The Psychology Podcast

Today I’m excited to welcome Jordan Harbinger to The Psychology Podcast. Jordan is an entrepreneur, talk show host, and world-renowned social dynamics expert. As co-founder of The Art of Charm, he has helped develop one of the leading self-development programs in the world, with a special expertise in social capital, relationship-building, and authentic rapport. He is also the host of The Art of Charm Podcast, where he interviews leading entrepreneurs, celebrities, authors, and experts on psychology, human performance, behavioral economics, and success. In our wide-ranging discussion, Jordan and I talk about: How The Art of Charm came to be (and how it evolved to be differ from the pick-up artist movement) What kinds of things go on at his intense, 6-day live programs Where his work at the Art of Charm draws from the world of Positive Psychology Why it’s important to seek expertise from the right places and set healthy expectations Why feeling comfortable in your skin is more of a subtractive process than an additive process, and how to go about achieving this Why we need to delegate nonverbal communication to the level of habit, and some actionable tips for doing so (such as his famous “doorway drill”) Why we should be more open to the idea of outgrowing friends, and signs it’s time to let a friend go How all of this relates to the delicate balance of being and becoming, and the risks inherent in not striving to be your most authentic self This episode offers a lot of food for thought around self development and how we can use scientifically-proven techniques to lead happier and more fulfilling lives. Enjoy! Find Jordan at: Instagram Twitter Facebook YouTube Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-podcast/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today I'm glad to welcome Cheryl Einhorn to The Psychology Podcast! Cheryl is the creator of the AREA Method, a decision making system for individuals and companies to solve complex problems. She is also the founder of CSE Consulting and the author of the book Problem Solved, a Powerful System for Making Complex Decisions with Confidence & Conviction. Cheryl teaches as an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School and has won several journalism awards for her investigative stories about international political, business and economic topics. In our conversation she takes us through the philosophy behind her unique perspective taking process for making better decisions as well as through each of the steps: The AREA Method gets its name from the perspectives that it addresses: Absolute, Relative, Exploration & Exploitation and Analysis: A, or Absolute, refers to the perspective of the research target. It is primary, uninfluenced information from the source itself. R, or Relative, refers to the perspective of outsiders around the target. It is secondary information, or information that has been filtered through sources connected to the target. E, or Exploration and Exploitation, are really about the human mind. Exploration is about listening to what other people think and believe. Exploitation is about listening to yourself and examining your own assumptions and judgment. The second A, or Analysis, synthesizes all of these perspectives, processing and interpreting the information you’ve collected. Cheryl also shares stories of the people she encountered along her journey of researching the book and explains a variety of applications of this method. We hope you enjoy this actionable episode, and if you're interested to applying this method to a decision you're struggling with right now, be sure to check out Cheryl's free resources! Links: Problem Solved: A Powerful System for Making Complex Decisions with Confidence and Conviction is available on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Problem-Solved-Decisions-Confidence-Conviction/dp/163265086X/ What Kind of Problem Solver Are You [Quiz] https://app.areamethod.com/ Downloadable "Cheetah Sheets" [Download] http://www.areamethod.com/downloads/ More examples of the AREA method at work [Case Studies] http://www.areamethod.com/area-at-work/ Follow Cheryl on Twitter Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-podcast/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week I’m excited to welcome Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness to The Psychology Podcast. Brad writes for Outside, Runner’s World, NPR and has a column in the Huffington Post about health and the science of human performance. Steve Magness coaches Olympians and marathoners, lectures at St. Mary’s University on Exercise Science, and writes for numerous publications including Wired, Sports Illustrated and NY Magazine on the science of performance. Together they are partners in peak performance, in research, and in writing their latest book Peak Performance: Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout, and Thrive with the New Science of Success. In this conversation, Brad and Steve teach us: Why the word “performance” can be deceiving and how those of us focused on creative endeavors, who may not think of “performance” as an end goal, can benefit from their research, Why both physical and cognitive rest are crucial for world-class performance in our pursuits, in what’s known as the Paradox of Rest (some of you probably know how much I love a good paradox!), How harmonious passion maps onto their ideas about burnout, and how to identify whether a pursuit is rooted in harmonious or obsessive passion, Why Brad and Steve limit themselves to 24-48 hours of celebration or wallowing after identity-validating or identity-challenging events, How to optimize our routines to achieve peak performance, Why transcendence is one of the most underrated characteristics of peak performance. Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-podcast/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

