The Psychology Podcast

Today we have Bradley Campbell on the podcast. Dr. Campbell is a sociologist interested in moral conflict— clashes of right and wrong and how they are handled. Most of his work examines genocide, which normally arises from large-scale interethnic conflicts. Recently he has also begun to examine the much smaller-scale conflicts on modern college campuses. His latest book, co-authored with Jason Manning is called “The Rise of Victimhood Culture: Microaggressions, Safe Spaces, and the New Culture Wars.” The clash between victimhood and dignity culture The sociology of genocide and conflict The difference between honor culture, dignity culture, and victimhood culture Victimhood as a form of status Microaggressions on campus Anti-PC culture vs. victimhood culture Distinguishing real victimhood from victimhood culture Conservative victimhood vs. liberal victimhood Those who embrace offensiveness Healthy Activism: vs. Psychopathological activism The main goals of the Heterodox Academy The need for more generosity and forgiveness among differing viewpoints, cultures, and neurodiverse individuals Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-podcast/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amy Alkon, an applied scientist and author, discusses topics such as using fear as a tool for change, the value of action, the importance of secure self-esteem, reducing shame, and strategies for dating. She also explores the concept of being tethered to a specific scientific paradigm and the role of small wins. The podcast emphasizes the importance of being true to oneself and feeling empowered in life.

Today it’s a great honor to have Steven Pinker on the podcast. Dr. Pinker is an experimental psychologist who conducts research in visual cognition, psycholinguistics, and social relations. He grew up in Montreal and earned his BA from McGill and his PhD from Harvard. Currently Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard, Pinker has also taught at Stanford and MIT. He has won numerous prizes for his research, his teaching, and his ten books, including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate, The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Sense of Style, and most recently, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. Pinker is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, a Humanist of the Year, a recipient of nine honorary doctorates, and one of Foreign Policy’s “World’s Top 100 Public Intellectuals” and Time’s “100 Most Influential People in the World Today.” He is Chair of the Usage Panel of the American Heritage Dictionary, and writes frequently for The New York Times, The Guardian, and other publications. In this episode we discuss the following topics: The main thread that runs through all of Pinker’s work Does reducing economic inequality increase happiness? Does increased autonomy lead to increased happiness? How humanism is compatible with spirituality Why we should not confuse evolutionary adaptation (in Darwin’s sense) with human worth The difference between the ultimate and proximal levels of analysis Why Evolutionary Psychology is often so misunderstood Why human nature isn’t necessarily conductive to human flourishing How the laws of the universe don’t care about you Why do intellectuals hate progress so much? What are some indicators of human progress? Why should people care about human progress over the course of history? The myth of the suicide and loneliness “epidemics” Why we enjoy and care more about food and children than oxygen Rates of sexual assault and mental health on campus The increasing divisiveness and irrationality of politics How the recent presidential election was a “carnival of irrationality” Humanistic ethics Can we have a good without a God? The possibility of the unification of knowledge across the arts, humanities, and sciences Toward a third culture Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-podcast/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“How can we use these peak experiences to help people create community that is healthy and to be better human beings?” -- Katherine MacLean Katherine MacLean, PhD is a research scientist, teacher and meditator. In her academic research (2004-2013) at UC Davis and Johns Hopkins University, she studied how psychedelics and mindfulness meditation can promote beneficial, long-lasting changes in personality, well-being and brain function. In the fall of 2015, she co-founded and began directing the Psychedelic Education & Continuing Care Program in New York (www.psychedelicprogram.com), where she has facilitated monthly integration groups for psychedelic users and training workshops for both clinicians and the public. She currently lives on an organic farm and is preparing to be a study therapist on the upcoming Phase 3 trial of MDMA for post-traumatic stress disorder. Learn more: katherinemaclean.org In this wide-ranging discussion, we cover the following topics: - What happened after Katherine “died” in 2012 - Discovery oriented research vs. practical research on psychedelics - Effects of psychedelics on “existential distress” - Potential benefits of psychedelics on end-of-life care and terminal cancer patients - Potential benefits of MDMA for PTSD - The existence of “enlightened assholes” - Skepticism about brain research on psychedelics - The role of the default network in "ego dissolution" - Misrepresentation of the default network in the psychedelic and meditation literatures - Benefits of psychedelics and meditation in combination - Psychedelics and openness to experience - From anxiety attack to “beauty attack” - The potential for healthy psychedelic integration and increased community Links "Open Wide and Saw Awe" | Katherine MacLean | TEDxOrcasIsland A Systematic Review of Personality Trait Change Through Intervention Psilocybin-occasioned mystical-type experience in combination with meditation and other spiritual practices produces enduring positive changes in psychological functioning and in trait measures of prosocial attitudes and behaviors Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-podcast/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we have Dr. Ellen Hendriksen on the podcast. Dr. Hendriksen is a clinical psychologist who helps millions calm their anxiety and be there authentic selves through her award-winning Savvy Psychologist podcast, which has been downloaded over 5 million times, and at Boston University’s Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders. Her latest book is called “How to Be Yourself: Quiet Your Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety.” What is your real self? What is social anxiety? What is the opposite of social anxiety? What’s the goal of therapy to treat social anxiety? How to be comfortable when you are “caught being yourself” The importance of self-compassion The difference between introversion and social anxiety Techniques to overcome social anxiety The Orchid-Dandelion Hypothesis The relationship between the highly sensitive person and openness to experience The importance of going out and living your life first, and letting your confidence catch up The importance of turning attention “inside out” How perfectionism holds us back The importance of “daring to be average” The myth of “hope in a bottle” Gender differences in the manifestation of social anxiety Thanks!! Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-podcast/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we have Dr. Amy Wrzesniewski on the podcast. Dr. Wrzesniewski is a professor of organizational behavior at the Yale School of Management. Her research focuses on how people make meaning of their work in difficult contexts, such as stigmatized occupations, virtual work, or absence of work, and the experience of work as a job, career, or calling. Her current research involves studying how employees shape their interactions and relationships with others in the workplace to change both their work identity and the meaning of the job. Topics incude: - The definition of meaning - The four main sources of meaning - Spirituality as a potential source of meaning at work - The way work allows us to transcend the self - The definition of calling - How to find your most meaningful calling - The importance of “self-resonance” - The difference between consequences and motives - What is job crafting and how can it help you increase your calling? - Is job crafting contagious? - The benefit of collective, team-level job crafting - The impact of virtual work on job crafting - How does meaning shape job transitions? - The effects of occupational regret on people’s lives Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-podcast/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Nature doesn’t care about our desire to have these clean political categories for legal purposes.” — Alice Dreger Today I’m really excited to have Dr. Alice Dreger on the podcast. Dr. Dreger is a historian, bioethicist, author, and former professor of clinical medical humanities and bioethics at the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University. Dreger is widely known for her academic work and activism in support of people at the edge of anatomy, such as conjoined twins and those with atypical sex characteristics. In her observations, it’s often a fuzzy line between “male” and “female”, among other anatomical distinctions. A key question guiding a lot of Dr. Dreger’s work (and which was the topic of her TEDx talk) is “Why do we let our anatomy determine our fate?” Dr. Dreger is the author of multiple books, including “One of Us: Conjoined Twins and the Future of Normal” and “Galieleo’s Middle Finger Heretics, Activists, and the Search for Justice in Science.” In this episode, we discuss a wide range of topics, including: How Dr. Dreger got involved in the “Intersex Rights Movement” in the mid-90s The difference between anatomy and gender identity The relationship between our bodies and our personal and social identities and the role of science and medicine in determining this relationship Who gets to tell your body what it means How the mind isn’t the only place where identity exists, and how our identities also exist in the minds of others The future of gender pronouns How we should treat those who do not fit traditional notions of sex, such as the fascinating cases of “androgen sensitivity syndrome” and “congenital adrenal hyperplasia” How we can see more value in variation in anatomy The need for a more reality-based government Why the phrase “identity politics” is distracting and only part of a larger problem The benefits and disadvantages of the “Intellectual Dark Web” The increasing difficulty of being able to tell what is true and what is false in the media Why we spend so much of our energy on tribal politics and avoid the real humanitarian problems in the world Why tribal life is so compelling The need to balance male and female ways of being What an “Intellectual Light Web” might look like Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-podcast/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today it’s an honor to have Dr. William Damon on the podcast. Dr. Damon is Director of the Stanford Center on Adolescence and Professor of Education at Stanford University. Damon’s current research explores how young people develop purpose in their civic, work, family, and community relationships. He examines how people learn to approach their vocational and civic lives with a focus on purpose, imagination, and high standards of excellence. Damon also has written widely about how to educate for moral and ethical understanding. Dr. Damon’s most recent books include The Power of Ideals, Failing Liberty 101, and The Path to Purpose: Helping Our Children Find Their Calling in Life. In this wide-ranging discussion, we cover the following topics: - The definition of purpose - The role of values in purpose - The difference between purpose and meaning - Vicktor Frankl’s “will to meaning” - How purpose is a late developing capacity - The difference between purpose and resiliency - The paths to purpose among young people - Methods for developing purpose - Moral commitment among moral exemplars - Purpose among leaders - The importance of taking "ultimate responsibility" in life - How we are leaving young people unprepared in a civic society Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-podcast/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“The happiest person is the person doing good stuff for good reasons.” — Kennon Sheldon Dr. Kennon Sheldon is a psychologist at the University of Missouri who studies motivation, goals, and well-being, from both a self-determination theory and a positive psychology perspective. He has authored or co-authored multiple books, including “Optimal human being: An integrated multi-level perspective”. Dr. Sheldon has been cited more than 30,000 times, and in 2010, he was named one of the 20 most cited social psychologists. In this wide-ranging episode we discuss: How Ken went from aspiring musician to leading research on goals Whether the pursuit of happiness is worth it Is happiness in your genes? The link between goals and happiness The what and why of motivated goal pursuit The basic needs of self-determination theory Deprivation vs. growth needs Self-concordance theory The link between values and happiness How much can we use science as a guide to values? Are there some ways of being more conducive to happiness than others? How to get in touch with your OVP (organismic valuing process) Marrying positive psychology and humanistic psychology The relationship between personal goals and personal projects How to know when to change your goals The good life: well-being or well-doing? Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-podcast/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today I’m delighted to speak with Patricia Stokes, an adjunct professor at Barnard College who studies problem solving and creativity/innovation. Stokes is author of the book Creativity from Constraints: The Psychology of Breakthrough, which was informed by her psychological research as well as her background in art and advertising. In this episode, we cover: – How Patricia went from art and advertising to creativity researcher – The importance of constraints and variability for creativity – How constraints can promote or preclude creativity – Using constraints to solve the “creativity problem” – How “the solution path defines the goal state” – The four major constraints on creativity – How teachers and parents should praise children for optimal creativity – How to reward the courage to be novel – The importance of constraints in fashion and literature – How to explain Lady Gaga’s creativity Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-podcast/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.