Goals and motivation
Civic life
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You want people to do the right thing? Save them the guilt trip
If you want to inspire people to do the right thing, don’t guilt-trip them. Positive emotions are a more powerful motivator
by Claudia R Schneider
Goals and motivation
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To meet your goals, forget willpower and fill your toolbox
Achieving your goals has nothing to do with willpower and everything to do with using the right mix of psychological tools
by Marina Milyavskaya
Thinking and intelligence
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When a tricky task makes your brain hurt, here’s what to do
Although thinking hard is a daily experience, psychologists are only just beginning to understand how aversive it can be
by Todd Vogel
Emotion regulation
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Wish you had more self-control? You should hear the downsides
Many people wish they had the advantages of more self-control. But fewer know that the trait can be costly, too
by Samantha Lapka & Franki Kung
Emotion regulation
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Hope is the antidote to helplessness. Here’s how to cultivate it
If hopelessness is learned, then it can be unlearned: how groundbreaking studies paved the way to help cultivate hope
by Emily Esfahani Smith
Goals and motivation
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A commitment is different from a goal – here’s why that matters
Whatever your aims in life, the words you use matter. Here’s an important distinction that will help you stay on track
by Justin Kompf
Freedom and choice
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The three reasons why it’s good for you to believe in free will
Regardless of whether humans do or don’t have free will, psychological research shows it’s beneficial to act as if you do
by Kennon Sheldon
Civic life
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We are all caught in a pessimism trap but there is a way out
When the world is going to hell in a handcart, it’s easy to fall into the pessimism trap. But it’s not the right thing to do
by Jennifer M Morton
Goals and motivation
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Facing a tedious to-do list? This trick could make it easier
The ‘easy addendum effect’: how careful timing of your easier tasks could help you feel better at the end of the day
by Shayla Love
Psychotherapy
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Getting what we think we want can reveal just how complex desire is
Helping my clients probe their unspoken wants creates a space of freedom to express the possibilities that lie dormant
by Charlotte Fox Weber
Goals and motivation
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Why some teams boost motivation while others totally sap it
Working in a team can inspire striving – or encourage free-riding. What makes a difference is how the teamwork is designed
by Ann-Kathrin Torka, Jens Mazei & Joachim Hüffmeier
Meaning and the good life
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Our age of crises needs Bollnow’s philosophy of hope
What if life crises are not pitfalls en route to Maslow’s self-actualisation but hopeful new beginnings, as Bollnow argued?
by Norm Friesen