Psych Perspective Issue 6

Writers:

Katie Lai

Sharon Lam

Anna Tong

Nicky Lai

Jemma Quinn

Illustrators

Jenny Lin

Cynthia Li

Natalie Leung

Sharon Lam

Cindy Wong

Lorna Emmerson

Takara Leung

Cindy Jiang

Audrey Hui

Jenny Lin

Sislly Wong

Sophia Li

Selina Wang

Editors

Katie Onyschenko

Jaquel Wong

Silver Wong

Jennifer Zhou

Juliana Enkleze

Katie Lai

Vanessa Wang

Renee Law

Po Lam Cai

Joyce Wong

Sislly Wong

Complexity in loving

Para-social relationships

Katie Lai

Sharon Lam

Is behaviour genetic?

Can you love a murderer?

Impulsive spending, why do we do it?

Psychology of Genocide

Psychology of Capitalism

Why do we humanise our pets?

Leniency in the criminal justice system for individuals with mental illness

Spoon theory

16 in 8 Billion: Personality Tests

The psychological key to successful decision-making in business Dream

Anna Tong

Nicky Lai

Jemma Quinn

Lorna Emmerson

Takara Leung

Cindy JIang

Audrey Hui

Jenny Lin

Sislly Wong

Sophia Li

Selina Wang

Co-Presidents & Editors-in-chief

JenniferZhou and JulianaEnkleze

From articles about why we humanise our pets to how to succeed in business, here is another issue of the Psych Harrovian brought to you by our amazing fellow Harrovians, contributing with artworks and articles. I am delighted to see how the issues grow in size and personality and I hope readers would agree I am grateful to be part of the team that brings the materials together to present it to our Harrow community and I am confident there is something for everyone and I am looking forward to get feedback from everyone on how to make our issues even better. Happy reading.

—Co-President & Editor-in-cheif Co-President & Editor-in-cheif

—Co-President & Editor-in-cheif

Juliana Enkleze

Juliana Enkleze

Juliana Enkleze

Welcome to the world of Psychology! I am honoured to present you the 6th issue of Psych Harrovian as the Editor-in-Chief. This would be the last issue that I contributed during my time in Harrow. A huge thank you and well done go to everyone who participates in this publication. It has been a pleasure working with my team and I am excited to see future progress as the Psych Perspective moves forward Ranging from the MBTI personality test, to the psychology behind capitalism, we’ve indeed got them all! Please feel free to begin your adventure into the mysterious land of psychology. Enjoy your reading!

—Co-President & Editor-in-cheif

—Co-President & Editor-in-cheif

—Co-President & Editor-in-cheif

Jennifer

Zhou

Jennifer Zhou

Jennifer Zhou

I am thrilled and excited to introduce the sixth edition of the Psychology Harrovian at Harrow, HK My congratulations go to all the writers, editors and illustrators for their creativity, hard work, and dedication towards this publication. Everyone uses Psychology daily and understanding the way your mind works helps in everyday life by allowing you to build stronger relationships and make the best decisions People are fascinating creatures and are so diverse These articles will give you an insight into why people behave the way they do, how personality forms and how factors like society and culture impact one’s behaviour You might find yourself gaining a deeper understanding of the many influences that have impacted your own life. This publication is underpinned by curiosity and passion, it is a journey that these pupils have taken towards engaging with the human psyche. I hope you enjoy reading the articles and the illustrations to go with it as much as I have —Academic

Mrs. Sharin Sikka

Mrs. Sharin Sikka

Mrs. Sharin Sikka

Does love require knowledge and effort? Or is love simply a sensational experience, which occurs by a matter of chance, something one "falls into" if lucky? What do you think of when I say love? Your significant other? Your pet? Your parents? Perhaps your crush from 2 years ago that you could hardly remember? Can't think of anyone or anything specific? Do you even know love - not to say that people don't value or need it. They are hungry for it; they watch endless films about happy and terrible love tales, and they listen to hundreds of banal love songs. Yet, it is by far noticeable that scarcely anyone believes that there is anything to learn about love and how to properly love.

Here I explore the complexity and fundamentals of love in an objective sense, like a work of fine art, a masterpiece, away from the attachment of stereotyped emotional sensitivity that most individuals would associate it with. Wholesome, long-lasting, love could only ever be facilitated with only the premises of knowing what love truly is; love comes in multiple forms and conditions, with different people continually expressing and "passing it" around in our contemporary societal system. Firstly, the majority of people regard the problem of love as primarily one of being loved, rather than one of loving, or of one's capacity to love. Consequently, many people wonder how to be loved and how to show themselves as lovable. In this passive state of mind, people tend to refuse to learn about love but instead intensify their desire to be loved. But fundamentally, what acts as a barrier for people to truly understand love? This arises from the problem where people are made to believe that the problem in love arises from the object, not the problem of the faculty; love is easy, but finding the ideal individual to love - or be loved by - is extremely difficult.

This mindset stems from various factors related to the evolution of modern civilization. In the Victorian period, like in many traditional cultures, love was not usually a spontaneous personal experience that may lead to marriage. Marriage, on the other hand, was contracted by convention. That is, love was expected to grow once the marriage was completed, though romantic love has increased dramatically during recent generations: the principle of the traditional nature of ‘love after marriage’ persists and has a significant impact on what individuals think of romantic love.

Another element of modern society that is closely connected to and a cause of this factor is our

culture’s reliance on mutually beneficial exchange: a desire for purchasing and receiving, or otherwise, awaiting and prospering towards attaining and achieving a certain specific commodity. Modern peoples’ happiness depends on the joy of browsing through shop windows and, with consideration, buying their desired object with all they could afford. Likewise, in another instance, it is similar to accomplishing a sought-after goal that one could reach within their potential. In a culture where marketing dominates and financial achievement is of the utmost importance, it is not surprising that human love relationships follow the same pattern of exchange which dominates the commodity and economic markets Putting this into clearer perspectives of love and relationships; Erich Fromm, from his renowned book ‘The Art of Loving’ claims, "Two persons thus fall in love when they feel they have found the best object available on the market, considering the limitations of their own exchange values.” Despite Fromm initially sounding impassively crass and insensitive, as though referring humans to emotionless functions - the meaning, however, does indeed reflect the truth, the reality of how love manifests in contemporary society. As a result, this type of input-output, complementary, exchange-seeking characteristic of love unknowingly shifts our perspective into thinking any arising issue in love is due to the object, but not in our own act of loving.

Secondly, the error leading to the assumption that there is nothing to be learned about love lies in the confusion between the passive initial experience of “falling” in love and the permanent active state of “being in love”. If two strangers, as we all are, suddenly let the wall between them crumble and feel closer feeling one another, this moment of oneness is one of the most exhilarating, exciting sensations in life. It is much more remarkable for those who have been cut off, alone, and without love. This miracle of sudden intimacy is often facilitated if it is combined with, or initiated by, sexual attraction. However, this form of love is, by itself, transient and utterly short-lasting. When two individuals get acquainted, their sense of familiarity and closeness loses its magical, special quality until their hostility, disappointments, and mutual boredom demolish whatever remains of the initial exhilaration. However, they are unaware of all of this at first; in fact, they interpret the depth of their passion, this being "crazy" for each other, as evidence of the strength and depth of their love, when in fact, it only exposes the degree of their escalating feeling of loneliness. This state of trance,

ignorance and stupidity, leaves people in the illusion of being perfectly in love, that they are properly loving, and that they know what love is. This, in most contexts, would ultimately lead to the ‘failure of long-lasting love’.

Why love?

Now, to overcome the ‘failure of love’, we need to examine the reasons for this failure and understand the meaning of love. So, why love? Why do we love? Humankind is gifted with reason; awareness. Oneself is aware of their past, present and future; has awareness of him/herself as a separate entity, their aloneness, the awareness of their own short life span, the fact that they may die before those who they love; the fact that they are helpless in the face of the forces of nature and of society. All of these intertwined aspects of life make individuals feel separate and different. However, the experience of separateness arouses anxiety. Being separated implies being cut off and disconnected, unable to use the full potential of my human abilities on things and people around me. Thus, being separate implies being helpless, unable to actively grasp the world--things and people--it means that the world around me can hurt me without my capacity to respond. This aloneness and lack of control leaves people insane and feeling deranged, like they do not belong to their existing community or circle. Thus, the most pressing need of people is to transcend their separateness, to break free from the prison of isolation, and reach a state of unity, a feeling of oneness and togetherness - through love.

Mature love

Mature love is union under the condition of maintaining one's integrity and individuality. Love is an active power in humans; a power that breaks down the walls that separate individuals and connects them with another; love enables people to overcome feelings of isolation and separation while likewise permitting them to stay true to themselves and maintain their integrity. In love the paradox occurs that two beings become one yet remain two. Mature love is active, not a passively driven effect. Thereby, we must define active and passive. Passiveness doesn’t only lie on the surface level of unwillingness to do anything, or only constantly receiving. A passive man could be driven to endless work and dedication, but by feelings of grave insecurity and loneliness, or by ambition or hunger for money. In all of these circumstances, the individual is a captive of passion, and all of his activity is, in reality, passive; because he is driven;

he is the sufferer, not the 'actor'.

Love is an activity, not a passive affect; it is a "standing in", not a "falling for". In the broadest sense, the active aspect of love might be defined as primarily giving rather than receiving. Then what is giving? As straightforward as the solution appears to be, it is actually loaded with ambiguities and complexity. The most common misconception is that giving means "giving up" something or sacrificing. The act of loving is experienced in this way by someone whose character has not progressed beyond the stage of receptive, exploitative, or hoarding orientation. They give, only to expect an exchange for receiving; giving without receiving for them is being cheated. As a result, the majority of people of this sort refuse to offer anything. Some people build a virtue out of giving as a sacrifice. They believe that giving should be done just because it is unpleasant; the benevolence of giving to them consists primarily in the act of accepting and bearing the sacrifice.

