The World's Best Book Summaries
What is tennis psychology? How does it help you on and off the court? Tennis psychology refers to the idea that your mental game of tennis can help you in life as well. You can learn to be less judgmental about yourself, and learn how to stay focused without being stressed. Read more about tennis psychology and how it works.
Have you ever noticed that some people seem to get much happier or much more down than others? Do all people feel emotions the same way? How can we work to stay on the happy end of the emotional range? A person’s emotional range is called their affective style. This means that some people have a genetic predisposition toward happiness or sadness and feel different ranges of emotion. When somebody’s emotions tend to fall on the negative side of the range, there are measures they can take to counter them. Keep reading about the emotional range and how to counter
How do we make decisions? What factors influence our decision-making process? Are our decisions rational? In the book Predictably Irrational, author Dan Ariely explains that humans make irrational decisions that are so predictable that they are often taken advantage of by society, especially the marketing industry. He also explains how relativity makes decisions for you. Keep reading to learn the psychology behind how we make decisions.
What is Seligman’s positive psychology? What are the six core virtues that are celebrated across all civilizations? Positive psychology is a relatively new field of science, founded in 1998 by Martin Seligman. This science attempts to elevate the human experience instead of treating the disorder. In his studies, Seligman discovered six core values that stretch across all cultures. Keep reading to learn more about Seligman’s positive psychology and the six core values.
What does the psychology of expectations tell us? Is it possible to unlearn expectations? The psychology of expectations says that you will get what you expect. This means that if you expect Coke to taste better than Pepsi, then it will, even if you’d rate Pepsi better in a blind taste test. This is because expectations have a huge impact on your experiences. Keep reading to learn more about the psychology of expectations.
Do you want to know how to be competitive? How can sports, like tennis, help you develop a healthy competitive drive? Learning how to be competitive often starts when you’re young. But it’s important to keep in mind why you want to be competitive, and how it helps you. Read more about how to be competitive below.
What is the difference between conspicuous and inconspicuous consumption? Why are we happy making less money as long as it’s more than our peers? Inconspicuous consumption is when we spend money for our own benefit, such as on a vacation, while conspicuous consumption is when we buy materialistic things to demonstrate our wealth. Inconspicuous consumption will bring you more long-term happiness that is absolute, rather than relative happiness. Keep reading to learn why we should only be focusing on inconspicuous consumption.
In what areas of your life do you feel especially sensitive and liable to feel pain? How have you inadvertently arranged your life around the desire to avoid it? And most importantly, what can you do to let go of this pain? Many people feel fragmented and deeply unhappy because they’ve built their whole lives on pain avoidance. From childhood, they’ve unconsciously built their thoughts, actions, and beliefs around avoiding their inner pain. Spiritual growth requires you to let go of pain, but for that, you must first embrace it, and only then, work on weeding out its source. In
What is virtual ownership? How do advertisers use virtual ownership to manipulate you into buying a product? How can you avoid it? Virtual ownership is the feeling of ownership of an object before you actually own it. Advertisers take advantage of this aspect of human nature through advertising and trial periods. Keep reading to learn more about virtual ownership.
Why do we feel a strong urge to repay favors, even from strangers? How does altruism lead to happiness? Is it possible to feel good while faking altruism? Reciprocal altruism theory states that we treat others as we have been treated by them. In other words, we may help others at a cost to ourselves, in hopes that others will repay the favor. This altruistic behavior came from evolution because by doing good for others, we are doing good for ourselves. Keep reading to learn more about the reciprocal altruism theory.