The 3 Types of Conformity

Culture influences how we think, behave, and interact with others in everyday life. In cross-cultural psychology, psychologists often conduct research examining one of the core dimensions of cultural variability: collectivism and individualism. 

Emotions are an important part of life. Sometimes they can be difficult to experience, let alone understand, but the capacity to feel the full spectrum of emotions – from anger to joy and everything in between – is a huge part of what makes us human. It’s also an important instinct for our survival: when we’re babies, expressing emotion is our only method of communication when something isn’t right. As infants, we scream with rage or cry with grief when our needs aren’t being met. As adults, the same notion is true一except the conditioning that comes with language and cognition can leave us quite disconnected from our feelings, and unable to recognize what our emotional responses are trying to tell us. Thankfully, there are some methods we can use to try and figure it all out, such as Plutchik’s Emotion Wheel. Named after Robert Plutchik, the psychologist who came up with the concept, it’s a tool for improving emotional literacy, so that we can learn to become more in tune with our feelings.

According to a global study by Smart Insights, the average person spends at least two and a half hours a day on social media. The time that we spend using these platforms not only suggests how large of a role social media plays in our day-to-day lives, but it also signifies how the way we connect with each other has changed from primarily physical to a more digital world in the modern day. 

What does it mean to be mentally strong? When it comes to tough times, it seems like some people can get through them no matter what gets thrown their way, whether that’s through a seemingly-superhuman ability to remain unflappable, or sheer grit. We might admire someone’s ability to remain calm in a crisis. We might envy those who don’t seem to get so knocked over by life’s ups and downs. We might wish we, too, had such strength of character, such a hardy or buoyant personality, or just the ability to better cope with challenge and change. And here’s some great news: resilience is something we can actually build and nurture. Developing mental strength won’t protect us from hardship, but it can help us bounce back from tough times. Here are five tips for building more resilience and mental strength.

Holding people to account for their behavior is an important social custom throughout history and across cultures. As a society, we keep each other in check by calling out actions that are harmful to the collective, in order to maintain peace and prosperity within the community. But where do we draw the line between accountability for poor judgment and gratuitous public shaming? How do we decide what behavior is forgivable, and what is inexcusable? And how can we reconcile our own fallibility with an urge to act as judge, jury, and executioner when somebody in the spotlight is put on the metaphorical stand? As social media has changed the landscape of public debate, “cancel culture” has risen, and appears to be here to stay. Let’s explore the impact it’s having on our mental health.