Explore every episode of the podcast PsyberSpace® - we help you understand your world

The Founder Reflex: Why White Progressive Spaces Reward Starting Over Supporting

Why do white women in progressive spaces so often start something new instead of joining what people of color have already built? Dr. Leslie Poston examines the “founder reflex” and the psychology that keeps it running: the redemptive self, psychological ownership, communal narcissism, and a reward structure that pays better for visibility than for usefulness. She looks at what gets lost when founding wins by default, from duplicated initiatives to the quieter costs borne by the people already doing the work. Along the way: elite capture, the nonprofit industrial complex, white ignorance as a motivated stance, and what engaged followership actually asks of someone who wants to help. If you’ve ever wondered whether the thing you’re about to launch already exists, this one is for you.

00:00 Founder Reflex Defined
 01:38 Real World Examples
 02:38 Costs of Duplication
 03:50 Redemptive Self Story
 05:04 Why Founding Feels Better
 08:29 Communal Narcissism
 11:09 Elite Capture Explained
 13:46 White Ignorance Defense
 17:04 Manufactured vs Real Community
 18:42 White Feminism Patterns
 20:58 Followership Skills
 22:43 Practice Joining Instead
 23:23 Closing Thoughts

The Cornell Seven, Frat Chats, and the Rape Pipeline: How Institutions Protect Men Who Harm Women

Dr. Leslie Poston returns from a two-week break to work through the Cornell Seven case and what it tells us about how institutions handle men who harm women. The episode opens with the facts of the 101-page lawsuit filed September 14, including the Snapchat chat that advertised the assault to the rest of the fraternity, and traces what Cornell did and didn’t do in the two years before the story broke nationally. From there, Leslie turns to LSU, Temple, the University of Chicago, and the research on why these cases keep producing the same outcomes. She covers rape myths, DARVO, himpathy, and the recent retaliation against Jane Doe. The episode closes on the question the research actually leaves us with, which isn’t the one most of the coverage is asking.

00:00 Why The Break
01:27 Cornell Seven Overview
03:09 What Allegedly Happened
05:39 Institutional Response Fallout
08:49 Why Campuses Bury Cases
10:20 LSU And A Contrast Case
13:33 How The Pipeline Starts
18:08 Frat Culture In Group Dynamics
21:03 Receipts And Proof Culture
25:19 Rape Myths, Himpathy, DARVO
26:54 Swatting Threats Retaliation
27:50 From Campus To Power
32:42 What To Do Next
35:55 Consequences And Closing

Beyond Blame and Savior: Why Systems, Not Individuals, Drive Outcomes

When something goes wrong, we look for the person who caused it. When we want something fixed, we look for the person who can save us. Host Dr. Leslie Poston breaks down why both of those instincts are the same cognitive shortcut, what they protect us from seeing, and how superhero narratives, religious traditions, and political campaigns all reinforce the pattern. She pulls examples from Trump, Obama, Dolly Parton, Mamdani, and corporate scandal culture to show how the same psychology operates across the political spectrum.

00:00 Blame And Hope Pattern
00:56 Fundamental Attribution Error
03:07 Just World And Scapegoats
05:07 Collective Narcissism Politics
07:29 Corporate Scandal Rituals
07:54 Villains Versus Saviors
08:31 Compensatory Control Theory
09:42 How Groups Create Leaders
11:07 Obama And Dolly Totems
13:15 Superhero Myth Training
16:38 Religion And Strongmen
20:08 Why Systems Thinking Hurts
23:10 Practical System Questions
24:19 Closing And Subscribe

War, Power, and the Psychology of Leaders: Dark Traits, Moral Disengagement, and AI-Driven Distance

Dr. Leslie Poston argues that war is a predictable failure of leadership selection: the traits that help people gain power, Dark Triad and Tetrad traits like narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and sadism, are the same traits that make leaders dangerous when it comes to decisions about conflict. She traces this pattern through current wars including the US-Iran strikes, Sudan, Myanmar, Ukraine, and Afghanistan-Pakistan. The episode explores how Bandura's moral disengagement operates in modern warfare, how technologies like autonomous weapons and AI targeting systems are widening the accountability gap between leaders and consequences, and why violence is cognitively simpler than peace. She draws a structural parallel between military and corporate leadership failures, particularly in the AI industry's treatment of creative workers, and closes with research-backed interventions for changing who ends up in positions of power and what they bring with them.

