When Studies Become Stories - Paperback

by Nina Mack (Author)

Every day, you hear things about how your mind works.

It takes 21 days to form a habit. You have a love language. Power poses can change your hormones. Your attachment style shapes your relationships. Dopamine is your brain's pleasure chemical.

Some of this is true. Some of it is partly true. Some of it was never backed by real evidence.

The problem is, it all sounds convincing.

When Studies Become Stories examines 89 of the most widely shared ideas in popular psychology and gives each one a straight verdict:

• Has Evidence
• Overstated
• Oversimplified
• No Evidence

Covering topics including relationships, memory, learning, personality, motivation, decision-making, trauma, emotions, and the brain - it explains what the studies actually show, where the popular version goes wrong, and what a more accurate version looks like.

Written in easy-to-digest, accessible language, this is psychology in plain terms. When you finish reading this book, you will be able to:

recognise which popular psychology ideas are genuinely supported by evidence and which are not

• Spot where research has been exaggerated, simplified, or misrepresented
• Think more critically about self-help advice, viral psychology content, and behaviour
• Explain common psychological concepts more accurately and with greater nuance
• Make better sense of the gap between scientific research and pop psychology

If you have ever heard a psychology "fact" and wondered whether it was actually true, this book is for you.

Includes additional chapters examining some of the most controversial psychology claims.