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Self handicapping psychology explains why people sometimes create their own obstacles before a big test, presentation, or performance, using those obstacles as a built-in excuse if things go wrong. It sounds counterproductive, and it is, but it also protects something people value even more than success: their sense of competence. Instead of risking a clear verdict on their a...

Psychological changes in adolescence are the shifts in emotion, cognition, identity, and social behavior that occur as the brain and body mature between roughly ages 10 and 19. These changes are driven by a mix of hormonal surges, brain restructuring, and new social pressures, and they show up as mood swings, a stronger drive for independence, more abstract thinking, and...

The frustration-aggression hypothesis, introduced by John Dollard, Neal Miller, and their colleagues at Yale in 1939, proposes that frustration — defined as the blocking of a goal-directed behavior — always leads to some form of aggression, and that aggression is always caused by frustration. Few ideas in social psychology sparked as much debate, inspired as much follow-up re...

Emerging adulthood is a distinct developmental stage spanning roughly ages 18 to 25, first proposed by psychologist Jeffrey Jensen Arnett in 2000. It sits between the end of adolescence and the full responsibilities of adult life — and according to Arnett, it is not simply a transition period but a stage with its own defining features, psychological tasks, and inner...