00:00 Why Leaders Start Wars
03:10 Dark Tetrad in Power
06:05 Ego Escalation Pattern
07:25 Moral Disengagement Explained
09:03 AI Weapons and Distance
13:38 Violence Beats Complexity
14:56 Groupthink and Sunk Costs
17:20 Corporate Violence via AI
20:53 What Real Leadership Is
22:29 Fixing the Selection Problem
24:58 Closing Thoughts

Terror Management Theory, Replication, and How Science Updates What We Think We Know

Dr. Leslie Poston discusses Terror Management Theory (TMT) as a framework for understanding how death anxiety shapes social and political behavior, and uses it to illustrate how science updates its conclusions as evidence changes. She contrasts open replication with cases like Dan Ariely's retracted work. She traces TMT from Ernest Becker's The Denial of Death to early experiments showing harsher punishment after mortality reminders, explains the anxiety buffer (worldview, self-esteem, relationships) and proximal vs. distal defenses, and reviews findings linking mortality salience to prejudice, nationalism, consumerism, and support for confident leaders. She then covers replication challenges, including Many Labs 4, competing re-analyses, independent failed replications, and a major meta-analysis showing publication bias likely inflated the effect. Alongside TMT, she reviews neuroscience and physiology research on threat sensitivity and political ideology, which shows smaller but consistent associations. The episode connects constant ambient threat in modern media and authoritarian rhetoric to these dynamics and discusses buffering strategies like bolstering self-esteem, relationships, shared humanity, and recognizing fear priming.

00:00 Welcome and TMT Introduction
00:47 Dan Ariely and Bad vs. Good Science
01:34 Ernest Becker and The Denial of Death
03:05 The First Mortality Salience Study
03:52 How TMT Works
05:31 Death Cues in Daily Life
06:41 What the Research Found
09:28 Threat Sensitivity in the Brain
11:31 Replication and Re-analysis
13:42 Understanding Publication Bias
14:46 What We Actually Know
16:58 Why This Matters Now
17:46 What Helps
18:28 Science as an Updating Process
19:00 Outro

Why MBTI Took Over Corporate Culture Despite Weak Science, and What to Use Instead

Dr. Leslie Poston traces how the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator became a multi-million-dollar corporate fixture despite decades of research challenging its psychometric quality, from Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers' Jung-inspired typology to its commercialization by the Myers-Briggs Company. The episode outlines core problems with the MBTI, including poor test-retest reliability, arbitrary binary categorization despite normally distributed traits, and weak predictive validity for workplace outcomes. Poston covers why it still feels accurate through the Barnum/Forer effect, motivated reasoning, preference for simple categories, and social identity dynamics reinforced by online communities and corporate incentives. She contrasts the MBTI with evidence-based personality science such as the Big Five and HEXACO, notes the growing commercial availability of validated tools, and examines why the MBTI persists through ease of use, positivity, institutional inertia, and cultural saturation.

Participate in Our Latest Research Project! Click Here. Not your thing? Share the link!

00:00 MBTI Everywhere
01:31 Origins and Jung
03:30 The Business Machine
04:33 Reliability and Validity Issues
07:55 Why It Feels True
12:27 Big Five and Better Models
17:04 Why MBTI Still Dominates
20:08 What You Can Do
22:15 Bigger Lesson and Wrap

Why Some People Bounce Back: Narrative Identity, Redemption Stories, and Getting Unstuck

PARTICIPATE IN MY POST DOC RESEARCH! CLICK HERE.

Dr. Leslie Poston explains that resilience after hard experiences often depends less on toughness or event severity and more on the narrative people construct about what happened. Drawing on 30+ years of narrative identity research from researchers like Dan McAdams, she contrasts “redemption sequences” (negative-to-positive meaning) with “contamination sequences” (positive overtaken by negative), noting links to well-being and depression. She cites evidence that narrative is an active ingredient: long-term sobriety predicts redemption framing of the last drink, increases in narrative agency precede mental health gains in therapy, and expressive writing improves outcomes when it creates coherent story structure. She discusses developmental roots in parent-child elaborative reminiscing, the risk of event centrality in PTSD/CPTSD and collective trauma (e.g., post-9/11 America), and how cultural “master narratives” shape which stories feel possible, with cross-cultural differences. Practical takeaways include therapy, structured writing, supportive listening, and reframing adversity as a chapter, plus a note about upcoming paid courses and no ads.

