PsychIE Weblog

Political Psychology is a very interesting discipline as it allows us to know more about the world of politics.

It is known as a scientific discipline whose aim is the description and explanation of political behaviour by means of studying factors which influence it, such as social, environmental and psychological factors.

Political Psychology is involved in many political aspects which occur before the society, such as:

- The analysis of the political messenge, a suitable configuration of the text is of great importance, the language used, the public stage, etc, in order to produce the desired effect on society.

- The analysis of the psychological impact which is made by the politician´s personality on the public is very important so making it necessary for them to receive advice on behaviour, attitudes, ect, which are adapted to the thinking, undestanding and tastes of the society to be managed.

- Psychological interpretation of the repercussions of political information which is published in the media.

- Psychological advice for political marketing.

In this way, Political Psychology can contribute to politicians ganing leadership and control of our society, as it aids them in winning over supporters, voters, assistance, management of critical situations, public alarm, crisis, uncertainty, etc.

In an article published in the newspaper 20 minutos.es, about persons who suffer from a bipolar disorder, the professor of psychiatry at the University of Oviedo, Julio Bobes, asserts that there are studies which reveal that these people have a lower life expectancy of some 10 to 15 years.

The difficulty of diagnosing this disorder means that a there is a delay of approximately seven years in its emission, as well as a tendency to suffer from other diseases. Further more, the great importance of changes in mental states may be some of the causes of these people´s situation.

Ergonomics was created in the 1950s by engineers who were interested in the design of workplaces. Its knowledge base consists of contributions deriving from other sciences such as psychology, physiology, industrial engineering, biomechanics, etc.

These days, the aim of its application in the workplace is the creation of a suitable match between the employee, the kind of work being carried out and the materials which are required. In other words, its main objetive is the adaptation of the environment to the needs and abilities of the people involved in order to guarantee harmony between the workplace and the employee´s activity.

The desired results revolve around an increase in the efficiency, safety, satisfaction, productivity, personal development etc.

Given the great importance which psychosocial factors take on in the area of ergonomics, we suggest you extend you go into this in more depth by means of the following chapter of Psychosocial factors and Organization.

Humans are able to unconsciously perceive certain stimuli in their surroundings and whose intensity may approach both our minimum sensory threshold as well as the absolute maximum, usually of brief duration. These are known as subliminal messages.

But, do they have any effect on our behaviour?

This is the primary question and to answer it the first study was carried out in the 1950s and is still being researched today. What we do know is that independently of their efficacy, such messages have been used a large extent in the advertising sector in the spite of being considered illicit. It is interesting that they can be found with a wide variety of products, films and even in drawings.

Find out where subliminal messages have been used.

Sleep is a complex human bahaviour, being absolutely necessary for us to function. The nature of this bahaviour changes throughout our lives (for example the number of hours of sleep needed), but independently of age, a lack of sleep may make us feel anxious as well as decrease reaction time, concentration, and performance. Consequently, resting at night is essential.

Contrary to what we may imagine, whilst we sleep the brain continues its frenetic activity and at the same time brings about a huge variety of physiological changes in our organism which are not only cerebral but also muscular and respiratory.

Sleep disorders are many and varied and occur with different degrees of frequency depending on a person´s age. This may have important consequences for the health of individuals.

I suggest you have a look at the web page Mundo.es Salud where you can find further and more detailed information with regards to sleep.

We came across a reasearch article in the digital version of the newspaper “El Mundo” where a team of researchers at “Universidad de Pompeu Fabra” and “El Instituto Catalán de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados” (ICREA) in Barcelona, have studied the time tha human brain needs to access information associated with word, and how long it takes to select the most suitable word relative to particular discourse.

This first study, wich demostrates direct proof of cerebral activity in real time, froms part of a broader objective whose aim is the development of a temporal map of the different stages of processing which the brain must carry out in order to speak.

The results of this research can be found in the digital version of the magazine “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” (PNAS).

More and more people suffer from some kind of mental illness in their work environment. In recent years we have seen the appearance of new pathologies such as “burnout” and “Yuppie Flu” (work addiction). As a consequence, an increasing amount of research is being undertaken in this area.

We can see this in the following article: “Six out of every 10 workers suffer from mental problems at work”.

There have been numerous studies carried out with regards to the psychology of colour, with the aim of understanding the effect colours have on individuals, specifically in relation to psychological and physiological reactions. This colour psychology has been extensively studied by Goethe and there are even test and therapies.

Colours display a relationship with our feelings: but it is neither an accidental combination nor a matter of preference, but rather associations owing to universal experiences which are ever-present in our thoughts and language.

A colour may produce a diverse range of effects, acting differently according to the situation. However, no colour appears in isolation, but rather is a product of chromatic harmonies. In other words,  the combination of those which are often associated with a particular effect.

These chromatic harmonies determine the effect of the principle colour.

Nevertheless, in general, the meaning of colours is established independently. The effect every colour has on humans is studied at.

Can we learn to be happy? How much does it depend on ourselves?

The new school of thought known as Positive Psychology shows that we can train ourselves to be happy in both our personal and professional lives.

Watch this video which will help you to understand the keys to unlocking our potential for happiness.

The human brain is still a great enigma to us all, but as we continue to discover the brain´s powerful potential, we become aware, at the same time, of some of its weaknesses.

As a matter of fact, I came across a news item “Consiguen implantar falsos recuerdos en la memoria mediante técnicas de sugestión” (instilling false memories via techniques of suggestion) which shows how a group of researchers at the University of California-Irvine have studied one of the great weaknesses of human memory, namely the ease with which it may be tricked.

Thay investigated the possibility of creating fictional events in the lives of a group of people by means of suggestion, as well as changing real events using the same technique. The experiment succeeded in showing how these persons remembered events as real, exactly as they had been told.