Minds and Mics

The Dangers of Fad Psychology with Jesse Singal

Apr 4, 2021

44:24

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Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Is Self Efficacy a Big Unwieldy Thing?

03:21

Don't Cherry Pick Individual Studies Just Because Some Blog Post Mentions One Study

01:46

Do You Think We Should Be Putting Resources Into Preventative Mental Health?

03:39

Introduction

3min

What's the Most Common Form of Misleading Statistics in Psychology?

2min

Do You Have a Problem With Self Esteem?

3min

Is Self Efficacy a Big Unwieldy Thing?

3min

How Much Does It Really Matter in Real Life?

2min

Positive Psychology

2min

Do You Think We Should Be Putting Resources Into Preventative Mental Health?

4min

The Real Dangers in FAD Psychology

4min

Is There a Relationship Between Your Environment and Your Mental Health?

3min

10.

Is It Unethical to Encourage People to Cope With Depression?

2min

11.

The Replication Crisis in Psychology

2min

12.

Are There Institutional Fixes to Mental Health?

3min

13.

The Sociology of Science

2min

14.

Are You Bullish or Bearish on Psychology?

3min

15.

Science Journalists - How Do You Deal With Complexity?

2min

16.

Don't Cherry Pick Individual Studies Just Because Some Blog Post Mentions One Study

2min

17.

Self Help and Self Improvement Books That You Really Enjoy

2min

18.

Minds and Mikes Podcast Review

2min

Science journalist Jesse Singal joins me on the show to talk about the dangers of fad psychology, including myths and misconceptions about positive psychology, the self-esteem movement, deceptive media coverage of popular behavioral science research, the replication crisis in academic psychology, and more.

Show Notes

Here are some of the highlights from our conversation:

Jonathan Haidt and moral foundations theory
Misleading statistics and external validity
The problems with self-esteem and the self-esteem movement
Self-efficacy vs Self-esteem
Carol Dweck and growth mindset
Effect size in research
Martin Seligman Positive Psychology
Preventative mental health
Opportunity cost in mental health
Structural factors impacting mental health
Grit
Comprehensive Soldier Fitness
The replication crisis in psychology
The file drawer effect
Falsification
10% Happier by Dan Harris
Positive Thinking for People Who had Positive Thinking by Oliver Burkeman

You can learn more about Jesse and his work here:

The Quick Fix: Why Fad Psychology Can’t Cure Our Social Ills (Book)
JesseSingal.substack.com (Newsletter)
Blocked and Reported (Podcast)

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