Psychology Today

Postelection, many Americans are stressed, especially people fearing increased interpersonal and institutional discrimination. How can we effectively cope?

Your back pain carries some important messages. Maybe it's time to listen.

Stanford University student Brock Turner sexually assaulted an unconscious woman and blamed college culture. The case highlights the important role of bystander intervention.

International Women's Day is a good time to celebrate and support gender equality efforts. It's also a time to dedicate to addressing gender inequality in our own countries.

Burdened by holiday gift-giving? Tempted to reel it in? Maybe that doesn't make you a Grinch but a post-materialistic trendsetter that understands healthy and sustainable giving.

Is a friend or relative in an abusive intimate relationship? How can you best help?

Work-life balance impacts individuals, families, organizations, and even our democracy. How’s your work-life balance? Are you satisfied with your ability to meet work and nonwork role demands? What can you do to achieve a better balance? What can and should organizations do?

Recent media reports of two studies on college sexual assault perpetrators distort the findings and their implications. What do these studies really tell us about college men's willingness to sexually assault and about the focus of sexual assault prevention programming?

Worry over breast cancer screenings is common, especially for high-risk women with personal or family histories of breast cancer, and those that are called back for more tests. But breast cancer screening anxiety is understudied and overlooked, especially given how many women it affects.

Providing loans, housing, or jobs to friends or relatives is risky business, fraught with potential conflict. Here's what you need to know to manage these risky dual relationships.

Gifts are wrapped with wrapping paper and with symbolic social meaning. While the right gift says, “I really know you and love you,” the wrong gift can hurt our social image and aggravate relationship problems. But some gift givers worry a bit too much about what others will think of them and their holiday gifts and they get themselves into an unnecessary gift giver tizzy.

Procrastination is common but varied in its causes and whether it's healthy or unhealthy.

Psychologist Morton Deutsch likened destructive conflicts to malignant tumors; growing out of control and enmeshing participants in a web of hostile interactions and defensive maneuvers that make them feel less secure, more vulnerable, and more burdened. Understanding these common conflict dynamics can help reduce destructive conflict.

Hope and optimism promote the positive illusions that can promote good mental health. But in the case of climate change, unrealistic or blind optimism can prevent needed action as people optimistically assume that technological and political solutions will save the day. “Optimistic realism” is needed so we heed warnings and take personal action.