"Power is given, not grabbed.” — Dacher Keltner Today I’m really excited to have Dr. Dacher Keltner join me for his second appearance on The Psychology Podcast! Dacher Keltner is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the faculty director of the UC Berkeley Greater Good Science Center. A renowned expert in the biological and evolutionary origins of human emotion, Dr. Keltner studies the science of compassion, awe, love, and beauty, and how emotions shape our moral intuition. His research interests also span issues of power, status, inequality, and social class. He is the author of the best-selling book Born to Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life and of The Compassionate Instinct. His latest book is The Power Paradox: How We Gain and Lose Influence. In our conversation we discuss several of Dacher’s ideas surrounding power including: The unique definition of power he presents in the book The recent development in power research of the 2 paths to power: Domination, Manipulation, Coercion Status, Respect, Strong Ties The myth of power stereotypes The problems of power The challenges of getting it The difficulties of maintaining it The dangers of becoming addicted to it The Humility pathway of enduring power Links: The Power Paradox is available on Amazon Follow Dacher’s Greater Good Lab on Twitter [Book] Good to Great – Jim Collins (mentioned-“The final stage of leadership is service”) [Book] On Tyranny -Timothy Snyder (mentioned-“People give power to tyrants”) [Book] Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-podcast/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mitch Prinstein, Ph.D. is board certified in clinical child and adolescent psychology, and serves as the John Van Seters Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, and the Director of Clinical Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He and his research have been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, the LA Times, CNN, U.S. News & World Report, TIME magazine, New York magazine, Newsweek, and elsewhere. In his latest book Popular: The Power of Likeability in A Status-Obsessed World, Prinstein examines how our popularity affects our success, our relationships, and our happiness—and why we don’t always want to be the most popular. In our conversation we cover this and more, with key themes being: Why seeking popularity is actually a basic human need, Why it's not always the "conventionally popular" people who fare best, and how this relates to the (2) different strategies for achieving popularity: Likeability Status How studies can help explain both the basic human needs Facebook serves, and the more general status-seeking phenomenon on social media, What it means to induce a "Popularity Boomerang", and how becoming aware of it can fundamentally change the environment you exist in, How your early experiences of popularity (or lack thereof) are probably helping or hindering how you show up in the world today, and if hindering, how you can overcome its effects, Why it's more important the raise likeable kids than you might think, and the parenting implications of popularity research, The likeability advantage. We hope this conversation gives you some insights about popularity that will help you achieve your social, personal, and professional goals. Enjoy! Links: Popular: The Power of Likeability in A Status-Obsessed World is out now https://www.amazon.com/Popular-Power-Likability-Status-Obsessed-World/dp/0399563733/ Read an overview of the book and to take the Popularity Quiz http://www.mitchprinstein.com/books/popular-book/ Follow Mitch on Twitter @mitchprinstein https://twitter.com/mitchprinstein For more information on Mitch or his research visit http://www.mitchprinstein.com/ Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-podcast/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Brendon Burchard, a personal development trainer and #1 bestselling author, shares his inspiring journey from overcoming depression and a life-threatening accident to becoming a leading figure in self-improvement. He discusses transformative habits that distinguish high performers, emphasizing the importance of clarity and energy management. Burchard delves into the significance of saying no for better focus, explores the relationship between perfectionism and narcissism, and encourages listeners to pursue their true identities and live fully.