On the other hand, giving has a completely different significance for the productive character. Giving is the ultimate manifestation of power. I feel my strength, richness, and power in the act of giving. This feeling of increased life and potency makes me happy. I see myself as overflowing, spending, living, and joyful. Giving is more joyful than receiving, not because it is a deprivation or sacrifice, but because it expresses my aliveness. What does one individual give to another exactly? One gives of oneself, of one's most valuable possession, one gives of one's own life. This does not imply that one takes one's life for the other, but that one gives of what is alive in themself; one gives their joy, interest, understanding, knowledge, humour, sadness-of all expressions and manifestations of what is alive in oneself to others. In thus giving of oneselves life, one enriches the other person. It enriches the other's sense of aliveness by enhancing his own sense of aliveness.

One does not give in order to receive; giving is an exquisite delight in and of itself. But when one gives, the other cannot help but bring something to life to them, and what is brought to life reflects back to oneself. When one truly gives, individuals cannot help but receive what is given back to them. Something is born in the act of giving, and both parties are glad for the life that is born for both of them. In particular, love is a force that generates love, whereas impotence is the incapacity to produce love. In this action of actively giving, mature love is developed.

Artwork: Cindy Wong

Throughout the three years of lockdown, our world has changed. Human social interactions were reduced to a minimum due to social distancing and online classes. This was distressing news and as people searched for alternatives to cope with isolation, some got more attached to idols as a result. This led to some people going through extreme lengths to attempt to get attention and ultimately resulted in toxic behaviour online.

Parasocial relationships can exist on a spectrum along with other social relationships, social media plays a huge role in how these relationships are recreated and maintained. No matter how genuine an idol looks to the public, only a small part of their personality is showcased on camera, an example would be that K-pop idols are prohibited from sharing their political belief or stance and aren’t allowed to date for a certain period of time to retain a ‘pure’ image amongst their fans. Some factors that may influence the formations of parasocial relationships between kpop idols and fans could be, exposure of personal moments, idol agencies often may promote their idol by sharing personal moments and struggles, allowing fans to feel a sense of sympathy and understanding. Another feature is social interaction; idol agencies make social media platforms and fan engagement activities to foster social interaction between fans and idols.

It’s often hard for fans to separate their favourite internet persona from the person behind the screen, this happens especially with the V-tubing community, V-tubers are people that use virtual avatars to make content, V-tubers have gained popularity in recent years and a global following as well as being a prominent part of internet culture, some popular V-tubers include Kizuna AI, Hololive Production talents, Nijisanji members just to name a few. A V-tuber’s fan would show their strong support for their favourite V-tubers by watching their videos and donating during live streams and even purchasing merchandise, the relationship between V-tubers and their fans often involves lots of interaction and engagement. Parasocial relationships can also exist between V-tubers fans and the virtual characters/avatars portrayed by the V-tubers, In this case it’s possible for individuals to develop a sense of emotional attachment, connection or even intimacy with the virtual personas.

It’s important to note that parasocial behaviour with V-tubers are similar to the other forms of parasocial relationships, meaning they are onesided and that fans have limited or no direct personal interactions with the V-tubers themselves. Fans of V-tubers should be mindful of maintaining a healthy perspective by understanding the boundaries between virtual characters and the real people behind them therefore it’s essential to separate the fictional representation from the actual person behind the avatar and overall maintaining a balanced perspective. Recognising the limitations of parasocial relationships can help fans enjoy the content while maintaining a positive level of engagement and understanding.

As said before, parasocial relationships can exist on a spectrum along with other social relationships, social media plays a huge role in how these relationships are recreated and maintained. Additionally, the concept of parasocial connections has been extended by media psychologist Gayle Stever to include parasocial attachments. Based on the theory of attachment originated by Bowlby, which describes the deep bonds formed between caregivers and children as well as between romantic partners, parasocial attachment happens when a “media persona becomes a source of comfort, felt security, and safe haven." Like parasocial interactions and relationships, parasocial attachments function similarly to attachments in real-life and, therefore, an important component of parasocial attachments is proximity seeking.However, instead of direct interaction, the proximity in parasocial attachments is achieved through mediated means, such as watching and rewatching particular fictional characters in a movie or TV show or keeping up with media personalities' social media accounts.

Parasocial relationships can certainly have drawbacks, but they may also have some benefits as well. Some of the potential advantages include increased belonging. On a more optimistic note, parasocial connections can increase selfconfidence, improve one's belief in their selfefficacy, and result in stronger feelings of belonging. Reduced loneliness is another potential benefit of parasocial relationships. The isolation caused by quarantine orders issued during the COVID-19 pandemic has increased interest in the social surrogacy role media figures can play. Although the research on this topic is limited, people who didn't have other social outlets while they were in lockdown turned to TV and movie characters and online social media to satisfy their need for interaction and connection. One more potential benefit is stronger social connections. Because friends and family can engage in parasocial relationships with the same media persona without jealousy, discussing these mutual parasocial relationships can strengthen social relationships. Fans also often create online or inperson communities dedicated to specific performers, characters, and other media figures, which can contribute to real-life relationships with like-minded others.

If the persona makes an impression that causes the individual to think about them beyond the interaction, parasocial interactions can lead to a parasocial relationship. In turn, parasocial relationships can be strengthened by further parasocial interactions, sometimes leading to parasocial attachment. Moreover, if the parasocial relationship ends, either because the media figure dies, the show or movie series they appear in ends, or the media user decides they no longer wish to engage with the media persona, the media user can go through a parasocial breakup. Research has found that people respond to the loss of a parasocial relationship in ways that are similar to the loss of a social relationship.

GENETIC?

DNA is very important for us, it makes us who we are. Without DNA, we wouldn’t exist today. I want to tell you about what parts of us make up our behaviour. The most well-known one being hormones. Many people have opposing views on hormones - some say it can change a whole person’s character, whilst others may see it as just a part of life, perhaps nothing to be worried about. However, studies have shown that having excessive hormones can lead to changes in behaviour in later stages of life, which can greatly affect a person’s overall well-being, considering how a large part of our lives depends on our actions and decisionmaking.

There are also so many other factors of the DNA that are involved in the formation of behaviour, another one of the most important ones being neurotransmitters. These are important because they send messages along them from parts of the brain to parts of the body. A few are serotonin and dopamine. Serotonin is meant to stimulate calmer emotions, e.g. happiness. Dopamine, on the other hand, stimulates emotions that promote a sense of well-being in life, e.g. motivation or satisfaction.

These messages that are sent and the frequency of the messages sent can severely affect the way people look at you, e.g. jealousy or selfconsciousness. With that knowledge, we know that people can also change their personality because other people in their age group don’t like it or will comment on it, which can and probably will negatively affect a person by making them sad or angry because of some of these comments. This may just change your behaviour, which can depend on certain situations or locations. The changes in personality are not always set in stone(e.g. the way you act in school compared to the way you act at home).

Some of the mental aspects that DNA affects would be IQ or mental disabilities. Although IQ is a trait of intelligence, which depends on both genetics and the environment of growth, intelligence is a smaller factor involved in behaviour. Mental disabilities on the other hand could severely affect behaviour since some mental disabilities can restrict a person from being able to have a normal social life.

IQ is used to test people for their ability to solve problems without the help of anyone or anything. Intelligence can be what is called a double-edged sword, meaning that although there are many

advantages to having a high IQ, there are also disadvantages that come with it. For example, people with high IQ are believed to have a low EQ, which is also known as emotional intelligence, used to see the capacity of a person's ability to blend thinking logically with emotions to make decisions. EQ can be basically explained as testing how well someone can respond to feelings.

This tells us that there are different types of intelligence, the most prominent being IQ and EQ which I have already mentioned above. These results do not define a person, meaning their whole being does not just revolve around intelligence, there are also other things that shape a person into who they are, e.g. personality, behaviour, etc.

Higher IQ people have a flaw, as does everyone, they may be born with a relatively lower EQ. This can make them more isolated than a person with an average IQ and EQ. People with higher EQ and lower IQ will tend to have more friends, a better social life, etc. But the drawback is that they will often backseat their studies, which most parents do not want of their children.

Most behavioural changes are formed from copying friends' or family members’ behaviours, which means you are adapting to the behaviours of others and can shape your personality forever. This is how social bonds form when you assimilate into an environment by socialising with someone, this is the process people go through when making friends. Social bonds are what connect you to other people around you(friends, family, etc.), making friends, classmates, lovers, etc.

Without the ability to assimilate into the environment, which some people with mental disabilities lack, they can quickly be shunned from their environment. Without anyone to socialise with, this can lead to bullying because they have no one that can or will help them if they were to get bullied. Since many people do not enjoy the company of someone who has mental disabilities, they might be left with no one to socialise with. This is not good for anyone because humans are known as very social creatures, most of whom enjoy socialising with other people.

Frequent levels of bullying can easily become traumatic to many people, with or without a mental disability. Actually, anything that can harm a person or scare them badly enough can lead to trauma. Trauma can stay with a person forever, which can, in severe cases, lead to PTSD from very high levels of trauma. Trauma can be shown through different forms, some of which are: personality disorders, emotional overwhelmedness or emotional numbing.

Some ways that personality disorders can form are from genetics or from childhood trauma. Childhood experiences can play a massive role in the formation of a person's behaviour and personality, for example, the way that a child is brought up(to be independent or to be dependent on other people). They could also shape the way people choose who to look up to(role models), at a younger age, children learn their basic skills from people close to them(parents, siblings, etc.). Trauma will scar a child forever, however, there are different ways in which a child will cope with the trauma. The main one is emotional dysregulation, which is when the child experiencing the trauma begins to feel either too much emotion(being overwhelmed) or too little emotion(being emotionally numb).

Emotional overwhelmness can vary between people. They can begin to feel hatred for specific emotions associated with the trauma, which can lead to difficulties identifying these feelings, which could lead them to feel out of control when feeling the emotions associated with the trauma. On the other hand, emotional numbness is when you feel nothing when being reminded of something associated with the trauma. This could affect your life both socially and emotionally, because people may not want to associate with someone who isn’t able to properly express their emotions without being exposed to their past again.

Another way trauma affects a person is through reenactment, which is when the person who experienced this kind of trauma will replay the moment in their head whenever they are exposed to things that could trigger the reenactment of that traumatic event. Sometimes, people will try to reenact this kind of trauma to ‘master’ themselves, making themselves emotionally numb to the subject. But in other cases, trauma can lead to selfharm, for example, self-destructive behaviours, brought on by trauma which has a chance of harming either someone else or yourself. This is an example of behaviours that are not brought on by genetics, but rather, by environment.