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00:00 Why We Get Stuck
01:28 Narrative Identity Basics
02:20 Redemption vs Contamination
03:47 Stories Change Outcomes
06:56 How Kids Learn Stories
09:49 When Trauma Becomes Identity
11:35 Collective Trauma Filters
13:21 Culture and Master Narratives
14:39 When Redemption Doesn’t Fit
17:12 Practical Tools to Reframe
21:24 Closing and Housekeeping

Body Policing as Authoritarian Power: From Fascist Propaganda to TikTok Pipelines

In Part One, we asked who gets to decide what a woman's body should look like. In Part Two, Dr. Leslie Poston follows that question into political history, tracing a line from Mussolini's propaganda offices to the fashion industry to TikTok's algorithm. The distance between fascist body archetypes and a teenage girl's feed in 2026 is shorter than you'd think. Drawing on the work of Sabrina Strings, Da'Shaun Harrison, and Lois Shearing, this episode examines how and why body control has functioned as a tool of authoritarian power, and what makes it so effective at recruiting women and girls today.

PARTICIPATE IN MY POST DOC RESEARCH! CLICK HERE.

00:00 Part Two Setup
01:16 Fascist Body Archetypes
03:49 Fear and Conformity
05:03 Racial Origins of Fatphobia
07:11 Modern Body Fascism
09:33 Fashion Industry Data
12:38 Ariana Grande Case Study
13:36 Skinny Talk Pipeline
17:09 Why It Works Psychologically
21:34 Closing Resources

Why Society Feels Entitled to Comment on Women’s Bodies, and the Harm It Causes

Jenna Ortega sat down to talk about her career. Within a day, the internet was only talking about her body. Dr. Leslie Poston traces this pattern across decades of public scrutiny aimed at women in the spotlight, examines the psychology behind why people feel entitled to comment on women's bodies at all, and looks at what the research says those comments actually do. Part one of a two-part series.

PARTICIPATE IN MY POST DOC RESEARCH! CLICK HERE.

00:00 Welcome and Setup
01:55 Jenna Ortega Scrutiny
03:43 Ariana Grande Pattern
04:58 2000s Tabloid Era
07:11 Why Commentary Persists
09:57 Concern Trolling Explained
11:28 Parasocial Entitlement
12:58 Research on Harm
15:21 Stress and Health Effects
16:52 Ozempic Culture Shift
19:51 Coping and Bigger Question
20:52 Wrap Up and Part Two

For those who asked about reading my dissertation, I made it open access for you. 

Be Cringe, Be Free: Authenticity, Shame, and the Cost of Performing the Self

"Be cringe, be free" sounds like a joke about dancing badly in public. Dr. Leslie Poston makes the case that it's actually a question psychology has been thinking about for decades: why does being yourself in public feel so dangerous, and can dropping the performance actually change anything beyond your own life? This episode draws on Goffman's front stage and back stage selves, Winnicott's true self and false self, Brehm's reactance theory, Gilbert's social rank theory, Tangney's research on shame and guilt, Gilovich's spotlight effect, Meyer's minority stress theory, Keltner's work on embarrassment, and Deci, Ryan, and Neff on autonomy and self-compassion, to ask what it actually costs to keep performing, and what it takes to stop.

00:00 Be Cringe Be Free
01:07 Life as Theater
02:48 True vs False Self
04:37 Reactance and Pushback
06:14 Where Cringe Fear Comes From
08:04 Spotlight Effect Reality Check
09:03 Minority Stress and Real Risk
10:23 Embarrassment vs Defiance
11:57 Autonomy and Self Compassion
13:57 Freedom as Collective Change
14:33 Outro and Research Invite

LINK TO PARTICIPATE IN DR. POSTON'S NEXT RESEARCH STUDY: https://bit.ly/4fCx52d (linked form will deactivate when study is full)

The Psychology Behind AI Call-Outs and False Certainty

Dr. Leslie Poston examines why people react with such gleeful certainty when an AI detector flags someone's writing, even though these tools are wrong often enough to falsely implicate one in five students in a single class. The satisfaction people feel rarely tracks whether the accusation is true. It tracks something else entirely, and this episode breaks down five distinct psychological motives hiding underneath that feeling, from protecting a shaky self-image to genuine hypocrisy to anger that belongs somewhere else altogether. Along the way: why detectors fail the way they do, what several centuries of public exposure rituals have in common with a modern callout post, and how to catch yourself doing this before you hit send.

