Psychology

Some people, consciously or subconsciously, often have attitudes that can be hurtful to others. These can range from derogatory gestures and constant criticism to ironic comments, name-calling, and disapproval. These are all forms of behavior that don’t really have a positive impact on our well-being. However, while we can’t prevent others from acting this way, the way we react when these things happen can make a difference.

If you are not very sure if a person is fond of you or not, and you can’t ask them directly, we will give you some tips. Pay very close attention to the way somebody talks to you or the gestures they make. For example, if they purse their lips while talking, this may show a feeling of discomfort or anxiety.

The demand for the services of psychotherapists keeps growing every year. Alas, not each person is lucky enough to be born with parents who resemble the characters of a book about a happy family. Sometimes mothers and fathers criticize and mock their children, ignore them, or compare them with other siblings.

With the intention of having some kind of benefit or control over others in their surroundings, some people are capable of emotionally manipulating their peers. Most often they will use dishonest or exploitative strategies that you should try to avoid at all costs so you don’t get tangled up in their issues. Of course, keep in mind that in some way, we can all be somewhat manipulative. However, if it is something that we notice starts happening all the time, we should be attentive and handle things carefully to avoid being hurt and to stop encouraging this type of situation in our environment.

Childhood, a time when we’re taken care of as fragile and vulnerable people is quite different than adulthood. As adults, we begin to follow a new set of rules and understand over time that we’re interesting to ourselves only. There’s no one to push us toward success, give us their shoulder to cry on, or praise us when we’ve done something good. And ultimately, there are always going to be people who are smarter, better, and more attractive than us.

For many years, our parents and grandparents have lived by a set of rules that were considered normal. “Get married when you’re 20 years old,” “That’s not for men,” “Boys don’t cry” — how many times have we heard something like this? But life goes on, the times are changing, and now we see many things from a different angle.

Double standards mean applying the same rule or situation differently to one group of people than to another. Perhaps the most wide-spread double standards can be seen in gender-related matters but are also there in every other sphere of our lives. The most surprising thing is that oftentimes we ourselves apply those standards to the people surrounding us and don’t even notice it.

Recognizing a narcissistic person can be easy since they usually give us the signs for this. But what happens if we suddenly start noticing these signs in our children? Could parents be the main people responsible for raising new generations of potential narcissists? According to a study, it’s in one’s upbringing that we can find the origin of a person’s narcissism.

We tend to think that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But, as a study suggests, this isn’t necessarily true. In fact, the truth is somewhere in the middle. Standards of attractiveness are, indeed, broadly shared, however, our personal preferences play quite a big role too.

If someone calls you selfish, it may not feel like a compliment. But this feature of your character can actually make you a better person, psychology experts say. Psychologists claim it’s in our nature to think and care about our own needs first. This instinct has developed a bad reputation, however, and has become the source of negative emotions, like fear and blame.

We all have to apologize and accept apologies in awkward situations from time to time. However, sometimes apologies aren’t as sincere as we tend to think they are. Saying sorry and not really meaning it is the same as lying. And when someone makes the statement, “I’m sorry,” but doesn’t take responsibility for their misdeed, it’s called a “non-apology apology.”

The difference between men and women does exist but it’s not as big as it’s believed to be. And, of course, these differences are no reason to say that one of the sexes is better than the other. In most cases, gender prejudice is related to women, but men also suffer from discrimination. Saying that “boys don’t cry” is just one example of toxic masculinity — a set of rules for men that continually prevents them from living life to the fullest.

Images are a great way for psychologists to find out about your personality and subconscious. But it depends on what you spot first when looking at an illustration. Specifically, this psychological test will tell you about your unconscious fears and what triggers them.

Bright Side took the liberty to draw funny and honest comics about the differences between men and women. And yes, we’ve got our peculiarities, but remember, the main thing is that even though we’re different, we just can’t live without one another.

We’ve all had moments where we wished we could read what others were thinking, pretending we were superheroes that could read minds. But what if we told you that you can actually read people just by observing their body language?Despite the power of words, sometimes they can be translated differently with the wrong body movements or gestures. Yet, most of our body language is connected to our subconscious mind, and we find ourselves doing things that come out so naturally, we only realize it after doing it.

Humankind has been trying to solve the mystery of dreams for as long as they’ve existed. Today there is even a special discipline in the study of dreams called oneirology. Those who prefer the esoteric side of things over science love to interpret their dreams according to various dream books and believe that they can predict the future. But psychologists think that dreams accurately reflect our current condition and that our subconscious tries to tell us something important via dreams from time to time.

There are some phrases that people use as guidelines in their lives. But very often, our experience tells us that they are not really true. Of course, phrases like, “Looks don’t matter,” or “If you tell me the truth you won’t get into trouble,” are partially true, but there are a lot of nuances.

It’s important to have good relationships with people because social connections are a big part of life. However, the time spent on building a relationship doesn’t always bring positive results. If you notice that you spend more and more time worrying about other people’s opinions, it’s a good time to stop and think.

Beauty and intelligence are unrelated. But some people can unknowingly be influenced by the “halo effect,” a bias that lends good-looking people positive traits, like being smarter or more agreeable. However, appearance does have any meaning in terms of personality — it’s all in the face, morphologically speaking.

Regardless of the conversation, people can’t always control the messages their bodies convey. Understanding body language basics can help you identify significant behavioral red flags before putting time and effort into social interaction. After reading our article, you’ll finally discover if that lovely neighbor next door is truly as sweet as they seem to be.

It goes without saying that you need to find a unique approach to raising every child, but there are some common golden rules that will help you connect with even the most disobedient kid. Paul Raeburn and Kevin Zollman in their work "The Theory of Games for Parents" argue that the classic strategy of game theory will help teach children to come to fair agreements on their own, make them more obedient, and help them to build friendly relationships with their parents.

In accordance with this study, only 50% of those people who we consider our friends think the same thing in return. These people may spend time with us because they want to get something from us or they think that having a lot of friends is good for their image. But even if your friendship began with mutual interest this might change to something completely different in time. Of course, misunderstandings and fights can happen even between the dearest of friends, but if these relationships make you feel uncomfortable on a regular basis and often upset you, maybe it’s time to think about whether or not you need to continue them.

There are some difficult life problems that we wish we had special magical buttons to help solve. Unfortunately, there is no such thing. But some psychological tricks can help you deal with difficulties, fix your relationships with other people, and find peace of mind.

All of us have probably experienced situations where we’ve entered a grocery store to buy bread and left with bags full of different foods. And we’re lucky if bread was among those foods, otherwise, we had to go back to the store again. Why does this happen?