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Questions tagged [psychology]

Questions about English terms related to psychology, as well as questions about their usage and conventions.

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4 answers
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Is there a word to describe someone who is frequently dismissive out of ignorance and arrogance?

I am trying to find a word to precisely describe a psychological trait or behavior that makes someone not understand, oversee or not acknowledge nuances or precisions being presented to them by ...
MicroMachine's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
50 views

Is there a term for saying something like: "thank you for remaining professional and not taking your frustrations out on staff"

I saw this verbiage on a sign, and I just thought there has to be a term for this way of speaking. It seems like the assumption is that I will be "UN" professional and they are trying to ...
Wes's user avatar
  • 129
0 votes
1 answer
42 views

What is an expression that defines a complex whereby you think you are being treated unfairly, even if you are not?

I am looking for an expression akin to "persecution complex" but for when someone is convinced not that they are being persecuted, but that they are constantly getting the short end of the ...
alberto56's user avatar
  • 111
8 votes
7 answers
3k views

Is there a term that describes reducing a person's identity to certain characteristics?

Is there a term that describes reducing a person's identity to certain characteristics, behaviours or traits that are not physical? The term should have a negative connotation. I've heard the ...
Maria CW's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
81 views

An argument where a person says exactly what you told them isn’t true?

Background: Person A and Person B have been in a romantic relationship for many years. Person A gives Person B a large sum of money, specifically telling them that that Person B can use this money ...
Lana's user avatar
  • 11
4 votes
4 answers
470 views

Word for the distantness of the world when wearing glasses

I wear glasses and strength-adjusted sunglasses. Have been doing so for ten years. Recently, while on vacation in various foreign cities, I noticed a peculiar psychological effect: when I would take ...
Mew's user avatar
  • 323
0 votes
1 answer
244 views

What is the word to describe the sudden emotional shift from being motivated towards sorrow? [closed]

Here is the moment from a story: For the first time after several years, he laced up his shoes and stepped outside to start his run. However, the run turned to a walk as his thinking turned inward ...
Aaron's user avatar
  • 103
5 votes
2 answers
170 views

Term for "a solution that's just barely good enough to stifle better solutions"?

There's an expression that, "Perfect is the enemy of good". What is the opposite of that expression? I'm talking about times when "marginally adequate" is also "the enemy of ...
Ted Striker's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
101 views

What's a word that means a brainteaser or puzzle so easy that you must be "inattentive" if you can't solve it and yet some normal people can't?

There's a type of question I've seen on YouTube (but can't find now) that is asked like a brainteaser, but is too easy to be really called a "brainteaser", but some (a small minority) people ...
Matthew Christopher Bartsh's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
64 views

Is there a word or phrase for the subversion of a pleasant thing becoming a negative thing? [closed]

When something associated with positive emotions becomes associated with its opposite negative emotions, it often appears to embody these emotions more strongly than something that didn't have the ...
physBa's user avatar
  • 11
3 votes
3 answers
2k views

What is a term for "fear of very large enclosed spaces"?

I'm intrigued by a hybrid of "agoraphobia" (which would be more accurately referred to as "kenophobia") and "claustrophobia," described by H. P. Lovecraft like this: Of ...
MaudPieTheRocktorate's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
206 views

Word or phrase for the phenomenon (or thinking error) where people will be satisfied with an answer simply because it was difficult to arrive at?

As per the title, I'm looking for a word or short phrase that describes the phenomenon where people will accept an answer or solution that was difficult to arrive at, simply because it was difficult ...
Listener's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
52 views

Referring to the quality of doing the best in what one does

What is the single-word or phrase referring to the attitude or quality of someone desiring to do the best in whatever they set out to do (regardless of the end goal). Example: The new employee John ...
Sridhar Ratnakumar's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
40 views

Why does it feel as if I'm "cheating" when I look words and concepts up? [closed]

Many, many times a day, I encounter an English word or perhaps a name/location/whatever which I don't immediately understand. I then press a key on my keyboard which brings up a special search field ...
user432571's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
76 views

Is there a way to describe group behaviour where everyone in the group thinks another member is going to do a task so nothing is accomplished? [duplicate]

I feel as though there is probably a more elegant and succinct way to describe that kind of behaviour. Imagine a group of friends going to an event and everyone thought the other was bringing the ...
Mr Charles S Taylor's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
95 views

What are the main clause and subordinate clauses in this sentence as spoken by a four-year-old child with DLD [closed]