Now begs the question of nature vs nurture. Which of these play the main role in shaping one's personality and behaviour? That all depends on personal opinion. This is because they are both important factors contributing to the formation of behaviour. One is dependent on the factors related to your growth from a baby to an adult, while the other is dependent on the people around you the most in your growth.

Nature is the environment you are brought up in, the place you were born in or lived in for the majority of your childhood or even the year that you were born. These can massively impact the way you act, speak etc. A child’s environment is critical as this is the starting point in their life. The things they see and experience might change the way their behaviours develop Even the year you were born can affect the way you experience things, an example of this could be if someone grew up in extreme poverty, they might experience many things differently, e.g. being more appreciative of any gifts given to them, and being more careful with how they spend their money.

As I have said before, self-destructive behaviours are something that can cause harm to either yourself or another person close to you. This could be through anything, e.g. gambling, self-harm, or even something as simple as changing yourself to fit in with other people. However, the severity/frequency of these behaviours will vary between people, meaning that these can happen in small, irregular and long intervals or happen for hours on end before feeling the need to do it again only a few hours later.

While nurture is the childhood you experience, the parental figures in your life, teach you the basis of your thoughts and feelings. This is because, as I have said before, young children copy what people close to them do, from the most basic of things(e.g. eating or talking) to the way they walk or eat. This tells us that children will take in information from people closest to them(e.g. parents or siblings, maybe even external family members). Not only that, but your parents can also shape the things you like, the religions you believe in, and even your ethical views can be influenced by them. Usually, children will use a different behaviour in facing their parents compared to facing their friends. This usually happens with parents being overprotective or being a ‘helicopter’ parent, making their children more inclined to lie to them to not make them angry.

Parental figures could have political views that they force onto their children, even if the children decide they don’t believe that that political view suits them and their future. This can easily lead to arguments between parent and child, the parents thinking that most of these arguments are completely the child’s fault for going against their words and disagreeing with them. But actually, it is most likely because ethically they do not understand it or do not think what the parent is thinking is correct.

In conclusion, I believe that DNA can in fact affect your behaviour, but most of the behavioural traits appear when they are in their growing phase, i.e. from babies to children to teenagers. Most mental disabilities will be noticed when children are in their growing phase, but sometimes they can even appear as a baby. This tells us that parents should be more aware of their children’s feelings and support them with their decisions, even if they do not agree with their choices.

A MURDERER? CAN YOU LOVE

NICKYLAI BY

Artwork: Cynthia Li

Have you ever loved someone that you shouldn’t? Perhaps someone who is a well-known cheater, someone who is known to have a bad reputation, someone who is a murderer- Wait what? A murderer? Who? What? How? I mean… how would that work?

To comprehend the idea of loving a murderer, we first have to understand how people fall in love. There are three aspects of falling in love - lust, attraction and attachment, each distinguished and defined by the chemicals the brain releases, for instance: lust is identified by testosterone and oestrogen, attraction is by dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin, whilst attachment is by oxytocin and vasopressin. These hormones help make us feel good, rewarded, and close to our romantic partners, attracting us towards them and helping us to fall in love with them.

Besides the scientific part of love, there is also a philosophical viewpoint of it. The “Triangular Theory of Love” was a theory of love developed by Robert Sternberg, an American psychologist and psychometrician, in the context of interpersonal relationships. He stated that there are three components of love: an intimacy component, a passion component and a commitment component Thus an ideal relationship in his view would include all three elements. However, sorry to break it to you, but nothing is picture-perfect in the real world. Especially if you’re falling in love with a criminal! In general, most loving relationships start with “fatuous love”, better known as “love at first sight” - a love with passion and commitment, but lacking intimacy. This love is based on ‘drive’ by an individual where they are physically attracted to another, alongside a commitment to the other person. This is true for most loving relationships where we may lack context of what the other person is like: their personality, their background, their likes and dislikes etc., which is even more true for loving a criminal, especially if you have never met or interacted with them in person before.

Generally, those who fall in love with criminals are blinded by other factors that make them ignore their evil schemes and minds; which leads to my second question: what makes someone attractive to us?

We fall in love based on interpersonal attractiveness, which are positive feelings we get about another person, including the forms of liking, love, friendship, lust and admiration. For instance, we may fall in love with our classmates based on admiration of their work ethic and good grades, or perhaps a close friend of ours who has always been by our side and supportive of us.

But when we speak about “fatuous love”, we have to realise those loving senses come with no context We probably have no idea which company the stranger on the street works in(not even their name!), but we might still find them attractive when we glance over at them. This is because interpersonal attractiveness includes physical attractiveness, which is usually something we find first in a person we meet for the first time. Research has shown that romantic attraction is primarily determined by physical attractiveness, especially in earlier stages, as people are generally more attracted to partners whom they consider to be physically attractive. This is also seen through a scientific and evolutionary perspective, as evolutionary psychology studies note that some physical features and traits that suggest youthfulness, physical and mental health, strength and fertility can make an individual seem more attractive than ever, as these are desirable qualities in both genders from a biological and reproductive standpoint These factors may include facial features and facial symmetry, as well as nonvisual cues such as voice and scent. This is why some of us may view males with deeper voices or females with a pleasant scent as more attractive, as they seem stronger in the reproduction gamesomething that is our end goal in our life from a biological perspective. And as much as it sounds unreasonable to fall in love with someone just for looks, you’d be surprised at how often we do it. Just think of all the celebrities and idols you’ve liked solely because they looked ‘cute’ in that one Pinterest picture or ‘hot’ in other fan edits. Yes, that… you’re starting to get my point…

And though it may seem like physical attractiveness plays a huge role in deciding whether or not we fall in love with someone, there still begs a question if we love by rationality or sensibility, as you’d probably guess that falling in love with a murderer is irrational. And the truth is, it’s complicated From time to time, we have established love as a complex emotion that is affected both by rationality and sensibility, which is why the experience of loving someone often involves both emotional and rational components such as thoughts and feelings On one hand, we might love someone rationally - with logical thinking and reasoning. This often occurs when we have loved someone for a longer period, where we might start to consider factors in our relationship or about the significant other such as compatibility, economic and social status and whether or not we share the same values. These logical thoughts help us to make more thoughtful choices, and to ensure we are in a stable and healthy relationship in all aspects. For instance, our parents would want us to date or even marry someone who has a professional job with a stable income, as it would provide us with a more stable relationship from an economic perspective. On the other hand, sensibility are emotional and intuitive responses that usually spark at the start of most relationships, where our intense emotions and feelings bring us to a person, even when it could be hard to explain or justify rationally. This attraction of love is important as it helps us to connect with a significant other on a deeper and more personal level, allowing us to experience joy and happiness with them. A notable example of this would be falling in love with a book or movie character, as you might be attracted to their personality and characteristics shined through in the series, making you deeply interested in them.

This concept of ‘sensibility’ can also be applied to falling in love with individuals with the “dark triad” personality traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy), which are characterised by self-centeredness, manipulative tendencies and a lack of empathy. Think of Lady Macbeth in the Shakespearean play “Macbeth”... she’s a perfect example of that, thinking only for herself when having ambitious thoughts of becoming queen, manipulating Macbeth into committing regicide despite his contemplation and refusal, lacking

empathy for the murders they committed and even challenging Macbeth’s masculinity when he is deeply affected by the regicide and hallucinations after Banquo’s murder. Fear not if you haven’t read Macbeth before, we can still explain this in easier terms Though these traits are generally considered to be rather negative and socially undesirable, they can sometimes still appeal to us and cause us to love someone irrationally or based on ‘sensibility’. Often the toxic partner with these dark triad traits can be romanticised as being “the bad boy/girl”, making them seem attractive to us despite exhibiting rebellious and dangerous behaviours. This links with why we might fall in love with criminals, or maybe just people with a bad reputation in general Their charisma alongside the sense of adventure created by their rebellious nature and unpredictability may be seen as charming and captivating to some of us, drawing our attention towards them, where this attraction towards them sometimes overrides one’s moral considerations, making one fall in love with a rebellious and possibly immoral individual.

With all this theory behind us, let’s answer the question of whether it is indeed possible to fall in love with a murderer. And the answer is… yes, and surprisingly there've been many examples of these for the past decades if not more. One example would be the recent case of Cameron Herrin - a 19-year-old male who was convicted of hitting and killing a young mother Jessica Raubenolt and her one-year-old daughter on Bayshore Boulevard, where he was participating in an illegal street race, driving at 100mph. He was sentenced to 24 years, however many argued that his sentencing was too harsh Although logically it may seem to us it was because he was rather young, it’s noticeable that many people asked for a lesser sentence because many online users loved him Yes, they loved him! To the point he had fan accounts Many TikTok and Twitter users were attracted to his visuals and thus supported him despite his murderous background, claiming he was “too cute” to be locked up. Many of these users made fan accounts and trended the hashtag #justiceforcameron and posted moments of him lowering his mask to drink water and still images of him crying all over the Internet. Despite how bizarre the idea of falling in love with a man who was irresponsible and wronged himself by

killing two innocent lives is, people still fell in love with him despite his murderous acts The most sensible reasoning behind this is the idea of “fatuous love” and its link with our attraction towards the physical features of a person. We should by now establish that many of these netizens didn’t fall in love with Cameron because he was kind to anyone or he helped out at a local charity, but rather because he had charming visuals. This proves the idea that many fall in love based on looks, as it is biologically reasonable for us to do so as it helps us to find the right partner to play in the reproduction game and allows for the continuation of the human species. Though there is nothing wrong with falling in love with someone based on their looks, which could be considered the ‘sensibility’ part of love, where does it cross the line when it is not okay or even immoral to fall in love with someone?

The truth is there is no specific line or rules you have to follow. Everyone can choose to love whoever they wish, regardless of their looks or their personality You can consider that there is a grey area of falling in love, where nothing is defined, and loving these criminals could fall into this specific area.