This week we're delighted to have Gretchen Rubin on The Psychology Podcast! Gretchen is the author of several books, including the blockbuster New York Times bestsellers, Better Than Before, The Happiness Project and Happier at Home. She has an enormous readership, both in print and online, and her books have sold almost three million copies worldwide, in more than thirty languages. On her popular weekly podcast Happier with Gretchen Rubin, she discusses good habits and happiness with her sister Elizabeth Craft; they’ve been called the “Click and Clack of podcasters.” Her podcast was named in iTunes’s lists of “Best Podcasts of 2015” and was named in the Academy of Podcasters “Best Podcasts of 2016". Gretchen's latest book is The Four Tendencies, which is the main focus of this episode's lively discussion and debate. The larger themes of our conversation include: The four tendencies: Upholders, Questioners, Oblidgers, and Questioners; they refer to the different ways each of us responds to internal and external expectations How Gretchen came up with these 4 categories The ways in which each of these 4 categories may be found to correlate with different "Big 5" personality traits The disadvantages of studying discrete types in the world of personality psychology The level of rigor necessary to distinguish a theory from a fully-formed, brand new personality dimension The place for writing that presents theories built on a more observational and experiential notion of truth, as opposed to a rigorously tested truth The ways that knowing your type can help you harness both your own strengths and those of others Links: [Book] The Four Tendencies [Quiz] Take Gretchen's Four Tendencies Quiz [Twitter] Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-podcast/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week we're glad to welcome Maia Szalavitz to the podcast! Maia Szalavitz is one of the premier American journalists covering addiction and drugs. She is a co-author of Born for Love and The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog, as well as a writer for TIME.com, VICE, the New York Times, Scientific American Mind, Elle, Psychology Today and Marie Claire among others. Her latest book is Unbroken Brain, which challenges the idea of the addict's "broken brain" and the simplistic notion of an "addictive personality". The key themes of our conversation include: The personal nature of her book and how emergent science has helped her understand her past Where the brain is and isn't to blame in the rise of addiction in individuals "Addiction is not a sin or a choice. It's also not a chronic brain disease." Why many addictive behaviors are adaptive, and the distinction between an "addiction" and a "dependence" "Traits that we think are useless can be useful in some settings." Why she advocates for a shift from belief-cased addiction treatment (ex. 12-step program) to evidence-based treatment "We all learn to become who we are." We end the conversation with a discussion of what this means to Maia and how we can all benefit from reflecting on this idea in different facets of our lives. Maia offers a paradigm-shifting take on thinking about addiction, and we think you will learn a lot from this episode. Enjoy! Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-podcast/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week we're excited to welcome Dr. Michael Shermer to The Psychology Podcast. Michael is the publisher of Skeptic magazine, a New York Times bestselling author, and a monthly columnist for Scientific American. He has also been a college professor since 1979 and is currently a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University, where he teaches Skepticism 101. In our conversation, Michael sheds light on a smorgasbord of intersections between psychology and skepticism. This episode is also a great primer for those of you who are curious about what it means to think like a skeptic. In this episode we discuss: The core tenants of skepticism The difference between skepticism and cynicism Whether it's possible--in the eyes of a skeptic--to "prove everything" The evidence-based probability that God exists How individual differences in personality (ex. Agreeableness) play a role in one's proclivity for critical inquiry Whether Michael would consider himself a skepticism "guru" How to suspend disbelief when you need to act but don't have all the evidence Michael's interpretation of the free speech discussion in light of recent events The recent conflation of free speech and hate speech Why we might be better off evaluating human problems relatively (as opposed to objectively) The differences between Atheists, humanists, and skeptics Michael's take on topics discussed by futurists (e.g. The singularity, cryogenics) Whether or not he is scared of death The distinction between meaning We wrap up the conversation by connecting the science of flourishing to positive psychology, where we cover the loci of focus that can predictably bring us a sense of purpose, and the distinction between meaning and happiness. Enjoy! Links: Skeptic magazine and other resources on skepticism Michael's blog for Scientific America entitled "Skeptic" Follow Michael Shermer on Twitter You can preorder his new book Heavens on Earth: The Scientific Search for the Afterlife, Immortality & Utopia on Amazon Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-podcast/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week we're excited to have Robert Wright on The Psychology Podcast. Robert is the New York Times best-selling author of Nonzero, The Moral Animal, The Evolution of God, and most recently Why Buddhism is True. He has also written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, Time, Slate, and The New Republic, and has taught at The University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University, where he also created the online course Buddhism and Modern Psychology. Robert draws on his wide-ranging knowledge of science, religion, psychology, history and politics to figure out what makes humanity tick. In this episode we cover: How "taking the red pill" from The Matrix can be likened to the practice of mediation, How and why "our brains evolved to delude us", If and how Buddhism gets you more in touch with "reality", including the bottom-up processes of cognition, Whether or not one can take parts of the practice too far, How Buddhism can be beneficial for seeing beauty where you didn't before, Why our default state of consciousness isn’t necessarily good, How this book might infer that evolutionary psychology is not a complete explanation for many human tendencies, Why many feelings are illusions and how we know when they are, Why it's true that "the more we engage a 'module' the more power it has", Robert's interpretation of what the Buddha really meant by the "non-self", and how this does or does not conflict with one's sense of identity. In our conversation, Robert offers Buddhism as a solution for finding and sustaining happiness, exploring the interplay between Buddhist practices and evolutionary psychology in an unprecedented way. You may also find this episode interesting if you're curious about whether it's possible to see the world "accurately" or whether that's even best for one's well being. Enjoy! Note to Psychology Podcast listeners: This happens to be the 100th episode of The Psychology Podcast. Thank you for your support! It's been a fun journey so far, and we're looking forward to the next 100 episodes! Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-podcast/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.