Psychology Yesterday

Stories from the behavioral past

How Ernest Dichter Brought Psychology to Business

Anyone working in fields in which psychology intersects with business—marketing, marketing research, or advertising—should be familiar with Ernest Dichter.

What Would Sigmund Freud Think of Therapy Apps?

While today it represents just a small piece of the therapeutic pie, there is no doubt that Freudian psychoanalysis heavily informed the development of both psychiatry and psychology.

The Psychology of Murder

One does not have to be a psychopath or sociopath to kill another individual.

Is Busyness a Good Thing?

A Personal Perspective: While prosperity has continued to climb, the psychological costs attached to our ever-escalating busyness are steep.

Do You Have “Contender Syndrome”?

Just reading an alumni magazine could be a depressing experience, leaving the impression that one was a major underachiever based on the apparent super-lives of former classmates.

Why Are Ghosts So Popular Right Now?

Interest in the supernatural tends to rise after some kind of global crisis involving death.

Is Love "the Cornerstone of Humanity" or a "Tyranny"?

Love in America has been a contentious, highly charged site, simultaneously aggressively pursued for its emotional rewards and just as assertively avoided.

For a Happy Thanksgiving, Add "Flow" to Family, Friends, Food, and Football

Dozens of perfectly reasonable theories regarding happiness have been put forth, but few if any resonate more than Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of flow.

Do We All Suffer from Gerontophobia?

Ageism may function as a vehicle by which we can vent our fears of dependence and death onto others, making it their problem and not ours.

Every Day Is Valentine's Day

Love is an unmistakable sensation that is like nothing else and impossible to replicate, ensuring that the anti-love movement can gain only a certain amount of traction.

Is It Good or Bad to Think of the Past?

Is spending considerable time in a world that no longer exists a normal and even healthy effort of problem-solving—or a disturbing sign of a past-obsessed psyche?

Let’s Get Rid of States to Unite Americans

Our 50 states are no longer culturally diverse regions with their own respective identities but artificially constructed entities that would not be formed today.

Is the American Way of Life More Democratic or Republican?

Democrats and Republicans have struggled mightily over the meaning of the American Way of Life ever since the phrase was coined, each side fully believing it was right.

Why Are We Told That Good Grades Lead to Success in Life?

The linear model of success that is inculcated at an early age is just a nice, comforting, and easily understandable story that has little relevance in real life.

Why Are Americans Fascinated by Ghosts?

Ghosts have long had a visible (or invisible) presence in American popular culture, in part because many of us believe they actually exist.

The Rise of Supernaturalism

While the 1920s was a great decade for all things supernatural, it was during the 1930s when the field really took off.

Bewitched

The cultural climate of the late 60s and 70s accepted if not encouraged ideas and things that went beyond the straight and narrow.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

What is it about the chance to become a millionaire that continues to resonate?

The Secret to Success

It is the pursuing of one’s passions and the taking on of challenges that represents the “secret formula” to being a successful person.

Are You a Success?

Americans’ relationship with success has been a complicated one, filled with contradictions and ambiguity.

What Are Psychobiography and Psychohistory?

In her about-to-be published memoir, psychologist Mary Trump applies the tools of the trade in her analysis of a president—as others have done before.

Is the American Flag a Symbol of Racism?

The American flag is part of the closer scrutiny being paid to racial inequalities, both past and present.

Reconstructing the Past

Joe DiMaggio got more coverage than George Washington Carver in one popular high school textbook.

Black History Matters

Psychologists have argued that how the history of a particular group was portrayed played an important role in shaping the relative self-worth of a young member of that group.

The “Integration” of American History Textbooks

While American history was becoming more professional in the 1950s, the field had a long way to go in its treatment of African Americans in textbooks.