You might argue that loving someone so irrationally is just a ‘gen-z’ thing, possibly blaming it on the Internet or that ‘phone’, however loving a criminal isn’t something new, rather it has started decades if not centuries ago Ted Bundy would be an older example of such love Despite being a rapist and a serial killer - confessing to the murders of 30 women and possibly more at the time of his execution, many people of the late 20th century still romanticised him, for his ‘attractive’ looks, intelligence and charm

Both examples raised show that it is possible to fall in love with a murderer, and there have been such cases in the wider society, not just on a personal level. And despite their murderous acts and immoral behaviour, people still fall in love with them as they are more attracted to their physical appearance and charisma, rather than rationally thinking about their morality and overall character. Though it may be justified to fall in love with someone with a bad reputation or who is known to be a big flirt to everyone, loving someone - a murderer who has made actions that cost someone’s life, is a whole different story. Despite it being psychologically justifiable, it is not from a moral perspective…

And even though it is immoral to love a murderer after considering the murderous acts said person has committed, it is still worth exploring the role of preexisting impressions and emotional connections to the wronged significant other during their dating period, if they had known each other before the murderous act. If the individual has had relations with the murderer before and created a positive or favourable impression of the person they were involved with, they would likely be more willing to forgive and continue loving said murderer. This is due to their previous emotional connection and attachment. During the dating phase, the individual is likely to form emotional bonds and attachments with said murderer, which can create a strong sense of loyalty, affection and understanding for them Thus, when faced with the revelation of their partner’s criminal actions, the previous emotional connection established may lead them to forgive their partner for the heinous act they committed, allowing them to still fall in love with their partner In a more simple example, despite a person’s partner cheating on them with someone else, which can be considered as an immoral act, if the person has had positive impressions of their partner, then he/she would be more likely to forgive their partner for cheating, and continue on their relationship, pretending that nothing had happened between them. This is not the case for everyone, but this might form an example of why someone might continue to fall in love with a criminal, despite being aware of their criminal behaviour.

This rather illogical way of falling in love may be seen through the Stockholm syndrome - a theory that explains why hostages sometimes develop a psychological bond and feelings for their captors. When a hostage develops Stockholm syndrome, he/she may develop positive feelings towards the captor and refuse to cooperate with the police or other government authorities for the reason they are in love with their captor and do not want them to be in trouble. Whilst Stockholm syndrome is typically associated with hostage situations, it can also be applied in today’s question where an individual falls in love with someone who is immoral or has engaged in harmful behaviour. We can see this play out in rationalisation and cognitive dissonance, where an individual may try to downplay or justify their partner’s immoral actions, attributing them to external factors or believing that their partner is capable of change. This internal struggle can lead to a skewed perception of said partner, making it easier for the individual to fall in love with their immoral partner due to the false image created

In hindsight, the answer to the question “Can you love a murderer?” is a simple yes. Quoting from the icon Britney Spears, “But mama I’m in love with a criminal; And this type of love isn’t rational, it’s physical”, the truth is people generally fall in love with criminals because of their physical attractiveness, or perhaps to put it wider, their sensibility. It’s surely not rational to fall in love with a murderer, after considering the immoral acts he has committed, but it can be justifiable as it is just part of our nature. We are born to fall in love, as to continue the human race; and if the murderer was attractive and appealing to the biological side of our brain, then it is highly possible someone, or maybe we, would fall in love with said person. But maybe not. And think clearly about his/her immoral actions before wanting to fall in love with someone who is a murderer, serial killer, robber or just anyone who has wronged himself in an immoral and perhaps illegal way. So yes, you can love a murderer and it’s backed up by psychology, but no if you think about it from a moral and philosophical perspective… but that discussion is for another time

Impulsive spending

WHY DO WE DO IT?

JEMMA QUINN by

Whether you are grabbing a quick candy bar at the checkout counter of a supermarket or splurging on a luxury item online, most of us have experienced the irresistible urge to make unplanned and unnecessary purchases. This article will discuss the psychology behind impulse spending and explore the factors that drive this behaviour, as well as the consequences it can have on us both financially and emotionally.

Impulse buying refers to the spontaneous and unplanned purchase of goods or services, usually triggered by an immediate emotional response. It can be characterised by a lack of planning and often leads to buying items that are not necessary. The instant gratification it provides creates the appeal of impulse purchases, satisfying a desire or fulfilling an emotional need in an instant. However, as the instant gratification fades away the feeling of regret washes over, leaving behind feelings of guilt, remorse, or dissatisfaction. This emotional turbulence can have a negative impact on our overall well-being and self-esteem.

Where does the urge to impulse spend come from?

There are a multitude of factors that contribute to impulse spending, a notable few include environmental, financial, emotional and psychological. More often than not, people engage in impulse purchases to regulate their emotions or to seek instant gratification. The act of buying something new for yourself can provide a temporary boost to your mood and create a sense of joy and excitement. The instant feeling of positive emotions are often what leads people to continue to impulse spend as they will seek to prolong these feelings, Causing individuals to increase the size of their purchases in pursuit of intensifying these positive emotions. Conversely, negative emotions such as stress or boredom may further trigger impulse buying to find comfort or a distraction. Individuals using impulse spending as a coping mechanism to counteract stress often do it seeking emotional regulation, meaning to exert control over their own emotional state – in this case through buying unnecessary goods to suppress or ignore any unpleasant emotions they may be experiencing.

What we humans possess is scarcity bias, which affects us subconsciously. It makes us perceive items that are hard to get by as important, while those that are easily accessible are undesirable. There are many ways in which marketers use this

to their advantage to convince more people to buy their products, such as a ‘limited time only’ sale or marketing a product as ‘limited supply’. Messages like these often convince people to buy a product in fear of missing out if they do not act quickly. This can affect certain individuals who are naturally more impulsive than others, as they tend to act on immediate desires without fully considering the long-term consequences, finding it challenging to resist the temptation of making unplanned purchases. The anchoring bias may also occur, where an individual relies largely on an initial piece of information or price when making decisions, which sets a defence point of subsequent judgements and decisions. The individual may give disproportionate weight to the anchor, often skewing judgement. This can be applied to pricing of a product which is being discounted and has a sale of 50% off. When the customer sees the original price, this number is considered an anchor. Soon after when they see the discounted price they will believe that it is a great deal, purchasing it, even if it was unnecessary. To summarise, cognitive biases such as scarcity and anchoring bias significantly contribute to impulse spending. These biases can contribute to decisions based on initial information, particularly for individuals who prioritise immediate gratification over long-term consequences. Recognising these biases can help an individual make more mindful and deliberate choices purchasing items or services.

Another factor which can trigger impulse spending is social influences, which can come from influencer marketing, peer pressure, social comparison and more. Influencer marketing can influence an individual greatly into believing they need to buy an unnecessary product or service. This can be seen through social learning theory(SLT) which suggests reasons as to why witnessing the behaviour of another individual is sometimes enough for a new behaviour to be learnt. SLT suggests that people learn through observation, imitation and modelling of others’ behaviours. The model is often the same sex, similar age and of a higher social class to the individual. As more people now have access to their content. Brands have capitalised on celebrities' influence on their followers, by compensating celebrities to promote their products. When young and easily influenced individuals engage with celebrity-centric media, they develop a desire for the identical possessions coveted by these renowned figures. This often leads to the purchase of unnecessary products endorsed by celebrities and influencers. Peer pressure is another factor that influences impulsive spending, which refers to the constant recommendations and endorsements of products or services, swaying individuals to make unplanned purchases. When a friend or family member enthusiastically endorses a product or shares a positive experience with an individual, it creates a sense of curiosity and desire for the product of service. The desire to fit in or participate in shared experiences can lead people to make purchases they would not have made without the recommendations from others. Social comparison refers to the process of comparing one’s ‘in-group’ with other ‘out-groups’. It is a natural human tendency which causes us to compare ourselves to others. This can cause people to see people with a higher social status in their ‘in-group’ with new or expensive products and feel they need to get the same thing. This often leads individuals to make impulsive purchases that are completely unnecessary. In conclusion, the combination of social influences, such as influencer marketing, peer pressure, and social comparison, can strongly impact individuals' impulsive spending behaviour, leading to the purchase of unnecessary products or services driven by the desire to emulate others, fit in, or satisfy social status aspirations.

Consequences of Impulse Buying

Impulsive purchases have significant consequences on an individuals’ financial well-being and overall satisfaction. One of the primary consequences are the obvious financial consequences, as impulsive purchases cause unnecessary spending therefore increased debt. They may find themselves struggling to meet essential financial obligations such as electricity bills or rent, or have limited funds for long-term goals such as savings or investments. Spontaneous purchases can also contribute to a cycle of dissatisfaction, as the initial gratification fades, it will leave them feeling unsatisfied and regretful. Overall, this can gravely negatively impact their overall happiness and emotional well-being. Moreover, excessive amounts of impulse spending can lead to clutter and disorganisation. The accumulation of insignificant goods can create both physical and mental clutter, adding stress to the individual and reducing the quality of their living space. Impulse buying can also become harmful to the environment and contributes greatly to overconsumption. The majority of impulsive purchases are characterised as disposable or shortlived products such as cheap clothing, home decor and small gadgets. Due to the lack of its durability, it often results in an increase of waste generation. The production, transportation and disposal of the products contribute greatly to greenhouse gas emissions, leading to pollution as well as taking up landfill space. In conclusion, impulsive purchases can have huge consequences on both personal finances and overall well-being. It can lead to financial hardships, dissatisfaction, clutter, environmental harm, and contribute to a cycle of overconsumption.

Strategies to avoid impulse purchases

There are many ways in which an individual can avoid impulse purchases, some of which include implementing a cooling-off period, parching mindful consumption and more. The term coolingoff period refers to the time during which the person can change their mind about whether they still feel the need to purchase an item or service after a period of time ranging from 24 hours to a month. By delaying the purchase for a set amount of time this allows them to reassess the necessity and importance of the item or service, reducing the amount of impulsive purchases made. Another method to curb impulse buying is by practising mindful consumption, where an individual can ask themselves whether the item they are buying aligns with their values, needs and long-term goals. This involves making intentional editions which prioritise long-term satisfaction over immediate gratification, allowing for more informed and deliberate purchasing decisions.

