David Rosenhan’s “On Being Sane in Insane Places” study, published in 1973, is a seminal investigation in the field of psychology that questioned the validity of psychiatric diagnoses. The study involved eight “pseudo patients,” including Rosenhan himself, who feigned auditory hallucinations to gain admission to various psychiatric hospitals. Despite displaying […]
Nominative Determinism is a fascinating hypothesis suggesting that people are more likely to choose professions that are fitting or similar to their names. This concept, which straddles the line between coincidence and psychological inclination, posits that the name given to a person at birth can influence their life choices, career […]
The Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE) is a central concept in social psychology that describes the tendency for people to overemphasize personality-based explanations for behaviours observed in others while underestimating the influence of situational factors. This cognitive bias leads individuals to attribute others’ actions to their character or disposition rather than […]
The Big Five personality traits model is one of the most widely accepted frameworks for understanding human personality. It posits that there are five main dimensions of personality, each representing a range between two extremes. These five factors, often remembered by the acronym OCEAN, are Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and […]
The Lake Wobegon Effect, named after the fictional town in Garrison Keillor’s radio show “A Prairie Home Companion” where “all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average,” refers to a cognitive bias in which individuals overestimate their own abilities, qualities, or […]
The psychology theory “Follow the Leader” can be intricately connected to the works of Henri Tajfel and Michael Hogg, particularly through the lens of social identity and leadership in groups. Henri Tajfel’s Social Identity Theory (SIT) provides a foundational framework for understanding how individuals categorize themselves and others into various […]
Stereotype threat is a psychological theory that explores the risk of conforming to stereotypes about one’s social group. This concept was first introduced by social psychologists Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson in 1995. According to their research, when individuals are aware of a negative stereotype about their group, this awareness […]
Stanley Milgram’s Obedience Study, conducted in the early 1960s at Yale University, is a foundational experiment in social psychology that sought to understand the extent to which individuals would follow orders from an authority figure, even when those orders could harm another person. Motivated by the atrocities of World War […]
Zimbardo’s Prison Theory – Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment, conducted in 1971, stands as one of the most notable demonstrations in social psychology, vividly illustrating the power of situational forces and social roles on human behaviour. This experiment aimed to investigate the psychological effects of perceived power, focusing on the […]
Gordon Allport’s Contact Hypothesis, introduced in his 1954 book “The Nature of Prejudice,” is a foundational concept in social psychology that addresses how intergroup contact can reduce prejudice between members of different groups. According to the hypothesis, under certain conditions, direct contact between members of opposing groups can effectively decrease […]
