“Do your best” is not enough: what goal-setting theory says
If we want to turn a wish into reality, the way we frame the goal matters. Hundreds of studies show that “do your best” often achieves less than a clear goal.
Mind
How we think, what we believe, and how thoughts shape our actions.
35 articles
Meeting your future self: how visualising age changes today’s decisions
When people saw an image of themselves as old, they chose to save more for the future. This shows something important about how we think of ourselves twenty years from now.
When “think positive” does not help: the value of accepting difficult feelings
People who accept their negative feelings without judging them report, in studies, fewer negative emotions and more well-being. This seems paradoxical, but it has a simple logic.
Optimism and the heart: what a meta-analysis of 230,000 people found
More optimistic people had a lower risk of heart disease and of death during the study period. But what does this mean, and what does it not mean?
Why one bad word weighs more than ten good ones
One criticism stays in our mind for days, while praise is quickly forgotten. This is not a personal weakness. It is a well-known tendency of the human mind.
The anchoring effect: how a random number influences our judgements
Participants who saw the number 65 on a wheel of fortune gave higher estimates than those who saw 10. The number had nothing to do with the question. This is the anchoring effect.
One dollar or twenty: cognitive dissonance and how we justify ourselves
When we do something that does not fit what we believe, we feel an unpleasant tension. Often we do not change the action; we change the belief. A classic experiment showed this.
“They will find out I know nothing”: the impostor phenomenon
Many capable people feel that their success is luck and that one day others will realise they do not deserve their place. Psychologists call this the impostor phenomenon.
The nocebo effect: when expecting harm makes us feel unwell
If we expect a drug to give us a headache or tiredness, we often feel them, even when the drug contains no active substance. This is the nocebo effect.
Don’t think of a white bear: why the thoughts we suppress come back
When we try hard not to think about something, we often think about it more. A simple experiment with a white bear showed this clearly.
Self-efficacy: the belief that “I can do this”, and how it is built
Confidence is not a general feeling that you either have or do not have. According to the psychologist Albert Bandura, it is a belief tied to specific tasks, and it is built from experience.
The placebo effect: what expectation can do, and what it cannot
A sugar pill does not cure a disease. But it can change how we experience pain or fatigue. It is one of the clearest pieces of evidence for the link between mind and body.