00:00 Why AI Callouts Feel Good
01:08 Schadenfreude and Deservingness
03:10 Algorithms Reward Accusations
04:19 Five Motives Behind Callouts
04:27 Downward Comparison Relief
05:31 Imposter Syndrome Trigger
06:28 Secret Users and Hypocrisy
08:08 Moral Grandstanding Performance
09:00 Misdirected Anger at AI
10:03 Why Detectors Fail
12:12 Historical Parallels and Exposures
14:33 How to Respond Responsibly
17:06 Closing and Subscribe

Algospeak and the Cost of Speaking Under Algorithmic Suppression

When millions of creators have to say 'unalive' instead of suicide and use a grape emoji instead of talking about rape, something has gone wrong. In this episode, Dr. Leslie Poston discusses her dissertation research on the psychological impact of algospeak, the deliberate language modifications social media creators use to evade algorithmic content moderation, where those strategies actually come from, what happens when they spread, and what it costs the people who need them most. Portions of this research are currently being prepared for peer-reviewed journal publication.

Poston, L.E. (2026) Speaking at a Cost: Algorithmic Suppression, Appropriated Resistance, and the Psychological Burden of Linguistic Evasion on Social Media (Dissertation) Fielding Graduate University.

00:00 Welcome and Setup
00:44 What Is Algospeak
02:40 Origins and Raciolinguistics
04:13 Why I Studied This
05:28 Methods and Dataset
07:03 Emotional Toll
08:54 Cognitive Load
12:50 "Neutralization Lifecycle"
15:11 Beyond Algorithms Harassment
16:10 What Needs to Change
17:53 What Changed Since Study
19:31 Key Takeaways and Sign Off

Note: had some trouble with the audio leveling this week on a word or two, if I have time I'll re-record and replace those segments this weekend.

Education’s Value Beyond Jobs: Critical Thinking, Humanities, and the Real Jobs Crisis

Host Dr. Leslie Poston argues that education’s value is not defined by whether it leads directly to a job, criticizing the “elite overproduction” framing that treats employment outcomes as the only metric and shift systemic economic failures onto individuals. She emphasizes that a good education builds durable capacities like critical thinking, tolerance for ambiguity, and empathy (traits tied to better judgment in civic life, relationships, and work) supported by research on intrinsic motivation, liberal arts outcomes, and longitudinal gains in reflective learning and need for cognition. In medicine, humanities-linked interventions measurably improve empathy and uncertainty tolerance, reducing unnecessary tests and stress. She cites evidence that employers inflated degree requirements as a screening filter, worsening credential gaps, and explains cultural bias toward individual-blame narratives. She concludes that labor-market reform and valuing knowledge should be treated as separate fixes.

00:00 Education Beyond Jobs
01:16 The ROI Framing Trap
03:27 Critical Thinking Core
05:57 Intrinsic Motivation Wins
07:24 Medicine Needs Humanities
09:27 AI Ethics Training Gap
11:51 Who Caused Credential Creep
13:36 Bias Toward Blame
14:56 Two Problems Two Fixes
16:57 Closing Values Call

Why Love Languages Went Viral Without the Science to Support Them

Millions of people can name their love language. Almost none of them know the man who invented the concept wasn't a psychologist, never ran a study, and built the whole thing from his own irritation with how his wife loaded the dishwasher. Host Leslie Poston traces "The Five Love Languages" back to its actual origins, checks Gary Chapman's core claims against three decades of relationship research, and asks a harder question: who benefits when a framework this thin gets treated as settled science, and who ends up doing the work of proving it.

