Tag Archives: Psychology

Shutterstock/LedyX Steve Taylor, Leeds Beckett University The search for meaning in life is a familiar challenge to many of us. Some materialist scientists and philosophers consider it a futile search. Prominent atheist Richard Dawkins, for example, claims that human beings are just “throwaway survival machines” whose only purpose is to survive and replicate genes. Otherwise, the theory goes, there is …

Hassan Saleh/Unsplash, FAL Ryan McKay, Royal Holloway and Robert Ross, Macquarie University As the pandemic raged in April, churchgoers in Ohio defied warnings not to congregate. Some argued that their religion conferred them immunity from COVID-19. In one memorable CNN clip, a woman insisted she would not catch the virus because she was “covered in Jesus’ blood”. Some weeks later, …

As if work wasn’t taxing enough, now we had to manage family simultaneously. Charles Deluvio/unsplash Eva Selenko, Loughborough University The pandemic has seriously altered how we work. According to statistics published by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in September 2020, US$35 trillion (£26 trillion) has been lost globally in labour income. There has also been an estimated loss of 17% …

How to be resilient when everything feels out of control. Timothy Kuiper/Shutterstock Christian van Nieuwerburgh, University of East London Already experiencing pandemic fatigue, many of us feel ill-prepared for another lockdown. Yet this is what we must do, and maybe not for the last time. The problem is, the pervasive effects of the pandemic and the restrictions imposed as a …

giuseppelombardo/Shutterstock Pascal Vrticka, University of Essex and Philip J. Cozzolino, University of Essex After a fairly relaxed summer, more and more places are bringing back tighter restrictions in response to rising COVID-19 cases, with some even returning to full or near-full lockdowns. We all know that social distancing makes sense: the fewer people we meet (and the further away from …

Shutterstock Evita March, Federation University Australia Humans are curious and social creatures by nature. The news helps us make sense of the world around us and connects us with our local, national and international community. So it’s no wonder we’re drawn to it. Objective, legitimate news also keeps us informed, empowering us with knowledge to make balanced decisions. But the …

Franzi/Shutterstock Steve Taylor, Leeds Beckett University There has long been a general assumption that human beings are essentially selfish. We’re apparently ruthless, with strong impulses to compete against each other for resources and to accumulate power and possessions. If we are kind to one another, it’s usually because we have ulterior motives. If we are good, it’s only because we …

Anne Templeton, University of Sussex and John Drury, University of Sussex The crowd crush at the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia has claimed the lives of more than 700 people and injured at least 850 more. Sadly this is not the first such tragedy to affect the event. The Hajj attracts millions of pilgrims from across the world every …