Psychology

When Prophecy Fails: Analyzing Post-Election, Post-American Grief

One of the many classics in social psychology from the mid-20th century was Leon Festinger’s When Prophecy Fails (1956). The point of the study was to infiltrate a doomsday cult. It was a cult whose leader had declared the world would come to an end on a ...

Article - Alex Durig - Dec 20 2016 - 12:36pm

When They Go Low, We Get High: What 50+ Years of Marijuana Research Tells Us

When I was a college professor, I used to tell my students the normal world is a crazy place. It’s still true. Sometimes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. According to Howard Becker (1963) “an unknown, but probably quite large, number ...

Blog Post - Alex Durig - Dec 18 2016 - 10:20pm

5 Predictions for 2017!

#1. The Democrat Party Will Become the Party of Angry Black People ...

Blog Post - Alex Durig - Dec 29 2016 - 10:10am

Is Emotional Hangover Real?

Everyone has heard of the hangover, it is that sluggish feeling after drinking too much alcohol- A group of psychologists now contend that emotional experiences can induce physiological and internal brain states that persist for long periods of time after ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 27 2016 - 11:22am

Freud Was Right

To be science, there must be a theoretical foundation. What does psychology lack? A theoretical foundation. In fact, the only true theoretical foundation of psychology is widely derided by psychologists and psychiatrists alike, yet much of the world can o ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 4 2017 - 3:12pm

The Social Psychology of Policy Wonks Like Charles “Often-Wrong” Krauthammer

There are several reasons I could never be a political pundit. Much less one of the ilk of Charles Krauthammer, who has earned the respect of everyone, even those who do not like him very much. To be a political pundit of that grade, cast in the mold of K ...

Blog Post - Alex Durig - Jan 9 2017 - 3:27pm

For Healthy Babies, Baby Monitors Have No Benefit

Expectant and new parents are under a great deal of pressure; every action is scrutinized by those around them, and food marketers and activist groups exploit their fear by telling them one food process will lead to higher grades in school while another fo ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 24 2017 - 5:43pm

GONG: What is the Theoretical Foundation for Political Polling? or Can Two People See the Same Mirage?

They say two people can’t see the same mirage. I wonder who the hell started saying that?  ...

Blog Post - Alex Durig - Feb 1 2017 - 11:42am

PhD Accidentally Proves LinkedIn is a Scam, You Must Read This for Yourself

I never meant for it to happen. I had absolutely no idea when I took down my own professional websites nearly a year ago, and when I erased all of my LinkedIn profile, and changed the name on it to Al Smith, 6 months ago, that I was, in fact, executing th ...

Blog Post - Alex Durig - Feb 10 2017 - 12:36am

The Social Psychology Of Morality: Live And Let Die

There is no correct moral theory. All morality is politics. People do not act on the basis of morality. Everybody does everything they do for the most meaningful reason at the time. If an act may be judged as moral, so much the better. But, if an act cann ...

Article - Alex Durig - Mar 1 2017 - 8:40am