And they be happy they got the airplane. I have said one main clause is ‘they be happy’. The second main clause is ‘they got the airplane’. Is this correct? Are there any subordinating clauses in ...
user424984's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
66 views

Hallucination and meditation [closed]

Can we say that imagination in Meditation is a hallucination? When I imagine something in meditation can I hallucinate or hallucination is unconscious and meditation is a conscious experience . ...
Mehvish's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
154 views

What does 'intimated' mean in the following sentence? [closed]

As we shall see, when satisfaction is invoked in Othello, and by Othello himself, what is being sought is proof and revenge, knowledge and retaliation, certainty and redress. And what is more than ...
Mey's user avatar
  • 149
2 votes
1 answer
1k views

Is there a term for "not wanting to do something because someone else has already done it"?

For example, person A does something that person B was planning on doing, but person B does not want to do it anymore for fear of being seen as "unoriginal" (even on something not creative) ...
anon's user avatar
  • 23
0 votes
1 answer
72 views

Academic term for the human tendency to optimize and defend familiarity in one's daily life

There is a word (likely an item of psychological jargon) which I heard once in a YouTube video and keep finding a need for. It was a "state of being" adjective that I remember beginning with ...
ssokolow's user avatar
  • 202
1 vote
3 answers
124 views

What do you call a person who is not involved directly in a situation but they have some ideas and assumptions about it?

linguists! We are conducting research on a suicide, and we are asking people who have suicidal ideation/behavior about the possible causes, but we're also asking those who don't have about what they ...
Abdul-Rahman Bassam's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
790 views

The phenomenon of walking backwards to remember a lost thought

I used to have "senior moments" long before I actually became a senior, such as walking from one room to another and forgetting what I was... An older friend advised me that in moments like ...
Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_'s user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
161 views

Sport or sports psychologist

I need Your help with grammar since english is not my native language :) I'm making an award look a like gift for my dear friend but I don't how to name his profession correctly - is it sport ...
nika's user avatar
  • 1
2 votes
1 answer
35 views

A name for the lag time of memory when catching up to new developments

Is there a name for the lag time of memory for when something in your environment or life changes, and you need to get accustomed to it? It’s kind of a catch-up of memory for updated knowledge to ...
Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_'s user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
647 views

What is the term for subconsciously doing something that you think you're dreaming

A friend of mine has been having these weird bouts of subconscious life interruptions. Not sure how to explain it correctly, that's why I'm here, I've researched it but I don't know how to explain it ...
Natalie's user avatar
  • 41
-1 votes
2 answers
76 views

Specific Term for prejudice/prejudiced behaviour (racial, gender, etc...) that justifies itself by a prior history of prejudice?

If someone made the following, certainly problematic, statements: "There is a higher risk (member of oppressed minority) will underperform at a job or task, since it is more likely they are ...
rackandboneman's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
984 views

What is the term for someone who hates themselves on the behalf of others?

Many forums have addressed this and none to my satisfaction. A narcissist loves their ideals, or something about themselves, just as a sociopath. Those who loathe their own existence do not always ...
Dan Squires's user avatar
3 votes
4 answers
370 views

What is this condition called?

Over a decade ago, I read about a condition where you love to solve the intricacies of a challenging problem or issue but can't be bothered to actually do the work to implement or prove it. Is this an ...
Kevin Deenoo's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
281 views

A word or idiom to describe someone who has fears or reservations when others are doing or thinking the same

I vaguely remember a quote floating on the WWW that says Be careful if everyone else is doing the same. Exaggerated example: Tom loves to ride. He has an impeccable passion in riding and ...
Organic Heart's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
169 views

Attitude towards being close to others

What does one call the desire not to be too close to other people, and further, the aversion against that - on the street, on the beach, in public transportation, etc? (What is considered "too close" ...
Hans-Peter Stricker's user avatar
16 votes
17 answers
6k views

Feeling of forcing oneself to do something

I'm looking for a word that captures that feeling of forcing oneself to do something that is not motivating anymore. Normally when one has motivation, it takes little to no effort to start doing it. ...
Sridhar Ratnakumar's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
2k views

What is it called when you begin to exhibit similar personality traits as someone close to you?