Another way an individual can avoid impulse purchases is to actively explore alternative coping mechanisms. As mentioned beforehand, many people who make impulse purchases often do it as a way to regulate their emotions or to seek instant gratification. However, by finding other methods to regulate emotions and stress, it can provide emotional fulfilment without the negative emotional and financial consequences. Activities such as exercise, pursuing creative outlets or practising meditation are all different methods which can be used to replace impulse purchasing as they not only divert one’s attention away from impulse urges but can also foster a sense of wellbeing and contentment. By incorporating alternative coping mechanisms into their lives, individuals can effectively diminish the inclination towards impulse purchases and improve their overall financial and emotional well-being.

Lastly but arguably most importantly, seeking support from friends, family or a professional can help to provide valuable guidance as well as accountability in overcoming impulsive spending habits. By sharing financial goals and progress with someone they trust can help to maintain motivation and provide encouragement.

Understanding the psychology behind impulse buying is crucial in overcoming this behaviour and its potential negative consequences. By recognizing emotional triggers, implementing strategies to curb impulsive behaviour, and practising mindful consumption, individuals can regain control over their purchasing decisions. Furthermore, prioritising long-term goals and aligning purchases with personal values,can help foster healthier and more sustainable consumer habits. True fulfilment and happiness comes from thoughtful and intentional choices instead of impulsive indulgences.

The psychology behind genocide: what drives an ordinary person towards evil?

Genocide is a dark and horrifying chapter in human history. It is a systematic and deliberate attempt to exterminate an entire group of people based on their ethnicity, religion, or other defining characteristics. The perpetration of such unimaginable acts of violence raises a fundamental question: What factors drive an ordinary person towards evil? Exploring the psychology behind genocide can shed light on the factors that contribute to the transformation of normal human beings into perpetrators of evil and give us an opportunity to change them.

One of the primary psychological factors underlying genocide is the power of conformity. Humans, biologically, are social animals; we have an innate need to belong to a tribe, family, etc. This instinct is crucial for human survival, as we have always required a social group for protection; however, this innate need for security has led humans to do things we would not do otherwise. Many different psychological experiments have shown this need for group approval and belonging, namely the Asch Experiment. This experiment demonstrated just how far humans would go to ‘fit in’ with those around them. The participants, and volunteers, were instructed to perform a simple task: look at a series of lines on a card and choose the longest line. The answer was always obvious, and, when alone, the participants would choose the correct line almost every time. However, when the participants would be put in a group of confederates who would purposefully choose the wrong answer, 75% of the participants would agree with the group's decision at least once, despite it being obviously wrong. Additionally, Asch's variety experiments showed that when the judgement was publicly revealed, conformity was more common but also showed that just one rebellious response would make others follow suit. These experiments are extremely important in showing the power of conformity and, although the situation is not quite as dire, gives an insight to how the power of conformity results in genocide. The powerful need to conform can cause the most intelligent, respectable people to perpetrate violence and ‘evil’ no matter how wrong it may seem from an outside perspective. This can be summed up in a quote from Solomon Asch, ‘intelligent and well-meaning young people are willing to call white black’.

Often, perpetrators of genocide or ‘evil’ will dehumanise and ‘other’ the targeted group. Dehumanisation involves viewing members of the targeted group as ‘subhuman’, unworthy of empathy, and as a threat to one's own social group. By dehumanising the targeted group and robbing the victims of their humanity, perpetrators of evil are able to justify their acts of violence and cruelty. Othering, portraying the victims as inferior or fundamentally different, often goes hand in hand with dehumanisation. It influences the ingroup/outgroup treatment that involves attributing negative characteristics to those in the targeted group. By associating a targeted group with negative characteristics, it is easy to stop seeing their individuality and treat them with less dignity and respect. This psychological tactic is significant in allowing perpetrators of violence to distance themselves from their victims' humanity, making it easier to commit unspeakable acts of evil. Dehumanisation or othering often happens without conscious effort or awareness; in some cases,the bias felt towards a targeted group is seen as the norm and therefore not challenged. Through dehumanisation, entire groups of people can be exploited, and it can drive changes in institutions, governments, and societies, leading to persecutions and the denial of the rights of marginalised groups. This is also what leads to events of mass genocide, such as the Holocaust. A psychological experiment that revealed how quickly ingroup/outgroup conflict and othering can occur in ‘normal’ people is the Robbers Cave experiment.

The Robbers Cave experiment took place in the 1950s, studying intergroup conflict among 22 boys in Oklahoma, all from white middle class protestant backgrounds(typical citizens in the area at the time). The boys were told they were going to a summer camp, the group was split into two teams: the Eagles and the Rattlers, initially unaware of the others' existence. The three stages of the experiment were: ingroup formation, group conflict, and conflict resolution. The results from stage two of the experiment display the formation of conflict between two groups and how quickly it can escalate. The ‘group conflict’ phase put the two teams into competitions with each other(e.g. tug of war, capture the flag, etc.) with individual prizes and a trophy for the overall winners, bringing competitive spirit. The escalation of violence was rapid, with the Rattlers, after creating a flag, making threatening remarks towards the Eagles about what would happen if they bothered the flag. In response to this, the Eagles burned the Rattlers

flag, and, in retaliation, the Rattlers ransacked the Eagles cabin. Eventually, researchers had to physically separate the groups as the violence had become too much. This experiment is the perfect display of how quickly ingroup/outgroup formation and ‘othering’ of the outgroup can escalate, producing violence. The participants of this study were average middle-class boys who, when put in teams and put under competition, began to threaten and harm each other, with each group seeing themselves as ‘better’ than the other. When ingroups and outgroups begin to form alongside stress or competition, violence and harm, whether on a small or large scale, begin to escalate.

The escalation of violence and gradual desensitisation can cause large-scale acts of evil, such as genocide, to occur across a large area. Initial discrimination and prejudice against a certain group, no matter how small, can, under the right circumstances, escalate to create a cycle of violence. Smaller acts of violence may desensitise individuals and, over time, they become more receptive to participating in extreme acts of violence, creating an environment for genocide. Additionally, the ‘identity fusion’ phenomenon brings in the idea of blurring the boundaries between the self and the group. This is when an individual is almost indoctrinated into a certain group, adopting their beliefs and actions and becoming hostile towards outsiders. Eventually, this means a person is willing to commit atrocities in order to protect the group’s interests, a situation that, when on a large enough scale, can be a cause of genocide.

Genocide has often been carried out under authoritarian regimes, where obedience to authority is highly valued. Authoritarianism and obedience to authority can help to explain the psychology behind why so many people obey orders to perpetrate violence. Agency theory believes that, when confronted with or given orders by someone of higher authority, we become an ‘agent’ of the authority figure and will do what we are told, even if it goes against what we morally believe, in which case a person may experience ‘moral strain’. Additionally, a person will carry out orders they may not agree with by displacing the responsibility for any consequences onto the authority figure. If someone does not feel responsible for the actions they are carrying out, they are less likely to question them or disobey. Milgram's study, set to investigate agency theory

and the psychological factors behind the Holocaust, displays that people will commit immoral acts of ‘evil’ under pressure from an authority figure. In the study, participants were told to shock a ‘learner’(confederate) who had to repeat word pairs read out to them by the ‘teacher’. Whenever they answered a question wrong, with shocks increasing by 15V each time and going up to 450V, they were zapped. The participants are encouraged by an ‘experimenter’(confederate) dressed in a white lab coat to give the impression of authority and expertise, urged on with phrases such as ‘the research requires you to continue’ whenever the participant showed any doubt about what they were doing. The study found 60% of participants shocked the learner up to 450V, with many displaying signs of moral strain, a state of mental discomfort or anxiety experienced when a person's actions conflict with their personal morality, such as sweating, nervous laughter, or even having seizures. Milgram concluded that you ‘don’t have to be a psychopath to obey immoral orders; ordinary people will do it in the right situation’. This study is extremely valuable in proving that horrible acts of violence and genocide can happen anywhere under authority; there only needs to be a ‘right situation’ for ordinary people to turn to violence.

A number of psychological factors play a role in the conception and the implementation of genocide. As the experiments mentioned show, under the right circumstances, anybody can be a perpetrator of ‘evil’ whether that is by displacing responsibility, dehumanising or even forming an ingroup. Ordinary people are not exempt from the psychological factors behind the creation of genocide. However, with this knowledge, we have the opportunity to make changes in our society to avoid situations in which violence can escalate. Something as simple as speaking up when you don't agree with something, even if it goes against the majority decision, can make a difference; it's most likely others agree with you. Choosing to take responsibility for your actions rather than displacing it onto someone else can also stop acts of violence or hate before they have a chance to form. Overall, psychology is a powerful tool for bringing about evil, but we can also use it to bring about change. Be aware of your actions and take responsibility for them. By understanding human behaviour and the situations that lead to violence they can be changed.

How cognitive biases influence individuals' economic decision-making processes?

This essay explores the role of cognitive biases in economic decision-making. There are many biases identified in the field of behavioural economics, which influence how people respond to economic choices, including confirmation bias, loss aversion and anchoring bias. It explains the psychology behind these biases and their implications for economic behaviour, such as investment decisions, consumer choices, and market outcomes.

Cognitive bias is a systematic disposition when humans are thinking and interpreting information in the world around them This affects the decisions and judgments that they make because such reasoning does not comply with logic or plausibility. Although the human brain is undoubtedly very powerful, it has its limitations Cognitive biases are usually caused by the brain trying to simplify information processing. There are a range of different cognitive biases, some of which will be explained below in this article.

Confirmation bias

Confirmation bias refers to people’s tendency to look for and interpret information that is consistent with their preexisting beliefs or hypotheses This bias is especially true when an issue is highly important or self-relevant However, it is largely unintentional, and results in a person ignoring or giving little consideration to information that conflicts with their decision while giving special treatment to information that supports their personal beliefs

One reason why people show confirmation bias is because it makes it easier for them to process information. Due to the sheer volume of information available, humans have to make split-second decisions without thoroughly looking over the details before making a conclusion. Bias forms in human decisionmaking as they have evolved to process information quickly to protect themselves It is adaptive for humans to rely on their instinct that keeps them safe.

