Tag Archives: psychology
Forget the statue, what about the plinth?
In the midst of the hot debate about whether certain public statues should be removed, no-one talks about the plinths on which such statues are erected or considers toppling those as well. Does this mean that the plinth is 100% … Continue reading
How successful people attribute their success …
My artist colleagues and I have been trying to unravel the concepts of “deserving versus undeserving” in the politics of social inequality. The recent fiasco over how to “fairly” award 2020 ‘exam results’ has shone a harsh spotlight on this. … Continue reading
The psychology of reducing consumption?
I’ve been challenged this week by an article in Nature Communications. It warns starkly how affluent consumption is the leading factor in environmental and social impact. And the major technological advances we are making are not enough to outweigh its … Continue reading
Market Value?
The Larks & Ravens (of which I am one) are currently “artists in residence” for one day a week in the old Victorian Market in Newport. The stunning market building was once a thriving attraction with an abundance of stalls, … Continue reading
A Psychologist journeying with Artists
For the past few years, I have been collaborating with two socially engaged, visual artists, Pip Woolf and Kirsty Claxton. We call ourselves The Larks and Ravens for reasons that I can’t remember but probably don’t matter! As a … Continue reading
Enjoyable, meaningful lives without economic growth or jobs?
As a behavioural psychologist, I am challenged by Tim Jackson’s book “Prosperity without Growth“. Living on a finite planet, how do we find ways to flourish in a world of less economic growth and less material consumption? At the same … Continue reading
Open eyed or open minded?
Are you open to new experiences and interpretations? Able to see both sides of an argument or imagine a different way the world could be? Do you quickly spot the humour of ambiguous situations? At one time in my (increasingly) … Continue reading
Enjoying disorder
Having published my own research on messy desks and knowledge workers an age ago in 1994, it was pleasing to see that people are still exploring this fascinating subject. This more recent article explores some of the benefits of living … Continue reading
Oblique or Obscure – Psychology & Art
For the past couple of years, I’ve been part of a small artist group, the Larks and Ravens. My personal interest, as ever, is psychology – in this case exploring how visual art can trigger new ways of viewing our … Continue reading
The divisive nature of referendums
We’ve experienced two referendums in the UK in the past 2 years (first Scotland’s Indyref and then the UK’s Brexit). Both have proved socially divisive – across and within countries, across and within regions and neighbourhoods and even across and … Continue reading
