The Psychology of Us

It began as a light moment in class on Halloween morning. Students were chatting about their plans—costumes, haunted houses, parties—when one young woman casually said she always puts up her Christmas tree that night. She doe...

We live in a time when being “authentic” has become its own kind of performance. In this lecture, Professor RJ Starr explores how the modern self is shaped by imitation, validation, and attention — and what psychology reveals...

In a world that rewards immediacy, restraint has become an endangered virtue. Every platform encourages reaction, every moment invites commentary, and silence has started to feel like weakness. But what if the real measure of...

Self-righteousness is one of those habits of mind that can feel powerful in the moment but quietly corrodes everything around it. The conviction that one’s own perspective is morally superior doesn’t just close doors to dialo...

Mean world syndrome is the belief that the world is more dangerous than it is, shaped by fear-saturated media. In this episode, Professor RJ Starr explains the psychology behind this distortion: cultivation theory, availabili...

Interruptions might seem like small conversational slip-ups, but they reveal far more than we think. In this episode, Professor RJ Starr unpacks the psychology of interruptions: how they function as power moves, how they aris...