5 Ways Gratitude Can Backfire

Gratitude is good. Good for your health and well-being. Good for your relationships. In fact, I've written about the benefits of gratitu...

How to End a Bad Relationship for Good

Sometimes we find ourselves in relationships that make us miserable more than they make us happy, relationships that we know in our hearts a...

4 Ways to Boost Gratitude on Valentine's Day

Today's post is the second in a two-part series on Gratitude. Yesterday I discussed research I've done on how gratitude helps us ho...

To Have and To Thank: Gratitude Helps us Hold onto our Relationships

I n honor of St. Valentine, today's post is the first in a two-part series on why gratitude may be a key ingredient in successful relati...

PYM: Holiday Edition

Looking for your perfect holiday? The holidays are upon us, which can mean family, fun, food, and cheer. But also, stress, anxiety, conflict...

The secret to flourishing? Science says it's in the numbers

Flourishing is in the numbers When it comes to human flourishing, science is getting pretty specific. Over the course of our daily lives, we...

The "Cohabitation Effect": The Consequences of Premarital Cohabitation

Source According to the U.S Census, nearly half of all marriages end in divorce. With such a high rate of divorce, a bit of skepticism and c...

Wedding Bell Blues: Dealing with Post-Wedding Depression

First comes marriage. Then what? You’ve been planning your wedding for months, possibly even years. The big day came, it was magical, and no...

After the Sacrifice: Doing it for the Right Reasons

This is the third in a three-part post on sacrifice in relationships. In   Part I , I talked about the pros and cons of sacrificing for the ...

When "He's Just Not That Into You" Backfires

Source The popular self-help book  He's Just Not That Into You: The No Excuses Truth To Understanding Guys  is intended to empower women...

Is He Worth it? Six Questions to Ask When Sacrificing in Relationships

This is the second in a three-part post on sacrifice in relationships. In Part I , I talked about the pros and cons of sacrificing for the o...

The Pros and Cons of Sacrificing for the Ones We Love

This is the first in a three-part post on sacrifice in relationships. Today, in Part I, I talk about the pros and cons of sacrificing for th...

When Good is Bad and Bad is Good: Beyond "Positive" Psychology

What is the prescription for optimal living? The burgeoning field of positive psychology appears to have many of the answers: We should be ...

It's lonely at the top: Power makes you mistrusting

It's lonely at the top Power is desirable – it helps us achieve goals, frees us from many social constraints, and allows us to be oursel...

Five Classic Psychological Catch-22s

Source Yossarian, the protagonist of Joseph Heller's classic novel,  Catch-22 , wants to be excused from air combat. To be excused, he n...

The Secret to Maintaining Sexual Desire?

How many pennies are in your jar? Soon after I got engaged, a married friend told me about the Penny Game. In this game, a newlywed couple p...

Call Me Crazy: The Subtle Power of Gaslighting

Source Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over, but had me believing it was always something that I'd done,  sings Kim...

How to survive a break-up: Give yourself a break

Source There is no shortage of advice on how to recover from a bad break-up: keep busy, don't contact your ex, go out with friends, make...

Friday Fun: The Ryan Gosling Obsession

Source When Bradley Cooper was named People Magazine's Sexist Man Alive this year, angry protesters swarmed People's headquarters (...

Two ways to right: The perils of naive realism

In honor of PYM's 1-year anniversary last week, I'm re-posting my very first post for PYM today. I also wanted to re-post it becau...