Psychology Around the Net: March 31, 2018

This week I’m covering for Alicia and found myself with a mix bag of psychology news.

It’s a wake up call about how far we need to go when it comes to mental health stigma and being able to predict the next mass shooter. There’s also exciting research on what makes beginners overconfident and why you should think twice before using your phone in social situations.

I learned a lot of new things this week. As you’ll see, there’s something here for everybody.

Majority of people still think mental illness is a disorder like schizophrenia, OCD – A mental health study in India with 3,556 respondents from eight cities in India shows there is significant stigma and misinformation when it comes to mental illness.

There’s still no scientific way to know who will become a mass shooter – In the aftermath of mass shootings, there is a lot of pointing fingers, but also lack of understanding and research on warning signs to look out for. This article looks at possible risk factors and theories.

Research: Learning a Little About Something Makes Us Overconfident – A study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology has students acting as med residents in a post-apocalyptic zombie inhabited world. The results of the study showed, “beginner’s bubble,” a tendency for overconfidence to rise following initial bouts of learning a new task.

Happiness 101: Psychology course strikes chord with Yale students – One of the most popular classes at Yale is “Psychology and the Good Life.” Students learn the science behind happiness and have homework assignments such as gratitude exercises and increasing social connections.

‘Phubbing’ can threaten our basic human needs, research shows – If you’ve ever ignored someone to check your phone, you’re guilty of phubbing and as this study shows it could have negative consequences to your relationships.

‘Dark places, depression, anxiety’: Mark Rypien opens up about his mental health struggles – Former Redskins quarterback Mark Rypien shares his emotional struggles to help end the silence of mental illness.

from World of Psychology https://psychcentral.com/blog/psychology-around-the-net-march-31-2018/