Is being single a happier experience for women or men?
More people than ever are going solo. We identified a gender difference that hints at the ingredients needed to enjoy it
by Elaine Hoan & Geoff MacDonald
Ideas
Expert insights, perspectives and provocations to stimulate your mind
African proverbs provide the blueprint for a meaningful life
Incorporating ancient African wisdom into wellbeing interventions could push positive psychology beyond its Western roots
by Richard Appiah
Why our flawed, flexible memories come with social benefits
Though relationships are grounded in shared memories, some gaps and inaccuracies can help us live well in a social world
by Gillian Murphy & Ciara Greene
Perhaps the weirdest experience you’ll have sober, what exactly is déjà vu?
Video by BBC Ideas
Popular
For a happier life, we must balance two old psychological needs
Personal autonomy is abundant in the modern world. As a result, many of us get what we want but not what we need
by William von Hippel
What if your worry problem is really a planning problem?
Clinicians have long recognised the link between worry and planning. New research asks what this means for managing anxiety
by Paul B Sharp
Why do beautiful people also seem smart and likeable?
Psychologists have known about the ‘halo effect’ for ages. New research suggests the power of language can help explain it
by Chris F Westbury & Daniel King
When memories from fiction become part of who you are
Scenes from books, movies and games sometimes carry as much weight as events from people’s own lives. We’re finding out why
by Osman Görkem Çetin
How do we start learning to ‘read’ other people’s minds?
Studies of young children give us insight into the building blocks of an ability that most of us use every day
by Josephine Ross & Martin Doherty
Equanimity is not stillness – it is a mobility of the mind
To grasp the power of this lauded quality, think of it less as a mountain than as a flexible, even playful way of seeing
by Michael Uebel
There’s no good reason to love each other – and that’s a relief
Loving is an unreasonable decision (we are all extremely unpleasant little beasts) and that’s what allows it to survive
by John Kaag
We can live well, even though we don’t have a higher purpose
The novelist and poet Ursula K Le Guin shows we can reject nihilism and naive optimism by practising our collective freedom
by Alexis Shotwell
Popular
View allFor a happier life, we must balance two old psychological needs
Personal autonomy is abundant in the modern world. As a result, many of us get what we want but not what we need
by William von Hippel
What if your worry problem is really a planning problem?
Clinicians have long recognised the link between worry and planning. New research asks what this means for managing anxiety
by Paul B Sharp
Why do beautiful people also seem smart and likeable?
Psychologists have known about the ‘halo effect’ for ages. New research suggests the power of language can help explain it
by Chris F Westbury & Daniel King
How do transgender people remember their earlier selves?
Research with transgender people sheds light on the memory processes that allow any of us to navigate periods of change
by Caleb Schlaupitz
When memories from fiction become part of who you are
Scenes from books, movies and games sometimes carry as much weight as events from people’s own lives. We’re finding out why
by Osman Görkem Çetin
I was sceptical about breathwork so I did my own research
Breathwork changed my life, but I heard the sceptics. Several studies later, I’m more convinced than ever of its benefits
by Guy W Fincham
We can live well, even though we don’t have a higher purpose
The novelist and poet Ursula K Le Guin shows we can reject nihilism and naive optimism by practising our collective freedom
by Alexis Shotwell
There are three lenses through which to weigh any decision
Whether an act seems ‘good’ depends on how you look at it. Brain research reveals what happens when the lens changes
by Clara Pretus & Jay Van Bavel
These lessons in scepticism could make the world a better place
In our age of certainty and dogma, we would all do well to learn from the philosophy of the ancient Greco-Roman sceptics
by Massimo Pigliucci
Why do beautiful people also seem smart and likeable?
Psychologists have known about the ‘halo effect’ for ages. New research suggests the power of language can help explain it
by Chris F Westbury & Daniel King
Is modern asceticism about conformity or quiet revolution?
From detoxes to slow food, today’s asceticism is often about fitting in. But we can rediscover its transformative power
by Iryna Mykhailova
Metaphors open up our minds – but can also shut them down
The best analogies in poetry and science really crackle, but when do they expand our thinking and when do they constrain it?
by Claire O’Callaghan
The history of family offers a liberating view of custom and love
Chronicling the families of the past shows just how much family values, feelings and decision-making can morph over time
by Katie Barclay
Before it was ‘bittersweet’, nostalgia was seen as a parasite
Early modern ideas about nostalgia, infused with the elements of horror, invite us to think more deeply about human longing
by Jac Lewis
Psychedelics are philosophical tools for demolishing assumptions
By shaking up our sense of how things are, substances like LSD or psilocybin have the potential to promote deep learning
by David J Blacker
Why it matters that trauma affects women and men differently
They are too often ignored, yet sex differences affect the kind of trauma people experience and the effect it has on them
by Klára Hanáková
Equanimity is not stillness – it is a mobility of the mind
To grasp the power of this lauded quality, think of it less as a mountain than as a flexible, even playful way of seeing
by Michael Uebel
Why we should think of neurodiversity like we do personality
It’s a mistake to frame autistic and ADHD traits as either deficits or mere differences. There’s another way to see them
by Joshua May
There is knowledge in the land as well as in ourselves
Indigenous Australian knowledge systems understand what Descartes didn’t – the natural world has important things to tell us
by Andrew Kirkpatrick