Especially someone you live with, whether that be a partner, roommate, family, etc. I feel like there’s a psychological term for this. Like how we pick up little quirks in passing, or how the ...
cosmixclue's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
50 views

Expression or cognitive error in assuming one person's fault on a community

Is there a term in psychology or English language to express the cognitive error in extrapolating one person's fault on the entire community? Example: A: Doctor A is arrested for unethical medical ...
Explorer's user avatar
  • 1,050
0 votes
7 answers
3k views

Word for knowing what to do and not doing it

I think most will agree it's a really common human condition: Knowing what to do and not doing it. I recently found a word that describes this condition and now have lost that word. I would ...
Outside's user avatar
  • 33
-1 votes
1 answer
101 views

What do you call someone that acts on possibilities? [closed]

I'm making a video game, I can not think of what you call a person that acts on possibilities, like what mindset do you call them or what type of person are they? Example: Hi traveller, I might help ...
PlushBanshee's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
69 views

Term for confusing similarities with exact matches

I'm looking for a term that applies to the kind of mindset/thought process where someone sees a couple of similarities between two things, then decides that 'They're the same' or 'They just copied ...
sturrockad's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
55 views

Name for a Freudian slip in a leading question?

A leading question occurs when someone asks a question that suggests a particular answer, presumably intentionally. Is there any special term for when this occurs subconsciously - i.e. when the asker ...
stevec's user avatar
  • 524
1 vote
1 answer
32 views

Word for internalizing excessive critique & acting upon it

When a parent or a person of authority excessively critizises a child like "you never get your homework on time" even if this was a false accusation the child will internalize those remarks and begin ...
AzulShiva's user avatar
  • 113
2 votes
2 answers
72 views

Is there a single word for unhealthy ego?

This article actually explains my question http://stonepsychology.com/is-your-ego-healthy-or-unhealthy-heres-how-to-tell/ very well. If we say some action is driven by 'ego' we often mean that the ...
Ross Attrill's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
612 views

What is the word for or a psychological term for person who knows how to do a job but says he does not know because he does not want to work? [closed]

If I am assigned a work and i know how to do it but I will say i do not know because I do not want to work.
sandepp's user avatar
  • 131
0 votes
2 answers
277 views

Term for the brain's automatic [psychological] response to being told to do something; to not want to do that thing anymore

I was wondering if there are any terms that describe a psychological response to this specific type of interaction- something along the lines of: You know what academic work you have to do for a ...
Akrhiin's user avatar
3 votes
4 answers
4k views

Antonym of black and white thinking (or splitting)

Splitting is a type of cognitive distortion where one sees a situation from an all-or-nothing perspective. What could we call the type of thinking that is not based on extremes? Would "balanced ...
PrincessLilly's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
98 views

"projective activity" in cognitive sciences context [RESOLVED]

I'm was not sure what is meant by projective in this context. As in the case of understanding spoken or written language, an enormous amount of general knowledge is constantly mobilized in ...
infatuated's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
6k views

What's the etymology of "limerence"?

Limerence is basically a word coined in 1979 by American psychologist Dorothy Tennov. It's a very obscure term, even among psychologists. In fact Tennov's followers in 2010 remarked how few ...
Zebrafish's user avatar
  • 12.7k
2 votes
2 answers
2k views

Hate people touching or using his things [closed]

What do we call a person who don't share his or her personal belongings or things with others? or hate people touching his things
Sonam's user avatar
  • 29
0 votes
1 answer
47 views

Specific word if it exists? [closed]

A word or a feeling that describes specifically when ONLY meeting new people?
Radio Home's user avatar
13 votes
5 answers
9k views

Is there a term for not identifying with your current age?

"Transgender" refers to someone who doesn't identify with their birth gender. "Transracial" refers to someone who doesn't identify with their birth race. Is there a term for someone who doesn't ...
CodyBugstein's user avatar
0 votes
3 answers
823 views

The term for doing what others tell you is impossible [closed]

I am looking for a word which describes the act of doing something most people think is impossible or when you want to show to someone that you are capable of doing something maybe like revenge or ...
Paralyz3d's user avatar
  • 103
3 votes
2 answers
8k views

A Word For Someone Who Has Been Hurt By Love, And In Result Hates The Concept Of It?

So, I know this is a very advanced question, because I've looked everywhere and cannot for the life of me find the right word I'm looking for. I'm currently writing an album and I need a word that ...
wordperson's user avatar
0 votes
4 answers
31k views

Looking for a word or idiom that describe someone whose mood changes constantly [closed]

As the title says, I'm looking for a word or idiom to describe a person whose mood changes regularly in a very short time and you never know what's going on in his head. Some examples: He can be ...
anhvu1210's user avatar
  • 439