Human Potential Lab

The process of being happy has become painfully comically neurotic" - Ruth Whippman

This week I am delighted to welcome Ruth Whippman to The Psychology Podcast. Ruth is the author of America the Anxious: How Our Pursuit of Happiness is Creating a Nation of Nervous Wrecks. The book has been covered by New York Magazine, The New York Times, The New York Post, The Washington Post, and VICE, among others.

Today we bring to you spirited discussion topics such as:

• The cultural differences between America and Britain regarding attitudes about happiness (Ruth moved from London to California 6 years ago with her husband and 2 young sons).
• Dosage effects of positive interventions—Is it useful to try to feel good all the time?

Enjoy, and if you have thoughts on the episode be sure to leave a comment below!

Links:

You can find Ruth's book America the Anxious: How Our Pursuit of Happiness is Creating a Nation of Nervous Wrecks on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/America-Anxious-Pursuit-Happiness-Creating/dp/1250071526 [Book]

Follow Ruth on Twitter @ruthwhippman

http://twitter.com/ruthwhippman

Bob Emmons on the Power of Gratitude:

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/video/item/the_power_of_gratitude [Video]

http://scottbarrykaufman.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Emmons-paper-for-Gratitude-Complaint-consultation-September-2017.pdf [Paper]

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"Life is full of lessons, and 'playing the hand you're dealt as well as you can play it' is a good one." -- Elliot Aronson

Today I'm incredibly excited to welcome the legendary Elliot Aronson to The Psychology Podcast. Aronson is an eminent social psychologist who is best known for his groundbreaking experiments on the theory of cognitive dissonance and for his invention of the Jigsaw Classroom, a highly effective cooperative teaching technique which facilitates learning while reducing interethnic hostility and prejudice. He is the only person in the 120-year history of the American Psychological Association to have won all three of its major awards: for writing, for teaching, and for research, and in 2007 he received the William James Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Association for Psychological Science, in which he was cited as the scientist who "fundamentally changed the way we look at everyday life.”

Over the course of our in-depth and wide-ranging discussion, Aronson:

• Shares stories and key lessons from his famous mentors–Abraham Maslow and Leon Festinger–and how each of the two altered the course of his life,
• Illuminates with examples some of his most fascinating findings in the field of Social Psychology,
• Offers his take on the replication crisis and on what he calls the "TED-ification" of Psychology,
• Imparts on us wisdom he's gathered not just as a researcher and psychologist but also as a father and brother.

It was a pleasure to have a legend in the field on the show for such a comprehensive conversation, filled with stories and lessons. Enjoy!

Links:

Elliot Aronson's memoir, Not By Chance Alone: My Life as a Social Psychologist, is available on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Not-Chance-Alone-Social-Psychologist/dp/0465031390 [Book]

To learn more about Aronson's highly effective Jigsaw Classroom (from outcomes to implementation) visit https://www.jigsaw.org/ [Resource]

The Social Animal - Through vivid narrative, lively presentations of important research, and intriguing examples, Aronson's textbook offers a brief, compelling introduction to modern social psychology

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I look at a man as a symbol of inspiration.
Someone who looks to be of service along his journey.
Someone who experiences fears but has the courage to face them and move forward anyway. Someone who’s loving to all people and creatures in world, including himself.
Someone who can take care of his basic needs and teach others how to live in abundance. Someone who doesn’t judge people but looks for ways to lift others up.
Someone who leaves this place better than the way he found it.
That, to me, is a man.

— Lewis Howes

Today it’s great to have Lewis Howes on The Psychology Podcast! Lewis is a lifestyle entrepreneur, high-performance business coach, author and keynote speaker. A former professional football player and 2-sport All American, Lewis hosts The School of Greatness Podcast, which has received millions of downloads since it was launched in 2013. Howes is also an advisory board member of Pencils of Promise. His latest book is The Mask of Masculinity: How Men Can Embrace Vulnerability, Create Strong Relationships, and Live Their Fullest Lives.