Another reason why people are susceptible to confirmation bias is because of their self-esteem. When people realise a belief they value is incorrect, it causes them to feel poorly about themselves. Hence, people will look for information which agrees with their current beliefs to feel better. Humans also prefer to believe they are intelligent; information that contradicts their thoughts or suggests they made a poor decision implies they lack intelligence. As a result, confirmation bias encourages people to ignore such information and focus on figures which support their viewpoint.

This biased approach to decision-making influences economic decision-making Individuals may selectively gather and interpret information that supports their preferred economic outcomes, leading to biased decision-making. This may lead to risky decision-making and lead people to overlook warning signs and other important information People also tend to give more weight to information that supports their beliefs than is warranted by the evidence.

In this manner, confirmation bias is often a component of black swan events, which are highimpact events that are unexpected but, in retrospect, appear to be inevitable. In interpersonal relations, confirmation bias can cause several problems because people may form inaccurate and biased impressions of each other This could lead to miscommunication and conflict in group settings. Additionally, when someone treats a person according to their expectations, that person may unintentionally change their behaviour to conform to the other person’s expectations, thereby providing further support for the perceiver’s confirmation bias.

People may be overconfident in their beliefs because they have accumulated evidence to support them, when in reality they have overlooked or ignored a great deal of evidence refuting their beliefs evidence which, if they had considered it, should lead them to question their beliefs. This leads to overconfidence bias, which refers to the tendency of individuals to overestimate their own abilities and the accuracy of their predictions.

The implications of overconfidence cannot be understated in business. In terms of making economic decisions, overconfident people are more likely to take unnecessary and excessive risks, engage in speculative investments, or make future projections extremely optimistic

Loss aversion

Loss aversion is the cognitive bias that describes why individuals prefer to avoid losses over acquiring gains of the same amount The pain of losing could be twice as powerful as the pleasure of gaining psychologically. Loss aversion has been used to explain many effects obtained in decision-making research, such as the sunk-cost effect, defined as our tendency to continue with an endeavour we've invested money, effort, or time into even if the current costs outweigh the benefits. This also affects individuals from an economic standpoint because people may be less willing to invest in stocks if they repeatedly lose money over a period of time As a result, some investors may invest small amounts of money, invest in different industries or not invest at all.

Loss aversion is closely linked to sunk cost effect, also referred to as the sunk cost fallacy. This is also the tendency to continue investing resources (including time, money, and effort) into a project, even if it no longer appears to be beneficial Economic decision-making can be influenced by the sunk cost fallacy when individuals continue to pursue an event simply because they have already invested significant resources into it, although it is not the most economically advantageous choice

A similar psychological phenomenon is risk aversion. This tendency to avoid risk means these investors are unwilling to accept price volatility in their investment portfolios, and choose the preservation of capital over the potential for a higher-than-average return. Although volatile investments have the potential to make large sums of money from relatively small investments, it could also devour one's savings

Investors who prefer to avoid risky investments are often affected by status quo bias. This refers to their preference to stick to familiar options. In economic decision-making, individuals may exhibit a resistance to change, even when there are potentially better alternatives available This bias can impact choices related to investments, consumption patterns, and adoption of new technologies or innovations.

Although the pain from losing money may stop individuals from investing in the stock market, it can also teach people important lessons. Investors may learn to become smarter and could gain a better read of the market by learning from past mistakes It also prevents them from repeating the same mistakes

Anchoring bias

Anchoring bias occurs when individuals place too much emphasis on the initial piece of information they were presented (the "anchor") when making subsequent judgments or decisions. In economic contexts, anchoring bias can affect individuals' willingness to pay for products or services, negotiate prices, or make investment decisions based on an initial reference point.

For example, it affects an individual's perception of the prices for goods and services. If a service was originally offered at a high price, it will still be perceived as being expensive even if the price is lowered subsequently. This can influence purchasing decisions when deciding between multiple products. Similarly, if a luxury brand sets extremely high prices for a product, it may create an anchor that influences consumers' perceptions of quality and desirability, even if the actual value does not align with high costs.

In the workplace, anchoring bias can play a large role in salary negotiations

The initial salary offered by the company acts as an anchor which influences both employers and potential future employees. If the initial offer is low, future counteroffers may still be influenced by this anchor, leading to lower pay outcomes for the job seeker, especially if they are unaware of salaries paid at other companies. This bias also influences the bargaining process and outcome between buyers and sellers.

Have you ever experienced the overwhelming sense of guilt when leaving your pet alone? Have you ever dressed up your pet in adorable outfits and accessories, treating them as fashion icons and runway models? Have you ever caught yourself having full-blown conversations with your pet, as if they understand every word you say, as if they were human?

This phenomenon can be explained by anthropomorphism in human psychology, which is the attribution of human characteristics to animals. It is an innate tendency for human beings and is considered a universal and almost irresistible trait. Anthropomorphism is deeply rooted in human psychology and has become increasingly prevalent in recent years, particularly in how we perceive and treat our pets. In recent years, there has been a growing trend of anthropomorphizing pets, with pet owners increasingly treating their animals as family members. According to a recent survey, one in four even admitted to calling their pet their "child," and almost twice as many (47%) use "baby" as a nickname. Similarly, one in three call themselves their pet's "mom" or "dad," roughly the same as the number of people who use the term "owner" instead. Animals have always been an inseparable existence in our life, and that applies to anthropomorphized animals too. Anthropomorphized animals have been playing a significant role in the world of advertisement and are deeply integrated into our daily lives. They appear in movies like Madagascar and Ratatouille, television series like Peppa Pig and Shaun the Sheep, websites like Lolcat and Neopets, games like Animal Crossing, and smartphone apps like Balloonimals and Angry Birds, the list is endless!

So, why do we humanise pets as a human instinct? There are two main reasons that may play a significant role in pet humanization:

First of all, animals offer connections such as companionship, loyalty, and obedience, which humans do not always provide in such a straightforward manner as we sometimes tend to avoid being emotionally vulnerable. Humanising pets serves as a source of emotional support, as their cuteness and presence can alleviate stress and reduce loneliness. They offer a non-judgmental presence and unconditional love, which can positively impact a person's emotional state. This is supported by a survey showing that 40% of pet owners bought or adopted their pet for the purpose of improving well-being. Therefore, treating pets as human-like entities can fulfil our need for social connection.

Secondly, pets can often evoke strong feelings of love, empathy, and nurturing instinct in humans. People experience a sense of fulfilment while taking care of their pet, similar to the fulfilment they might feel when caring for a child. A study published in 2016 in the Journal of Business Research explored the concept of pet humanization and identified the motivated desire to treat them like babies.

From a psychological perspective, the attachment theory can also contribute to the explanation of human affection for humanised animals. Attachment theory in psychology primarily focuses on the human need to form a close emotional bond, typically between infants and their caregivers. The need for emotional connection can often extend beyond human relationships to animals. Therapy animals or service animals are examples of comforting daily interactions. Another perspective is that animals can serve as a secure base for humans, as they provide a sense of security. Which is proven by research to be the main reason why people choose to have a Great Dane as their family dog.

However, this concept of pet humanization has its downsides because pets have personalities and do understand some words. It can be challenging to distinguish between reality and the human-like attributions we gave to our pets.

Humanising animals can pose several risks. The association of personalities with wild animals has been known to frequently put humans in real danger. Humanising animals may lead to the misinterpretation of their behaviour, jeopardising our safety as well as compromising animals' wellbeing. Every year, we see news of people visiting zoos, thinking they have formed a bond with an animal, and entering enclosures, only to end up being attacked. Some animals aren't friendly - they will kill you! Also, humanising pets may result in inadequate care or failure to meet their specific needs. For example, assuming they have the ability to find food when they are trapped in the households or lacking exercise or social interactions. Lastly, treating animals solely through a human lens can disregard their inherent value and their importance as integral parts of ecosystems. It is crucial to address those issues and ensure a safe environment for animals' physical health and well-being.

Instead of dialling down the love we have for our pets, let's change it into a language that they can understand. We can enhance our understanding of their needs, instincts, and communication signals. By learning more about their species-specific behaviours and providing appropriate care, we can strike a balance between recognizing their individuality and appreciating their differences from humans. This includes ensuring they receive the right diet, exercise, social interaction, and environmental enrichment that they need to thrive. Pets have their own unique ways of perceiving the world and interacting with humans. While they may not possess human emotions and thought processes, they can form deep connections with us and understand our action of love.

In conclusion, the humanization of pets reflects our innate desire for social connection, emotional support, and the fulfilment of nurturing instincts. However, it is crucial to be aware of the potential risks associated with anthropomorphizing animals. By understanding their unique needs, behaviours, and limitations, we can provide appropriate care and foster a healthy relationship with our pets.

LENIENCY IN THE CRMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM for indivuals

with mental illness

The relationship between crime and mental illness necessitates a nuanced understanding when considering leniency within the criminal justice system. While leniency can be seen as a compassionate response to individuals with mental illness who engage in criminal behaviour, it is important to acknowledge the potential drawbacks and challenges associated with this approach. This essay explores the complex dynamics of leniency for individuals with mental illness, with a specific focus on the drawbacks that may arise from such leniency.

One of the primary concerns surrounding leniency for individuals with mental illness is the perception of inequality. Granting leniency based on mental health status may raise questions about fairness and equal treatment under the law. Critics argue that this approach can undermine the principles of justice, as it may create a perception of preferential treatment for individuals with mental illness compared to those without such conditions who commit similar offences. Maintaining a balance between fairness and compassion is essential to ensure public trust in the criminal justice system.

Public Safety Concerns:

Another potential drawback of leniency in cases involving individuals with mental illness is the concern for public safety. While rehabilitation and treatment are important goals, it is vital to prioritise the safety of the community. In some instances, leniency may result in the release of individuals who pose a potential risk to themselves or others due to their untreated or poorly managed mental health conditions. Balancing the need for treatment with public safety considerations requires careful assessment, appropriate supervision, and access to comprehensive mental health services.

