Popular Culture Psychology? What's the Point?

Travis Langley Ph.D. on February 14, 2018

What do trains, baseball, and Batman have to do with teaching real math or science, including psychological science? What does real science have to do with fictional characters?

What do trains, baseball, and Batman have to do with teaching real math or science, including psychological science? What does real science have to do with fictional characters?

Sex
Psychologist vs. Psychiatrist with Wonder Woman in Between

Travis Langley Ph.D. on November 15, 2017

A psychologist helped build up the comic book industry. In the 1950s, a psychiatrist wrecked it. Both saw comics' powerful potential, whether to improve society or destroy it.

A psychologist helped build up the comic book industry. In the 1950s, a psychiatrist wrecked it. Both saw comics' powerful potential, whether to improve society or destroy it.

Magical Thinking
Decide to Be Fine: A Supernatural Contract to Keep Fighting

Travis Langley Ph.D. on October 24, 2017

“Decide to be fine til the end of the week. Make yourself smile because you’re alive and it’s your job. And do it again the next week.” Do no-harm contracts help us keep fighting?

“Decide to be fine til the end of the week. Make yourself smile because you’re alive and it’s your job. And do it again the next week.” Do no-harm contracts help us keep fighting?