Our conversation covers a few key themes such as:

The power of vulnerability and the role it’s played in Lewis’ life
The masks men wear to hide who they truly are and the benefits of taking off these masks
The male role models Lewis personally looks to for inspiration, and what he admires about them
Hope you enjoy my conversation with Lewis, and if you want to learn more about each of the masks mentioned, be sure to check out his new book The Mask of Masculinity: How Men Can Embrace Vulnerability, Create Strong Relationships, and Live Their Fullest Lives.

Links:

You can find The Mask of Masculinity on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Mask-Masculinity-Embrace-Vulnerability-Relationships/dp/1623368626/)

You can listen to The School of Greatness on iTunes, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-school-of-greatness-with-lewis-howes/id596047499?mt=2

Follow Lewis on Twitter @LewisHowes https://twitter.com/LewisHowes

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Today I’m excited to welcome Jordan Harbinger to The Psychology Podcast. Jordan is an entrepreneur, talk show host, and world-renowned social dynamics expert. As co-founder of The Art of Charm, he has helped develop one of the leading self-development programs in the world, with a special expertise in social capital, relationship-building, and authentic rapport. He is also the host of The Art of Charm Podcast, where he interviews leading entrepreneurs, celebrities, authors, and experts on psychology, human performance, behavioral economics, and success.

In our wide-ranging discussion, Jordan and I talk about:

• How The Art of Charm came to be (and how it evolved to be differ from the pick-up artist movement)
• What kinds of things go on at his intense, 6-day live programs
• Where his work at the Art of Charm draws from the world of Positive Psychology
• Why it’s important to seek expertise from the right places and set healthy expectations
• Why feeling comfortable in your skin is more of a subtractive process than an additive process, and how to go about achieving this
• Why we need to delegate nonverbal communication to the level of habit, and some actionable tips for doing so (such as his famous “doorway drill”)
• Why we should be more open to the idea of outgrowing friends, and signs it’s time to let a friend go
• How all of this relates to the delicate balance of being and becoming, and the risks inherent in not striving to be your most authentic self

This episode offers a lot of food for thought around self development and how we can use scientifically-proven techniques to lead happier and more fulfilling lives. Enjoy!

Find Jordan at:

Instagram

Twitter

Facebook

YouTube

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Today I'm glad to welcome Cheryl Einhorn to The Psychology Podcast! Cheryl is the creator of the AREA Method, a decision making system for individuals and companies to solve complex problems. She is also the founder of CSE Consulting and the author of the book Problem Solved, a Powerful System for Making Complex Decisions with Confidence & Conviction. Cheryl teaches as an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School and has won several journalism awards for her investigative stories about international political, business and economic topics.

In our conversation she takes us through the philosophy behind her unique perspective taking process for making better decisions as well as through each of the steps:

• The AREA Method gets its name from the perspectives that it addresses: Absolute, Relative, Exploration & Exploitation and Analysis:
  • A, or Absolute, refers to the perspective of the research target. It is primary, uninfluenced information from the source itself.
  • R, or Relative, refers to the perspective of outsiders around the target. It is secondary information, or information that has been filtered through sources connected to the target.
  • E, or Exploration and Exploitation, are really about the human mind. Exploration is about listening to what other people think and believe. Exploitation is about listening to yourself and examining your own assumptions and judgment.
  • The second A, or Analysis, synthesizes all of these perspectives, processing and interpreting the information you’ve collected.

Cheryl also shares stories of the people she encountered along her journey of researching the book and explains a variety of applications of this method. We hope you enjoy this actionable episode, and if you're interested to applying this method to a decision you're struggling with right now, be sure to check out Cheryl's free resources!

