Psychology Yesterday

Stories from the behavioral past

Lawrence R. Samuel Ph.D.

Is Violence an Essential Part of the American Way of Life?

The assassination of Martin Luther King fifty years ago today had a direct, immediate effect on the perception of our national character.

Why Do Writers Write?

Over the years, theory upon theory has put been forth regarding the rationale for writers doing what they do.

Why Do Writers Drink So Much?

Alcohol (and alcoholism) has been a defining feature of literary life in this country.

Are Writers as Weird as They Are Made to Appear?

Writers have often been perceived and portrayed as quirky, eccentric, and occasionally belligerent – a reputation that is arguably well deserved.

Red State. Blue State. No State.

A federation of states was clearly a wonderful idea in the late 18th century, but represents a costly and psychologically toxic burden in the early 21st.

The Psychology of the American Dream

The American Dream is an optimistic, motivating force that propels people to achieve and accomplish things that we might otherwise not strive for.

The Psychology of Being Middle Class

Poll after poll reveals that most Americans think they’re part of the middle class even if they’re clearly not.

Our Last Cultural Taboo

A friend of a friend of mine died the other day, reminding me of the intense aversion we have to death in this country.

Do We Really Want to Stop Aging?

Marketers and the media have each encouraged the idea that aging does not and should not have to happen, further entrenching the peculiar idea that getting older should be avoided.

The 7 Things Everyone Should Know About Fatherhood

The unearthing of what I consider to be key learnings or essential truths regarding fatherhood.

The Psychology of Wealth

Do you have the psychological profile of a rich person?

Libido Lane

For whatever reason, actors have been famously attracted to therapy ever since there was such a thing, but probably not more so than a half-century or so ago in the United States. Celebrities back east may have gravitated to psychoanalysis as a way to deal with their demons but Hollywood folks considered it a virtual necessity.

The Yin and Yang of Aging

Resolving the inverse relationship between the decline of one’s physical being and the evolution of one’s psyche (barring the onset of a debilitating cognitive disease, of course) seems to me to be one of life’s most daunting challenges, but certainly one worth taking on.

The Aging of Aquarius

With our economic clout and sheer numbers, baby boomers are in a great position to change the narrative of aging, an achievement that if realized would rival our celebrated accomplishments during the counterculture years.

Notes from an Older Dad

My journey to being a mostly full-time dad demonstrates how having a child can alter one’s personal identity and sense of masculinity, especially when one is older.

Daddy Brain

Fatherhood- long neglected as a field of inquiry- has recently become an important area of research among sociologists and others in the social sciences. The most cutting edge research related to fatherhood, however, is clearly that associated with neuroscience.

When and Why Have Americans “Forgotten" Death?

When and why have Americans “forgotten” death? For about a century now, we have collectively ignored death and dying in everyday life, a clear break from the past and from most other societies.

A Very Brief History of Fatherhood

Fatherhood in America has changed considerably over the past two centuries, as has the very definition of manhood.

Death 2.0

A major but relatively quiet revolution is taking place within the universe of death and dying in America as we gradually confront our final taboo through digital technology.

Can We Die Naturally When We Choose?

Three decades ago, great strides were made in the area of “death research,” a field that continues to grow as interest in the end of life escalates. Researchers of the early 1980s were especially interested in the possibility that people could choose a particular time to die, either consciously or unconsciously.

The "Genovese Syndrome"

Few if any neighbors knew that Catherine "Kitty" Genovese was being stabbed to death, making her murder certainly tragic but not that much different from the 635 others that would took place in New York City in 1964.

The Psychoanalytic Fair

Considering a career in psychoanalysis? If so you’d be well served to attend the Psychoanalytic Fair at Teachers College at Columbia University on Saturday, February 8th.

How the Edsel Got Its Name

In 1956, having trouble coming up with a good name on its own, Ford Motor Company asked its ad agency, Foote, Cone & Belding (FC&B), to come up with some possibilities for its new, very special project. Codenamed “E-Car” (“E” for “Experimental”), this project wasn’t just another automobile for Ford.

Have You Ever Been Chased Across a Meadow by a Breast?

With the obvious exception of Sigmund Freud, a decent argument could be made that no other person in history instantly brings psychoanalysis to mind more so than Woody Allen. Because he often referenced psychoanalysis in his films, in fact, Allen’s oeuvre serves as a sort of barometer of the field.

Death Trip

The counterculture may have been fading in the early 1970s, but that did not stop some more creative individuals to come up with some different ideas to help terminally ill patients. Without a doubt, one of the more interesting was the use of LSD, a drug that had previously been given to mental patients and alcoholics as part of their therapy.

A Beginner's Guide to Living Forever

Is man’s ultimate dream within reach? A growing contingent of “radical life extension” supporters declares it is. Since the late 1990s, a number of scientists and entrepreneurs have openly stated that dramatic life extension is both feasible and desirable, the possibility of eliminating death also not completely out of the question.

Deathbed Tweeting

With NPR host Scott Simon tweeting his mother’s deathbed vigil, more attention is thankfully being given to how Americans die. Twitter offers the real possibility of bringing death into the open as it once used to be, quite a wonderful thing given the sorry state of dying in America.

The Playboy Mansion for the Masses

The Reagans, along with their goal of restoring traditional values to the nation, may have been moving into the White House in January 1981, but Americans were not quite ready to end the decade-and-a-half Bacchanal they had recently enjoyed. For the particularly adventurous, there was Plato’s Retreat in New York City, a vestige of the unrestrained sexuality of the 1970s.

Bisexual Chic

About forty years ago, bisexuality rather suddenly became considered quite stylish in America and much of Europe, a symbol of sophistication and confidence. As gays did a decade or so earlier, bisexuals were “coming out” en masse in the mid-seventies, no longer assigned to the margins of society.

The American Way of Swinging

Swinging (or mate swapping or group sex) had probably always been around to some extent in America but the wild west of sexuality in the 1970s was the ideal climate for it to thrive. In his 1971 Group Sex: A Scientist’s Eyewitness Report on the American Way of Swinging, Gilbert D. Bartell took what was probably the most in-depth look at swinging culture published to date.

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