The rise of pop-psychology: can it make your life better, or is it all snake-oil?

The rise of pop-psychology: can it make your life better, or is it all snake-oil?

The popularisation of psychology has been strikingly successful. Books written for the public are published at an accelerating rate, bolstered by countless blogs, podcasts, magazines, TED talks and videos. So will popular psychology change your life? Or does it rest on junk science and make us self-obsessed and miserable?

What is pop psychology?

Popular psychology can be defined as any attempt to present psychological ideas to a general audience.

The case for pop psychology

Some resistance to pop psychology is unjustified. There can be an element of snobbery in imagining that it is only suited for people weaker, simpler, and stupider than we are.

The blurry line between psychology and self-help

Dale Carnegie, of How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936) was a salesman, actor and public speaking coach with no psychology background.

The case against pop psychology

It can stray far from any scientific evidence base while marketing itself as the work of a PhD-credentialed scholar

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