Links:

Problem Solved: A Powerful System for Making Complex Decisions with Confidence and Conviction is available on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Problem-Solved-Decisions-Confidence-Conviction/dp/163265086X/

What Kind of Problem Solver Are You [Quiz] https://app.areamethod.com/

Downloadable "Cheetah Sheets" [Download] http://www.areamethod.com/downloads/

More examples of the AREA method at work [Case Studies] http://www.areamethod.com/area-at-work/

Follow Cheryl on Twitter

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This week I’m excited to welcome Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness to The Psychology Podcast. Brad writes for Outside, Runner’s World, NPR and has a column in the Huffington Post about health and the science of human performance. Steve Magness coaches Olympians and marathoners, lectures at St. Mary’s University on Exercise Science, and writes for numerous publications including Wired, Sports Illustrated and NY Magazine on the science of performance.

Together they are partners in peak performance, in research, and in writing their latest book Peak Performance: Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout, and Thrive with the New Science of Success.

In this conversation, Brad and Steve teach us:

• Why the word “performance” can be deceiving and how those of us focused on creative endeavors, who may not think of “performance” as an end goal, can benefit from their research,
• Why both physical and cognitive rest are crucial for world-class performance in our pursuits, in what’s known as the Paradox of Rest (some of you probably know how much I love a good paradox!),
• How harmonious passion maps onto their ideas about burnout, and how to identify whether a pursuit is rooted in harmonious or obsessive passion,
• Why Brad and Steve limit themselves to 24-48 hours of celebration or wallowing after identity-validating or identity-challenging events,
• How to optimize our routines to achieve peak performance,
• Why transcendence is one of the most underrated characteristics of peak performance.

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"Power is given, not grabbed.” — Dacher Keltner

Today I’m really excited to have Dr. Dacher Keltner join me for his second appearance on The Psychology Podcast!

Dacher Keltner is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the faculty director of the UC Berkeley Greater Good Science Center. A renowned expert in the biological and evolutionary origins of human emotion, Dr. Keltner studies the science of compassion, awe, love, and beauty, and how emotions shape our moral intuition. His research interests also span issues of power, status, inequality, and social class. He is the author of the best-selling book Born to Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life and of The Compassionate Instinct.

His latest book is The Power Paradox: How We Gain and Lose Influence.

In our conversation we discuss several of Dacher’s ideas surrounding power including:

• The unique definition of power he presents in the book
• The recent development in power research of the 2 paths to power:
  • Domination, Manipulation, Coercion
  • Status, Respect, Strong Ties
• The myth of power stereotypes
• The problems of power
  • The challenges of getting it
  • The difficulties of maintaining it
  • The dangers of becoming addicted to it
• The Humility pathway of enduring power

Links:

The Power Paradox is available on Amazon

Follow Dacher’s Greater Good Lab on Twitter

[Book] Good to Great – Jim Collins (mentioned-“The final stage of leadership is service”)

[Book] On Tyranny -Timothy Snyder (mentioned-“People give power to tyrants”)

[Book]

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Mitch Prinstein, Ph.D. is board certified in clinical child and adolescent psychology, and serves as the John Van Seters Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, and the Director of Clinical Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He and his research have been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, the LA Times, CNN, U.S. News & World Report, TIME magazine, New York magazine, Newsweek, and elsewhere.

In his latest book Popular: The Power of Likeability in A Status-Obsessed World, Prinstein examines how our popularity affects our success, our relationships, and our happiness—and why we don’t always want to be the most popular.

In our conversation we cover this and more, with key themes being:

• Why seeking popularity is actually a basic human need,
• Why it's not always the "conventionally popular" people who fare best, and how this relates to the (2) different strategies for achieving popularity:
  • Likeability
  • Status
• How studies can help explain both the basic human needs Facebook serves, and the more general status-seeking phenomenon on social media,
• What it means to induce a "Popularity Boomerang", and how becoming aware of it can fundamentally change the environment you exist in,
• How your early experiences of popularity (or lack thereof) are probably helping or hindering how you show up in the world today, and if hindering, how you can overcome its effects,
• Why it's more important the raise likeable kids than you might think, and the parenting implications of popularity research,
• The likeability advantage.

We hope this conversation gives you some insights about popularity that will help you achieve your social, personal, and professional goals. Enjoy!

