“..When Pop Psychology Goes Wrong..”
“..Pop psychologists, beware! In the current issue of Psychology Today, the magazine’s expert bloggers debunk some of our most cherished conventional wisdom..
.. including popular social myths surrounding anger (no, “venting” doesn’t help), lying (it’s not about eye contact), and romance (Paula Abdul and her cartoon-cat-lover were wrong).
The piece isn’t available online, but here are a few fun examples, with links to the Psychology Today blogs the magazine’s experts call home:
Venting Reduces Anger
One of my pet peeves is how widely the notion of catharsis has been accepted.
People think they will feel better by “getting it all out” or even that a hockey game is a release for their aggression.
Aggression begets aggression.
People are better off taking a deep breath and counting to 10 than “venting” their hostilities. — Jann Gumbiner, Ph.D., professor at the University of California–Irvine College of Medicine
Opposites Attract
A persistent myth is that in romance, opposites attract.
In fact, one of the most powerful predictors of liking is similarity, regardless of the type of trait—personality, values, interests, or physical characteristics. —
Andrew Galperin, graduate student in social psychology at UCLA..”
go to source/story>>When Pop Psychology Goes Wrong