00:00 Love Languages Phenomenon
 01:18 Who Is Gary Chapman
 02:47 Pastoral Origins Story
 04:13 Brand Expansion Machine
 04:59 Putting The Theory To Test
 05:40 What The Research Finds
 07:15 Why It Still Spreads
 09:19 A Closer Look At Who Does The Work
 11:43 The Physical Touch Question
 13:04 When It Becomes A Shield
 16:27 What Holds Up Instead
 18:38 Closing Thoughts And Sign Off

**Note: We had some technical difficulties during recording this week. If there is a problem with your audio, please let us know**

Moral Panics as Effort Shields: Why Outrage Replaces Action

Why do we grab onto moral panics so eagerly, and then quietly drop them the moment they stop being convenient? In this episode, host Leslie Poston, Ph.D., introduces the concept of the 'effort shield' and argues that moral panics serve a psychological function most people never examine. Drawing on Stanley Cohen's foundational work, system justification theory, and the Semmelweis effect, she walks through four case studies spanning technology and policy to show how the pattern repeats, who profits from it, and what it costs us. If you've ever wondered why the same cycle of outrage keeps happening without anything actually changing, this one's for you.

00:00 Stranger Danger to Uber
01:04 What Moral Panics Do
02:24 Effort Shields Explained
05:14 Stranger Danger Myth
07:58 Video Games Scapegoat
10:44 Social Media Panic
12:29 KOSA and Policy Fallout
13:50 Anti Abortion Effort Shield
16:42 Pattern Across Examples
18:01 Why Panics Persist
18:29 Spotting the Shield
19:17 Closing and Subscribe

The Semmelweis Effect, COVID Cognitive Decline, and Why Evidence Struggles to Spread

Host Leslie Poston explains the Semmelweis effect (reflexively rejecting strong evidence because it threatens identity or established norms) through Ignaz Semmelweis’ 1840s discovery that chlorinated handwashing slashed childbed-fever deaths, despite fierce professional backlash and decades-long delay before adoption. She distinguishes the effect from confirmation bias and links it to cognitive dissonance, status quo bias, and identity-protective cognition. The episode then connects this pattern to research showing COVID-19 infection is associated with measurable, cumulative cognitive deficits (memory, reasoning, executive function), limited protection from vaccination, and brain changes, with reinfection worsening decline and older or severe cases at higher risk. Poston argues these impairments may reduce society’s ability to update beliefs, compounding the typical 17-year medical translation gap and polarized trust in science, and suggests bias awareness, infection prevention, living guidelines, better evidence infrastructure, and transparent communication.

00:00 Semmelweis Effect Intro
01:05 Deadly Maternity Mystery
01:38 Handwashing Breakthrough
02:21 Why Evidence Gets Rejected
03:30 Bias Mechanics Explained
05:58 Not Just Skepticism
07:11 COVID Cognitive Decline Data
08:37 Brain Changes And Reinfection
11:22 Translation Gap In Medicine
13:33 Trust Polarization Problem
14:38 Three Forces Collide
15:30 Practical Ways Forward
18:20 Closing Reflection And Signoff

Sustained Uncertainty at Work: Why It Hurts Your Brain and What Helps

Host Leslie Poston discusses sustained workplace uncertainty and its psychological effects, citing an APA Monitor on Psychology article and survey data showing widespread job insecurity, low engagement, and feelings of being replaceable or invisible—especially among workers under 25. She explains research finding peak stress at maximum uncertainty and connects it to ongoing “maybe” conditions created by economic instability, policy shifts, AI restructuring, and layoffs at profitable companies, which sever the link between effort and security and contribute to survivor syndrome, reduced collaboration, and morale gaps between HR and executives. Declining trust and weak communication—highlighted by Edelman and Gallup findings—intensify uncertainty, while workplace ostracism can activate pain-related brain regions and disproportionately affects women of color. She offers limits-aware coping ideas: reduce self-blame, assess whether uncertainty is temporary or permanent, diversify identity beyond work, and evaluate whether leadership will tell the truth.

