During my last summer vacation, I participated in a course called ‘Psychology and Personal Growth’ which was organised by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Here are ten interesting facts that I would like to share. If you want to know more about psychology, this article is definitely suitable for you.

1. What is psychology? What does it study?
   Some students who don’t know about psychology may assume that it is a subject about reading people’s mind. The fact is psychology is a study which concentrates on human behaviour and mental health.
2. How is a psychological test conducted?
   The human brain has a lot of preconceptions which need to be taken into consideration before psychological experiments. Psychologists usually conduct experiments by naturalistic observations, case study (interviews, questionnaires, psychological tests) and double-blind studies (experiments in which neither the subjects nor the researchers know who has been given the active treatment or drug and who has not). These ways can help avoid some social desirability bias (the tendency for people to respond in a socially desirable way) so experiments can be convincing.
3. Where does stress come from?
   Psychologists believe that stress comes from various sources. Apart from working and schooling, some life changes and other special sources can make you anxious. Negative life changes such as losing a job, dropping out of school are stressful. Acculturative stress such as racism and discrimination can be worrisome for ethnic minorities as they will find it hard to find jobs.
4. How do psychologists define conflict in a human’s brain?
   There are three types of conflict: approach-to-approach conflict, avoidance-avoidance conflict, multiple approach-avoidance conflict.Approach-approach conflict: two positive goals that you want to achieve, but you can only attain one. For example, your pocket money can only afford a smartphone, but you want to buy a Samsung and Apple.Avoidance-avoidance conflict: two negative goals that you don’t want to achieve but you have to do. For instance, cleaning the toilet or bathing a dog. These two things are time-consuming and you don’t want to do.

   Multiple approach-avoidance conflict: contain both positive and negative goals. For example, you want to do revision but there are many things which are tempting and preventing you from revising such as playing computer games, browsing social media.

5. What are Type A and Type B personalities?
   Psychologists divide people personalities into two main groups: Type A and Type B people. Type A people are usually creating stress. They are mainly aggressive. Some of them are perfectionists. Type B people focus more on quality of life. They strike a balance between working and relaxing.
6. What do psychologists think about eating disorders?
   They think that the cause of an eating disorder is perfectionism. Some people are discriminated thanks to obesity. Society pressure means they want to have an ideal look. As a result, some people take on severe dieting to keep their attractive body shape. However, they can easily suffer from two diseases: Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa.Anorexia Nervosa: An eating disorder characterised by the maintenance of abnormally low body weight, intense fear of weight gain and a distorted body image with a lack of menstruation.Bulimia Nervosa: An eating disorder characterised by recurrent episodes of binge eating followed by purging and by persistent overconcern with body shape and weight.
7. Why do psychologists believe that women live longer than men?
   Because men are more likely to die from acts of violence, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver and suicide. Also, men lack attention to their health. On the contrary, women are more willing to seek health care.
8. How do psychologists perceive names?
   They perceive that some names (especially girls) such as Jennifer, Kathy and Christine are more attractive than names Gertrude, Ethel and Harriet. Moreover, some unusual or odd names are less popular. Women with masculine names such as Rean or Randy are less anxious, more culturally sophisticated. Furthermore, they have greater leadership potential than feminine nicknames. Believe it or not!
9. What psychologists think about a love relationship?
   Psychologists created ABCDE models of relationship which refers to Attraction, Building, Continuation, Deteriorating, and Ending to depict a love relationship. Intimacy can be built through self-disclosure.
10. What happens if you don’t get enough sleep?
    Psychologists think that inadequate sleep can reduce cognitive ability. Also, there are more vehicle crashes, cardiovascular diseases and psychological disorders. Lack of sleep can lower mental alertness and concentration.

The above facts are based on some psychological researches. Psychological researches can only be references for you. Perhaps there are some mistakes in the experiments, so results may have some errors. The above facts are based on a university reference book. You can borrow some psychological books in the library so as to learn more!

Reference:
Nevid, J. S., & Rathus, S. A. (2016). Psychology and the challenges of life: adjustment and growth. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

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