Life stages
Personality
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There’s a reason some of us find it easier to change than others
There is a personality trait we carry throughout life that explains why some of us find it easier to change than others
by Amanda J Wright
Love
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Working, flirting and sex: courtship in 18th-century France
Flirting, sex and affection: working-class couples courting in 18th-century France show they are not so different from today
by Julie Hardwick
Sex and sexuality
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Human bodies change through life. So does our sexuality
Sexual identity is more than sexual orientation. It develops and changes as our bodies develop and change through our lives
by Jana Byars
Meaning and the good life
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The immortalists have got it wrong – here’s why we need death
The immortalists say beating death will lead to peace. But what if mortality is our bittersweet path to love and harmony?
by Susan Cain
Death and dying
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I thought I knew everything about death. Then grief struck me
Even though I grew up in Death World, and still live there, it couldn’t prepare me for being my family’s sole survivor
by John Troyer
Ageing
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Older people are battling despair, but Erikson offers us hope
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a mental toll on older people. The psychoanalyst Erik Erikson offers a way out of our despair
by Jane Adams
Pleasures and pastimes
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On the consolatory pleasure of jigsaws when the world is in bits
It’s not memory that makes us human but meaning-making. When life falls apart, jigsaw puzzles help us put some pieces back
by Melanie McGrath
Life stages
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Quit the millennial bashing – generationalism is bad science
‘Boomer’ and ‘Gen Z’ seem like handy ways of sorting people, but they are more cultural creations than natural phenomena
by Cort W Rudolph
The self
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In the chaos of raising a toddler there lies a path to nirvana
Toddler nirvana: facing the storms and challenges of raising a child can help you transcend your self and live in the moment
by Kurt Gray
Caregiving
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We need to address society’s unrealistic view of caregivers
Measured against the figure of the strong carer, I felt I came up shamefully short – I was vulnerable, too
by Joanne Limburg
Nature and the environment
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A vast, thrilling world of nature unfolds outside of human time
Human life might stretch over decades, but the lifespans of many other organisms on this pale blue dot leave us in the dust
by Nicholas P Money
Life stages
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Legal definitions aside – what makes you think you’re an adult?
Achieving adult status is a momentous part of life. Our research suggests getting there takes more than years or milestones
by Megan Wright