00:00 Welcome and Setup
00:21 Workplace Uncertainty Data
01:48 Why Uncertainty Hurts
02:37 Living in Maybe
04:03 Profit Driven Layoffs
06:30 Survivor Syndrome Fallout
08:01 Trust Makes It Bearable
10:03 Manager Pipeline Breakdown
10:40 Invisibility and Ostracism
12:25 What You Can Do
13:09 Action Steps That Help
15:46 Closing Thoughts

Bullshit Receptivity: Why We Trust the Wrong Words

Host Leslie Poston discusses “bullshit receptivity,” a peer-reviewed construct describing susceptibility to impressive-sounding but meaningless language. She highlights Cornell cognitive psychologist Shane Littrell’s studies in which over 1,000 office workers rated AI-generated corporate jargon alongside real executive quotes; those most impressed scored lowest on analytic thinking and workplace decision-making, and were more likely to amplify jargon in a feedback loop that rewards BS-producing leaders. Poston connects this to earlier work by Gordon Pennycook (University of Waterloo) on pseudo-profound statements and cognitive defaults like initial acceptance and weak conflict monitoring, and to research linking BS receptivity with overclaiming, poor metacognition, fake news vulnerability (Pennycook and Rand), political slogans, and “scientific” BS. She notes Brandolini’s Law and emphasizes practicing analytic thinking, including restating claims in plain language, citing the University of Washington’s “Calling Bullshit” course and mentioning future coverage of pre-bunking.

00:00 Welcome and Setup
00:41 Cornell Corporate BS Study
02:49 Feedback Loop and Examples
04:56 Waterloo Origins of BS Scale
06:12 Why We Fall for It
07:55 Metacognition and Overclaiming
08:41 BS in News and Politics
10:28 Scientific and General BS
11:52 Training Your BS Detector
13:50 Practical Plain Language Test
14:47 Wrap Up and Teaser

The studies referenced:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191886926000620
https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/03/workers-who-love-synergizing-paradigms-might-be-bad-their-jobs
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/judgment-and-decision-making/article/on-the-reception-and-detection-of-pseudoprofound-bullshit/0D3C87BCC238BCA38BC55E395BDC9999
https://sjdm.org/~baron/journal/20/200221/jdm200221.pdf
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/psych-unseen/202007/does-america-have-problem-bullshit-receptivity
https://www.niemanlab.org/2017/08/when-it-comes-to-the-academic-study-of-fake-news-bullshit-receptivity-is-a-thing/
https://jspp.psychopen.eu/index.php/jspp/article/view/6565
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13546783.2022.2066724

UPDATED with notes from the study author: (Note: I love it when an author adds nuance! We lead with curiosity here and we know 15 - 25 minute episodic summaries can potentially overly-condense a topic.)

Replying to the LinkedIn post about this, Dr. Littrell said:

"Re: "The findings are consistent across every domain: the strongest predictor of whether someone catches BS is whether they engage analytic thinking or "go with their gut"."

There's a bit more to it than that. People can fall for BS through either mode of thinking (more "reflective" and more "intuitive"):

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13546783.2023.2189163
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/acp.4154

More detailed discussion here, for anyone interested: https://bullshitology.substack.com/p/brown-pilled-why-we-fall-for-bullshit"

The Credibility Trap: Why Confidence Beats Correctness

Host Leslie Poston is back after a hiatus to move PsyberSpace to a new weekly Thursday schedule and explains why people often trust confident speakers over accurate ones, calling it the “credibility trap.” She outlines the confidence heuristic (certainty feels like evidence), why it works through verbal cues across all media, and how Dunning-Kruger dynamics and overclaiming research show that learning a little can increase false recognition and perceived expertise, a risk she notes may worsen with increased LLM use. She adds the authority heuristic, where credentials or platforms suppress scrutiny, and describes harms when confidently wrong figures are amplified, including in public health and policy. Research on “bullshit receptivity” and overconfidence in news judgment shows some people are especially vulnerable and unaware. She argues honest expertise sounds uncertain due to scientific qualifiers, which media incentives punish, and offers habits to resist: treat uncertainty as a knowledge signal, watch for broad undifferentiated certainty, separate authority from accuracy, and question one’s own discernment.