Insufficient Resources and Support:

Leniency for individuals with mental illness can be challenging to implement effectively due to the lack of sufficient resources and support systems. The criminal justice system may struggle to provide appropriate mental health treatment, rehabilitation programs, and ongoing support for individuals with mental illness. Inadequate funding, limited availability of mental health professionals, and a lack of specialised training for law enforcement and correctional staff can hinder the successful implementation of leniency measures. Insufficient support can result in individuals not receiving the necessary treatment, leading to a cycle of reoffending and exacerbation of their mental health conditions.

Potential for Manipulation or Exploitation:

The leniency shown towards individuals with mental illness may also be susceptible to manipulation or exploitation. Some individuals may feign or exaggerate mental illness as a strategy to receive more lenient treatment or avoid criminal responsibility. This poses challenges for accurate assessment and appropriate decision-making within the criminal justice system. The potential for manipulation underscores the importance of comprehensive and thorough evaluations by qualified mental health professionals to ensure that leniency is granted to those who genuinely require it.

While leniency for individuals with mental illness in the criminal justice system can be viewed as a compassionate response, it is crucial to consider the potential drawbacks associated with this approach. Concerns about perceived inequality, public safety, insufficient resources, and the potential for manipulation highlight the need for careful consideration and implementation of leniency measures. Striking a balance between accountability, public safety, and the treatment needs of individuals with mental illness requires robust support systems, appropriate supervision, and comprehensive mental health services to ensure the potential drawbacks are mitigated, and the overall goals of justice and rehabilitation are met.

Spoon

BY JENNY LIN THEORY

The spoon theory is a metaphor that helps explain the mental and physical energy limitations of those with chronic fatigue illnesses. One spoon is equal to one unit of energy, and we can then estimate how many spoons individual tasks require. This, in particular, aids those with health conditions to better visualise the total energy they can spend in a day. In the long term, these calculations are an excellent guide to time and prioritisation management strategies.

Every single action we perform requires energy; waking up, getting dressed, having meals, watching TV, etc. All of these activities may require one spoon, for example. Those without issues with fatigue will wake up with enough spoons just to go about their day, without worrying about running out of energy. Seemingly, some can wake up with an unlimited amount of spoons. However, those with a chronic illness may start their day with a limited number of spoons. This means activities such as doing homework, going outside and taking a walk may use three or more spoons. Symptoms like pain, headaches and confusion can also deplete the number of spoons.

What happens when someone tries to use more spoons than they have? One may experience terrible mental exhaustion, be unable to perform any activities, or even collapse. A debt will build up, and the next day may start with fewer spoons on hand.

This makes the spoon theory a great representation of how people with mental health issues have a limit for the number of things they can do every day. For example, someone with severe depression could wake up with so little spoons that it would be difficult to get up and eat. Someone with anxiety could experience large reductions in spoons when their heart rate increases, leaving them exhausted.

However, using this theory to cope with energy problems isn’t limited to those with health issues only. You may want to keep yourself in check too by doing this, and it helps you be aware of your limits in order to improve your daily performance at a setting like school.

BY BY

Artwork: Natalie Leung

Sometimes, you will hear people talking about their personalities in perplexing words, like INTJ or ENFP, and you never understood what they meant? Those people may have taken the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Personality Test (or the MBTI personality test), it is the most popular personality test in the world, the most used personality test in the world. The MBTI personality test finds your ‘natural preferences’ putting it in 4 distinct categories:

1.

How you direct and receive energy

2.

How you take information

3.

How you come to conclusions

4.

How you approach the outside world

But how does knowing our personality type affect our growth mindset? This may seem like something that is unexpected, as everyone wants to know who they are - their personality types. However, what is a growth mindset? It is found that if you believe that your abilities come naturally to you - instinctively, you will tend to fail. This applies to when people know their personality types and believe they would be good at something and perhaps start to try less.

Sources say that without knowing your current state or self awareness, you couldn’t grow. This is the reason why people have developed companies to create performance indicators, just like the MyersBriggs Type Indicator. Personality tests were built around this, studies say that they are critical to our growth and development mindset, but this is in fact a 2 sided argument, and hard to comprehend. The MBTI Personality test is also put into 4 completely different key dimensions:

This assessment is used by organisational development professionals, coaches, and consultants, but towards more in everyday life: educators. Described as a “fundamental step” in any change process to one’s mind and growth mindset. The test predicts how people behave in specific ways and concepts - situations in general, and life. The MBTI test provides the information in ways - for example:

Career choices

Relationship Improvement

Interpersonal Skills

Managing Conflict

(AFFIRMATION: However, this test is applied towards people scientifically and refers to normal personality types, which means that psychologists would not use it as much, and not used towards mental illnesses and disorders. This is a main example of how useful the test may be towards people in different situations. This mirrors society from when the MyersBriggs Type Indicator was made, when people with mental issues were declared insane. Being made in 1962.)

Unlike what the MBTI Company suggests be the 4 important key factors of the personality test, many people also suggest otherwise. They believe that the 4 key dimensions of personality shouldn’t be discussed, instead - judged.

After wondering about the test’s great popularity, and regarded by the scientific community, what are the uses of the MBTI test? I for one, know that many pupils and people take this test just to see what their personality is, and discover who they really are, which is great, but in what factors did this test help the world and how does it contribute to our more important side of life?

It is possible in theory that your personality can change over time, but just like our mindset and how we grow, it is not that simple. Our environment very much shapes our life - our personality, these shape and force you to develop habits and traits. However, there is a way of changing your personality to fit the way you want your life to be shaped. Some people have a desire to grow and be a different or better person they believe they could be, everything except for necessity and experience. But do not mistake the core of your personality, although the traits have been changed on the outside, you will always have the person you are born in as you. This can be compared to careers, what you determine or deem for you to be the better choice, and become the better person, or be the best. Life is all about yourself, and sometimes being this selfish may not be as negative as others fear or see it as, just like knowing the need to take care of yourself.

In our modern world and society, everything is widely released onto the internet, everyday lives, locations, commenting, posting, and chatting, everything just on a screen, so having all that information being there on the platform. Social media has a significant impact now on teenagers especially, in which researchers have been working to find the effect of social media on personality. It is found that the personality traits can be put into 5 categories - ‘The Big Five’ personality traits:

Conscientious (one is conscious)

Agreeableness (one’s ability to put another is need before their own)

Openness (one’s ability to being able to listen, accept and think about others’ different ideas)

Extraversion (one being talkative, energetic, and outgoing)

Neuroticism (core traits include self-doubt, depression, emotional instability etc.)

Studies showed that…

It is found that extraversion and neuroticism were the key/main traits that teenagers have linked to these 2 key factors connected to online activity (e.g., posts from others, and unrealistic standards/expectations). However, in contrast to this. The unexpected factor is that in contrast, the ones who spend a greater deal and amount of time on social media have lower levels of extraversion and neuroticism.

Scientists have also discovered that extroverted people are more likely to be drawn towards social media - extraversion. This is because extroverted people find that social media connects more towards the “real world” through social media. Research has also shown that people who experience neuroticism prefer messaging/texting rather than face to face interactions because of the emotional instability they may experience, as they find it much easier to communicate to other (which is straightforward and obvious)

How does social media affect personality development? Well, personalities are possible to change over time, although through the MBTI personality test theory, they are not really expected to change. However, problems could include:

Increased Depression and Anxiety

Unreal standards and expectations

“Culture of popularity” (set of beliefs, letting others change your mindset)

What does it mean to “put someone in a box”? It means to judge someone on an unfair basis and placing them into the wrong idea of who they truly are. Although this argument can really go either way, psychology is not one to argue with, and there really is no right answer until proven scientifically. Though not putting the stereotype on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Test, but to “put someone in a box” would be the wrong way to put it. To summarise, knowing your personality type is an important idea in the scientific world and contributes a lot to the human psyche. It is surprising to put something of art like life into the statistics of science.

The psychological keyto successful decisionmakingin business

BY SOPHIA LI

In a fast-paced world of business and commerce, countless strategic decisions are made every day all around the world, each one impacting a business in different ways. Whether these decisions result in a business’ success or failure, is down to the psychological components of the decision making. Understanding the intricate workings of human psychology can provide invaluable insight into consumer behaviour, decision-making, and leadership, all of which are keys to a successful business. Running a business is like playing a game of chess: with each move being calculated and strategic. How do you know whether a rival firm will make one move or another? What would help you to stay one step ahead? How can you engage with the target audience successfully? In this article, I will explain the five keys to open the door to a successful business: vision, stakeholders, marketing, leaders and adaptability, and how every single one of these elements are greatly affected by psychological factors.

In a business, a clear vision acts as a powerful motivator as it provides a sense of direction and can aid a business owner in making future decisions that would help to achieve high. The goal setting theory introduced by Locke and Latham (1990) explains that there is a clear link between specific challenging goals and motivation. They conducted a large meta-analysis of 400 studies, in which they found that individuals who have a specific goal show significant improvement in their task performances when compared to individuals that are given vague and easy goals. This shows the cruciality of a set vision as a first step in creating a business plan. For a potential leader, there are scores of factors that influence their decisions, with emotions being a large part of it. Humans are physically incapable of ignoring emotions when it comes to making decisions due to the nature of cognition and emotion in our psychological processes. Because of the memories and perceptions that each person experiences and cultivates over the course of their life, emotions such as fear, anger and happiness have survival value and can alert us to any potential threats or rewards, which can all have influence over the decision-making process. Moreover, humans engage in “Affective Forecasting”, which is attempting to predict or anticipate their emotional reactions to a future event. However, we tend to underestimate the intensity and duration of our emotional responses, leading to biassed decisionmaking. Therefore, to reduce the likelihood of biassed decision-making, a clear vision can be implemented at the start of planning the business.

Stakeholders are people that have interests in an organisation and its outcome. In a business, stakeholders include employees, investors, shareholders, suppliers, customers etc. All stakeholders are important; investors fund the business, suppliers provide the tools needed to create the goods, and customers generate profit from buying the goods. This is why making sure stakeholders are satisfied is one of the keys to a successful business. Every stakeholder may have a different goal or motivation when it comes to a business; shareholders want as much profit as possible to receive dividends, employees want better working conditions and bonuses or other non-price benefits etc. How can we keep every stakeholder satisfied? Understanding where each shareholder’s motivation comes from and implementing Herzberg’s two-factor theory can help to identify what drives each stakeholder’s needs and design strategies to meet their needs. For example, workers may be motivated by recognition and autonomy, whilst customers seek convenience and a personalised experience. Knowing these factors can help the firm make the best decisions to either increase productivity, or cut costs in order to maximise profits and be successful.