Links:

Popular: The Power of Likeability in A Status-Obsessed World is out now https://www.amazon.com/Popular-Power-Likability-Status-Obsessed-World/dp/0399563733/

Read an overview of the book and to take the Popularity Quiz http://www.mitchprinstein.com/books/popular-book/

Follow Mitch on Twitter @mitchprinstein https://twitter.com/mitchprinstein

For more information on Mitch or his research visit http://www.mitchprinstein.com/

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-podcast/support

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"What are the deliberate habits I can do consciously and consistently to keep getting better?" -- Brendon Burchard

This week I'm delighted to welcome Brendon Burchard to The Psychology Podcast! After suffering depression and surviving a car accident at the age of 19, Brendon faced what he felt were life’s last questions: “Did I live fully? Did I love openly? Did I make a difference?” His intention to be happy with the answers led to his own personal breakthroughs, and ultimately to his life’s purpose of helping others live, to love, and to matter. He spent his 20s researching psychology and leadership, and consulting at Accenture. By age 32, he went out on his own and became a #1 best-selling author, an in-demand high performance coach, a sought-after speaker, and an early pioneer in the online education space.

A #1 New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, #1 Amazon and #1 USA Today best-selling author, Brendon’s books include The Motivation Manifesto, The Charge, The Millionaire Messenger and Life’s Golden Ticket. His latest book is High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way.

In this episode we have an enthusiastic and empirically-informed conversation about:

• How Brendon's past lead him to become the personal growth expert and multi-media pioneer he is today
• How thinking about life in terms of these 3 types can help you identify when it's time to take action or level up:
  
  1. Caged life
  2. Comfortable life
  3. Charged life
• How these 6 high performance habits can help you achieve long-term success and vibrant well-being:
  
  1. Seek clarity
  2. Generate energy
  3. Raise necessity
  4. Increase productivity
  5. Develop influence
  6. Demonstrate courage
• How these 4 key characteristics set successful creatives apart:
  
  1. Identity
  2. Obsession
  3. Social Duty
  4. Deadline
• How Brendon thinks about backing his illuminating frameworks with research

We cover several useful frameworks in this episode, so be sure to enjoy it with a pen in hand. If you're like us, you'll want to take a lot of notes!

Links:

Preorder High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way

[Resource] You can read the first 2 chapter's of Brendon's book here

[Books] Albert Bandura's work on self efficacy (mentioned)

[Book]

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This week we're delighted to have Gretchen Rubin on The Psychology Podcast! Gretchen is the author of several books, including the blockbuster New York Times bestsellers, Better Than Before, The Happiness Project and Happier at Home. She has an enormous readership, both in print and online, and her books have sold almost three million copies worldwide, in more than thirty languages. On her popular weekly podcast Happier with Gretchen Rubin, she discusses good habits and happiness with her sister Elizabeth Craft; they’ve been called the “Click and Clack of podcasters.” Her podcast was named in iTunes’s lists of “Best Podcasts of 2015” and was named in the Academy of Podcasters “Best Podcasts of 2016". Gretchen's latest book is The Four Tendencies, which is the main focus of this episode's lively discussion and debate.

The larger themes of our conversation include:

• The four tendencies: Upholders, Questioners, Oblidgers, and Questioners; they refer to the different ways each of us responds to internal and external expectations
• How Gretchen came up with these 4 categories
• The ways in which each of these 4 categories may be found to correlate with different "Big 5" personality traits
• The disadvantages of studying discrete types in the world of personality psychology
• The level of rigor necessary to distinguish a theory from a fully-formed, brand new personality dimension
• The place for writing that presents theories built on a more observational and experiential notion of truth, as opposed to a rigorously tested truth
• The ways that knowing your type can help you harness both your own strengths and those of others

Links:

[Book] The Four Tendencies

[Quiz] Take Gretchen's Four Tendencies Quiz

[Twitter]

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-psychology-podcast/support

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