User:Druss321/Popular psychology

Psychobabble[edit]
Some terms that have an origin in psychological terminology and are typically misused include co-dependent, dysfunctional, meaningful relationship, narcissistic, antisocial, traumatic bonding, synergy, and gaslighting

Pop psychologists[edit]
If you are wondering if a person is a pop psychologist, ask yourself these questions: 

'''Some people who fit these qualifications are people that do have credentials in the field of psychology. For example, Melanie Joy, PhD, retired from teaching to become a full time writer and public speaker. She has published several books about veganism which promotes her theory of "Carnism" , which points out the cognitive dissonance of treating some animals with more respect than others, despite all animals being able to feel emotion. Although cognitive dissonance is a subject with scientific validity , because Dr. Joy does not use research as a basis for her argument, the books are arguably an example of pop psychology. This is in contrast to how Charles Henry Turner used the scientific method to suggest that some animals can have sentience.'''
 * Is the scientific method being used to support their claim?
 * Has this person ever done an experiment involving what they are discussing?
 * What qualifications does this person have that makes them a trustworthy choice?

Some other figures characterized at varying times as exponents of pop psychology include:


 * Werner Erhard
 * Phil McGraw ("Dr. Phil")
 * Malcolm Gladwell
 * Jordan Peterson

Types[edit]
Popular psychology commonly takes the form of:


 * self-help books, for example The Road Less Travelled, by M. Scott Peck or 12 Rules for Life, by Jordan Peterson;

Current status of popular psychology
In his Presidential Address to the APA in 1969, George Armitage Miller was hopeful for psychology's future stating, "that the real impact of psychology will be felt, ... through its effects on the public at large, through a new and different public conception of what is humanly possible and what is humanly desirable." (19)

'''Current events influence the popularity of areas in psychology. During 2020 and 2021 many of the most popular psychology articles were about COVID-19 and even Zoom fatigue. The APA's most downloaded journal articles frequently include research about social media. Social media frequently spreads misinformation about health , and this could extend to mental health misinformation. Psychobabble can be used on social media to spread this misinformation. However, social media can be a place where pop psychology is used to spread mental health awareness.'''

Peer Review Changes
Camille: Fixed grammar on bullet points. Added hyperlinks throughout (didn't realize it was that easy to do). Added a section for positive psychology to see what I can find later. I added citations to my bibliography.

Bryanna: I don't see much of a need to edit the lead. I think clarifying that people with psychology degrees can still be pop psychologists would be a good addition to the lead, but I already go into that in the pop psychologists section. I cited a paper from the 50's because it is the classic example of cognitive dissonance and used the scientific method to make a point about the human psyche. I will try to add more about the current statues of pop psychology. I think adding the Charles Henry Turner experiment would be great for representing a scientist that many people are uninformed about. Only thing I would be worried about is that it would make my paragraph about Dr. Joy a little overbearing. Grammatical errors fixed.