Aditya Shukla

Pro-Environmental Behavior: Herd Mentality Motivates, Money Does Not

November 8, 2019July 18, 2019 by Aditya Shukla

Herd mentality and Intrinsic motivation promotes pro-environmental behavior change

There are several ways to influence and persuade people, but this post will only focus on persuasion and motivation for adopting pro-environmental behaviors. Environmental awareness is one part of the solution. The other part is motivating people to adopt behaviors that help conserve, preserve, and sustain the environment. How can psychologists help in promoting these …

7 Proven and Practical Emotional Regulation Skills & Techniques [How-To]

October 10, 2019July 16, 2019 by Aditya Shukla

We all experience emotions with a huge subjective component. Most of us can recognize the emotions we experience, and sometimes we don’t know what to do with them. Whether it is trauma, a bad day, a terrible event, uncontrolled anger, pent-up stress, or unadulterated anxiety and sadness, emotions and thoughts manifest in ways we don’t …

The Einstellung Effect: Why Experts Lack Creativity And Problem Solving Skills

July 25, 2019July 12, 2019 by Aditya Shukla

Einstellung effect - Learn to utilize resources correctly to increase productivity

Speaking anecdotally, have you ever had an interaction with a professional who has a vast amount of experience but ultimately failed to offer a smart and creative solution? One possibility is that the expert really wasn’t an expert and genuinely lacked problem-solving skills. The other possibility is that you experienced the Einstellung Effect; also known …

Is Yoga An Effective Form Of Treatment For Depression? Recent Research Reviews Give A Resounding Yes.

July 24, 2019June 25, 2019 by Aditya Shukla

All forms of Yoga work for reducing depressive symptoms

Yoga is quite a popular choice when it comes to improving the quality of life, coping with mental health issues, and increasing the amount of daily physical activity. But is this popularity founded in scientific evidence? Most research reviews, today, conclude that Yoga has a generally positive influence on the mind and body – as …

Third Person Self-Talk Is An Effective Way To Reduce Anxiety And Regulate Emotions – Insights From The Construal Level Theory

July 24, 2019June 21, 2019 by Aditya Shukla

Third person self-talk is a powerful way to regulate emotions and reduce anxiety

Research shows that self-talk, when done in 3rd person, can be an effective method of emotional self-regulation which can reduce anxiety. It provides the necessary psychological distance between the self and anxiety-inducing contexts. This also helps when you are thinking about negative events and ruminating anxiety-ridden thoughts. This psychological distance allows a person to reflect …

Biophilia: Sensory Contact With Nature Can Improve Your Overall Well-being & Mental Health

July 24, 2019May 13, 2019 by Aditya Shukla

Humans love nature and connecting with nature improves wellbeing

Do you like it when you are surrounded by nature? Do you have a primeval desire to connect with nature? Most of us would answer that with a resounding YES. There is a term for that. Biophilia: The innate tendency of humans to connect with nature and other lifeforms. An exciting hypothesis emerged in 1984 …

You Procrastinate Because Of Emotions, Not Laziness. Regulate Them To Stop Procrastinating!

November 19, 2019May 4, 2019 by Aditya Shukla

I am so stressed that relaxing makes me more stressed because I am not working on what's making me stressed

There are two trains of thought – One leads to procrastination and one leads to motivation. And somewhere in between, there is a junction called anxiety. Let’s first look at the procrastination train of thought (at least that’s going somewhere, amirite?). People often think procrastination is about time management, laziness, or a weak will but …

The Worst and The Best Study Tips & Habits based on Psychological Research [How-To]

October 9, 2019April 19, 2019 by Aditya Shukla

The best and worst study techniques, study tips, and skills

I’m going to keep this post crisp and crunchy. We’ll first begin with the worst study habits and then move toward the best study habits & tips. What we are about to look at is thoroughly supported by scientific research. TL;DR at the end. I’m writing this post after studying over 250 research papers. I …

The Beautiful Science of Ugliness Reveals Ugly Truths About How we Judge Others

October 15, 2019March 28, 2019 by Aditya Shukla

Am I ugly like gollum? The psychology of beauty ideals and standards

This is a long article with tonnes of research and explanations for factors related to the concept of ugly. I have detailed research insights on ugliness, beauty standards, our perception of beauty, and the concept of attractiveness. Oh, and I have a special message for you at the end. Scroll all the way to the …

Psychophysics: Sensory and Perceptual Limits. The Human Umwelt

July 24, 2019March 21, 2019 by Aditya Shukla

Human umwelt psychophysical limits of our reality

Psychophysics – Sounds cool right? It is. It really is cool. I am not overstating when I say that psychophysics is associated with our very existence. The human body has about 10 sensory systems which send in information to the central nervous system (brain and its neural extensions). Psychophysics deals with the very core of …

The Social Psychology Of Heavy Metal & Rock Music: Research On Metalheads

October 19, 2019March 10, 2019 by Aditya Shukla

Picture this: A bunch of unique looking headbanging people listening to heavy music; entering a whirlpool of human collision in front of their favorite artist; raising their fists in the air; raising the devil’s horns \m/. What is that all about? Who are they? These are the metalheads. What is their psychology? We are going …

You Can Mentally Slow Down Time To Savor The Moment. Brain Time Dilation Is A Thing.

November 1, 2019March 6, 2019 by Aditya Shukla

How to slow down time to make a moment last longer

The brain experiences ‘time’ very differently compared to how it experiences information from other senses. It is actually possible to savor a moment deliberately and slow down time so you can enjoy it as much as you’d like. Time is a variable- not in a physical sense; not in a metaphysical sense – in a …