Marketing can be argued to be the most important factor in bringing in customers in certain businesses and industries. Marketing strategies include social media , branding, pricing, consumer relations and more. An example is Tripadvisor, the world’s largest travel site and relies very heavily on online platforming and social media. You may find that sometimes when you are watching a video on Youtube, there are various advertisements and some of them may include Tripadvisor promotions. This business effectively utilises the social media platform influence by showcasing other travellers’ reviews and opinions. Humans have a natural tendency to believe in something after they see proof or evidence, and this can be explained by the availability heuristic, meaning that individuals have a mental shortcut where they base their judgements and beliefs on the ease at which examples, instances or information come to mind. People generally believe that information that is readily available is more accurate or representative, which leads them to seek evidence to support their beliefs. Tripadvisor uses this principle to their advantage by providing social proof of ratings, pictures and reviews given by previous travellers in each vacation spot or hotel. This is why emotions also play a powerful role in marketing. Campaigns that evoke positive emotions such as happiness, joy or nostalgia can create a strong emotional connection between the company and consumers. This is natural, if something reminded you of a happy experience in your life, of course you would have a good feeling about that object This can be psychologically explained by the somatic marker hypothesis proposed by Antonio Damasio, which highlighted that emotions serve as signals or markers to decision-making by influencing the evaluation of options. Coca Cola’s “Share a Coke” campaign was a smart way of forming connection with customers. By replacing the brand logo on coke bottles with popular names, this tapped into consumers’ desire for personalisation and bonding. This campaign was evidently successful as 1.25 million more teens tried a Coke during the following summer and sales of participating Coca Cola packages rose by 11% in the US. These examples just goes to show how utilising psychological knowledge can give a business not only more customers and revenue, but also increases their competitive edge by a lot.

As mentioned before, the world is fast-paced and ever changing, there will always be new inventions, ideas, and trends as time goes by. From the 1990s to 2000s, trends have come and go. For a business to be successful, adaptability is very important because it allows a firm to respond to changing circumstances and stay competitive in the relevant industry. Leaders of the business have to have the cognitive ability and bravery to take risks and be open-minded to new opportunities in order for their product or service to stay relevant and popular in the market. If a leader is psychologically fixated on only one plan or process to reach their goal in business, they may not be able to keep up with the market and whatever they produce may end up being time-locked. This means that the trend may have already passed and demand for the product would fall by a lot, leading to a less successful business.

Have you ever thought of taking control of your own dream? Are you even aware that you are dreaming? Can you remember details in your dreams? Having awareness in your dream and controlling certain parts of it is known as ‘lucid dreaming’, with only around an average of 5% of dreams(including lucid dreams) being remembered in the world.

What is self-awareness in a dream and how do you experience it?

Although it seems very fascinating and unreal to have some degree of control in your dream, it is extremely hard to re-experience and remember it. However, lucid dreams are not only entertaining but also beneficial. Some research also suggests that lucid dreams can be a cure for anxiety, and bad mental health. There might be some situations where people can practice and learn how to relax when going through circumstances that put people anxiety through anxiety prone experiences.

So how do you experience a lucid dream? To understand lucid dreams, we need to define a dream first. A dream includes the images, thoughts, and emotions that we experienced during sleep. Dreams can range from overly exciting and intense to boring and confusing. There are many unknowns and uncertainties of dreams, but it is certain that everyone will experience dreaming when they are asleep.

Why do we dream?

The question ‘Why do we dream?’ bothers thousands of scientists, philosophers and physiologists, there are still lots about dreams that need to be explored and are not available in our current technology and study of our brain and the general term of dream. However, psychologically we can understand most of what is going on when we dream. There is a particular type of sleep that most humans experience during their dreams – The REP dream. REP is the shorts for Rapid eye movement sleep, which is a cycle we experience through night times.

In one of the many studies about dreams, researchers created a rudimentary dream content map that was able to track what people dream about using MRI(magnetic resonance imaging) patterns. It was then backed up with the dreamer’s report when they wake up. However, it is complex and has a prohibitive cost.

For small investigation and home-based studies - if you can remember your dream, you can record what happens in your dream in a diary or draw it down and save it in your dream diary, it has been shown that trying to improve your understanding with the types of dream you get could increase the chances of the ability to distinguish reality from dreams and could also test your understanding of reality It is hard to investigate dreams because some dreams could be forgotten after waking up and it is hard to know anything specific that happens in the dream but only the emotions felt when dreaming. However, as difficult as it may sound, it is not impossible.

Results of tracking dreams:

To explore the nature of dreams and experience lucid dreams, I tracked my dream for 2 weeks in a notebook. The dreams recorded have a trend that occurs in the weekends more than the weekdays, and mostly only with a few imageries, which do not have any logical links.

Dreams without logic could be explained by the limited access to memories, and the unawareness of personal identity, this is caused by certain areas of our brain not activate during REP sleep. However, our brain is still much an ‘active brain’ when we fall asleep.

The frequency of it is surprisingly large. I forgot 10 days (about 1 and a half weeks) out of the dreams in 14 days (about 2 weeks), although sometimes I wake up and rush to the book immediately, I forget what I had just dreamt when I was awake.

This means that there is about a 70% chance of me forgetting dreams. This might be caused by the lack of sleep quality since there have been six exams over two weeks. There is an average of 6 hours of sleep and only around 1 hour of deep sleep, measured by the apple watch. In this period, no lucid dream is being experienced, no lucid dream is remembered.

Research shows that it is normal for humans to forget up to 95% of their sleep, suggesting that tracking dream dairies will benefit more when sleeping for a longer period, as more dreams could be recorded and patterns of dreams might be discovered, as well as the relation between condition of sleeping quality with dreams. Hence, the longer the time, the more dreams would be recorded.

However, this investigation into dreams is not accurate or reliable, since the time is short and only one sample is collected. To improve the investigation, there can be asked from friends and family members, showing a variety of results crossing the age groups and gender, and increasing the time needed for the test, improves its’ reliability.

There are three main points needed to remember dreams:

1.Sleep well

To sleep well, there should be at least 7 hours of sleep for all ages. For teenagers, the recommended sleep time is 8 to 10 hours, and that is just the basic needs of sleep - things like light exposure and caffeine consumption can also affect sleep, particularly caffeine.

Caffeine reduces particularly the deep sleep you have every day. If consumed closer to bedtime, more hours of sleep will be affected. One study published shows that if caffeine is consumed 6 hours before bedtime, then one hour of sleep will be affected. For pupils and teenagers, the average bedtime is around 10 o’clock, the study suggests that around 4 p.m. no caffeine should be consumed, for one-hour more sleep. The effects will be stronger on older people compared to teenagers.

So why and how does Caffeine affect our sleep? Caffeine is a stimulant that will block adenosine receptors, which are found in your brain and stops the signaling to your body that it is time to skeep, keeping you from awake for longer.

Other factors are minor. For example, reduce blue light exposure, which is caused by your phone and other electronic devices. Because the blue light will keep a hormone “melatonin,” which also keeps you sleepy, away and blocked. Although it also keeps you awake, it is not as damaging as consuming caffeine.

2.Have a stable bedtime routine

Having a stable bedtime routine will create maintenance of your body’s clock, these increase the sleep quality, and time, which further improve the chance of experiencing a memorable dream, and deep sleep. Creating a bedtime routine every day for at least a month means sleeps needs to be as similar as possible even throughout weekends and holidays. Then the days after reprogramming your body, the body will feel sleepy at bedtime and wake up naturally the next day. With stable sleep condition it provides a good condition for dreams as well.

When having a stable routine, it is also important to have the right amount of sleep get each day. As age increases, the time for sleep recommended decreases. This goes from 12-16 hours sleep required for infants, to at least 7 hours of sleep for adults and elderly people. This is because dreams often occur after 2 hours of sleep, and to maintain a good condition to dream, it is recommended to have at least 5 hours of sleep.

3.Mindfulness and relaxation

Mindfulness and relaxion before sleep can relax the brain and increase the awareness of dream experiences. It also as it reduces stress, the chances of remembering and recalling dreams will be easier. It also relates to good and stable sleep quality, as doing mindfulness section can help with sleep, cleaning away the stress before bedtime. Additionally, mindfulness activities like meditation can improve mental outlook and better manage pain.

In the example of tracking dreams, one of the causes of the percentage of dream forgotten is the stress of having exams. With the help of meditation and mindfulness, this will increase the percentage by reducing the stress caused. Although there might be more research needed to fully support this point, most of the participants involved in the project started by Dr. Anis Rehman are still experiencing excellent quality of sleep after a year of investigations.

To conclude, the three points show the quality of sleep, and the condition sleep is in are closely related to dreams and memorizing it, which helps with success in experiencing lucid dreams. Experiencing a lucid dream is extremely difficult and rare, requiring a long-time patience crossing the methods and some luck is involved. So, the points suggested could only increase the chance of it. Dreams always seem fantasy-like and are mentioned in many children's tales. However, it comes out to be complicated and scientific research behind.

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Chen, James. “Risk Averse: What It Means, Investment Choices and Strategies.” Investopedia, 30 Apr. 2023, www.investopedia.com/terms/r/riskaverse.asp#:~:text=Risk%20aversion%20is%20the%20tendency. Accessed 5 Oct. 2023.

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Why do we humanise our pets?

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Leniency in the criminal justice system for individuals with mental illness

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Lamb, H. R., & Weinberger, L. E. (2016). The Shift of Psychiatric Inpatient Care from Hospitals to Jails and Prisons. JAMA Psychiatry, 73(6), 547-548.

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Spoon theory

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16 in 8 billion: Personality Tests

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Dream

Kendra Cherry, MSEd. “Lucid Dreaming: Definition, Techniques, Uses.” Verywell Mind, Verywell Mind, 1 May 2023, www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-lucid-dream-5077887.

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