As psychiatry, which uses medical and biological methods to treat mental disorders, has largely overtaken psychotherapy, which relies on non-biological approaches such as conversation and counselling, psychotherapists have sought alternative challenges. One common approach is to focus on enhancing the happiness of mentally healthy people, rather than relieving the mental pain and trauma of those who are suffering.

Influence of fake news is undermining public trust in democratic institutions, regardless of whether people believe it or not, new research

For three decades, people have been deluged with information suggesting that depression is caused by a “chemical imbalance” in the brain – namely an imbalance of a brain chemical called serotonin. However, our latest research review shows that the evidence does not support it.

The story behind the research can be as compelling as the results. Recording the effects of starvation, a group of Jewish doctors demonstrated their dedication to science – and their own humanity.

Scientists have taken an important first step into studying the effects of the psychedelic drug psilocybin -- the active substance in "magic" mushrooms -- at a cellular and genetic level.

A Cuban man charged in a $4.2 million Medicare fraud scheme is being held as a flight risk after officials said he tried to flee the U.S. on a Jet Ski. A federal judge in Miami ordered Ernesto Cruz Graveran, 54, of Hialeah, to be detained pending trial Monday, according to court records.

A group of researchers claims to have developed a system that can determine a person's political ideology by looking at their brain scans, using "state-of-the-art artificial intelligence algorithms." Wow! Either this is the most powerful AI system in the known universe, or it's a complete ruse. It's a ruse, of course: there's little cause to get excited. To refute the researcher's work, you don't even need to read their article. We're done now. All you need is the words "politics change."

Individuals who accept human evolution tend to exhibit reduced levels of prejudice compared to those who reject the scientific theory, according to new research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Many of us are familiar with imposter syndrome: feelings of doubt about our skills and intelligence, and a sense that we're going to get exposed as frauds at any moment. It can be a debilitating mental condition, but new research has found a positive

People have unique ways of thinking and seeing the world and therefore, vary in ways they process memory. New research published in the Journal of Personality found that narcissistic individuals have worse recognition memory both for social targets (faces) and nonsocial targets (objects) compared to non-narcissistic people.

We must stop glorifying “consciousness” as the ultimate human achievement and the purpose of life on this planet. The tortured mess of our moral life and anxiety itself is one of the key signs of consciousness. One could almost say that anxiety is consciousness. An animal does not become aware of itself except when something goes wrong. To imagine that all life seeks its highest expression in the anxious self-absorbed hallucinated voices of a smug ape – I’d like to know when this might begin striking everyone else as grotesquely funny.

Having a partner with a ‘dark personality’ can put you at higher risk of suffering repeated infidelity, a study published in the Acta Psychologica journal reveals. The concept of a ‘dark personality’ comes from a triad proposed by personality theorists and includes subclinical narcissism (focus on oneself), psychopathy (lack of empathy, remorselessness), and Machiavellianism (cynicism, acting in self-interest). Other traits associated with a dark personality are sadism, selfishness, moral disengagement, and resentment.

A recent study examined the effects of rational (“brain”) and affective (“heart”) decision modes, and individual differences in processing styles on prosocial behaviors, finding that affective decision mode increased prosocial behaviors. Processing style (i.e., intuitive vs. deliberative processing) did not predict prosocial behaviors or interact with decision mode. This research was published in the journal Judgment and Decision Making.

“I think that any casual observer of human nature recognizes that many prominent cultural figures or political movements gain a lot of steam when they have a clear, identifiable enemy that they are fighting against. I started reflecting more on why this might be, and it occurred to me that having an enemy, someone to hate, might energize people,”...

The label “conspiracy theory” is often slapped on unsubstantiated ideas. But does labelling something a conspiracy theory actually discredit it? A new paper in the British Journal of Psychology suggests not. Karen M. Douglas at the University of Kent and colleagues find that people call an idea that they already consider unbelievable a “conspiracy theory” — rather than being influenced by that term to disbelieve it.

A massive new study of soldiers underlines why focusing on your happiness is so valuable.

A series of studies published in the Journal of Research in Personality suggests that the traits of vulnerable narcissism and a negative view of the past are associated with similar personality profiles. Both concepts were associated with high neuroticism and antagonism, low self-esteem, and a negative memory bias.

New research explores the role of autonomy in affect, engagement, and meaning. Might greater autonomy also contribute to well-being and happiness? Perhaps. A recent article by Kukita, Nakamura, and Csikszentmihalyi—published in the January/February issue of The Journal of Positive Psychology—describes the use of real-time assessments to determine the effects of situational and motivational factors, like autonomy, on the above three components of well-being.

Recent research published in the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior found that people attributed more moral traits to attractive (vs. unattractive) individuals. This finding was conceptually replicated in a second study when matching traits on perceived warmth.

By Emily Reynolds. Young adults reported nostalgia 60% less often than middle aged adults, while older adults reported nostalgia three times more than middle aged people.