00:00 Welcome Back Update
00:21 The Credibility Trap
01:14 Confidence Heuristic Explained
03:05 Dunning Kruger And Overclaiming
06:10 Authority Signals Amplify Errors
09:49 Who Falls For It
12:11 Honesty Sounds Uncertain
15:38 How To Resist The Trap
18:18 Final Thoughts And Sign Off

How Propaganda Uses Your Values Against Your Brain: The Passport Revocation Example

Host Leslie Poston explains that no one is immune to propaganda, using her own initial approval of a proposal to revoke passports for unpaid child support as an example of how emotional framing can short-circuit deeper thinking. She argues effective propaganda relies on a grain of truth and an emotional trigger, using agenda-setting to shape what people think about and how, and distinguishes agitation propaganda (fast, gut-response) from integration propaganda (slow, worldview-shaping). She describes how moral conviction, motivated reasoning, and cognitive fluency can recruit analytical skill to defend prior conclusions, making simple frames feel both right and true. She warns that vague mechanisms attached to sympathetic victims can expand beyond intent, citing civil asset forfeiture and welfare fraud provisions, and offers habits: slow down on strong emotions, ask who’s missing from the frame, examine the mechanism and recourse, reject forced binaries, and note topics where scrutiny feels disloyal.

00:00 No One Is Immune
00:35 Passport Law Gut Reaction
02:15 Propaganda Uses Truth
03:08 Agitation vs Integration
04:55 Moral Conviction Trigger
06:26 Fluency Feels Like Truth
07:30 Framing Hides Mechanisms
08:42 Policy History Examples
09:33 Five Anti Propaganda Habits
12:10 Create the Thinking Gap
12:41 Closing and Subscribe

Moral Licensing: Why Doing Good Can Make Us Behave Worse

Host Leslie Poston explains the phenomenon of moral licensing: after people do something that affirms their identity as a good person, the brain registers progress toward a moral goal, reducing self-regulatory effort and making later unethical choices more likely, sometimes in unrelated domains. Using a fitness “daily budget” analogy, the episode describes evidence from environmental psychology (green purchases followed by increased lying and cheating), research on racial bias (publicly demonstrating egalitarian credentials followed by more biased choices), activism (low-cost visible actions reducing motivation for harder follow-through), and organizational contexts (leaders with strong ethical self-identities engaging in minor violations because identity buffers self-concept). Poston emphasizes the effect is unconscious, doesn’t require bad intentions, and calls for attention to the misleading feeling of having “done your part.”

00:00 Welcome and Topic Setup
00:40 What Is Moral Licensing
01:34 Virtue as a Budget
02:46 Green Choices Backfire
04:53 Licensing and Racial Bias
06:58 Activism and Workplace Ethics
08:28 Why the Brain Does It
10:44 Spotting It in Yourself
11:51 Wrap Up and Sign Off

The Cost of Losing Serendipity in Algorithmic Discovery

Host Leslie Poston discusses how algorithmic recommendation systems have replaced everyday accidental discovery, reducing serendipity and narrowing what people encounter. The episode explains psychological and neuroscience research showing novelty’s role in motivation, attention, learning, and memory (including locus coeruleus activation), the inverted-U relationship between complexity and curiosity, and how habituation can flatten engagement when stimuli stay too familiar. Poston contrasts this with the mere exposure effect (Zajonc) and processing fluency, arguing platforms reinforce and shape preferences through repeated exposure, producing “adjacent novelty” rather than true surprise. She links personalization to self-concept via the looking-glass self and self-perception theory, describing identity-shaping pipelines, and argues personalization reduces shared cultural overlap, contributing to epistemological fragmentation. Practical suggestions include turning off autoplay, browsing physical spaces, reading outside one’s interests, and holding preferences lightly to preserve room for the unexpected.

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00:00 Welcome and Setup
01:16 What Serendipity Means
02:03 From Browsing to Algorithms
03:10 Novelty and Learning Science
05:12 Mere Exposure and Reinforced Taste
07:48 Adjacent Novelty Trap
09:29 Algorithms and Identity Mirrors
11:55 Shared Culture and Fragmentation
13:33 Agency and Slow Effects
16:37 Reclaiming the Unexpected
18:34 Closing Thoughts
19:19 Outro and Subscribe

Semantic Derailment and the Social Permission That Sustains Organized Sexual Violence

Host Leslie Poston discusses a CNN investigation into an “online rape academy,” including a Telegram group called ZZZ where nearly 1,000 men allegedly coordinated drugging and sexual assault, shared footage, discussed substances and dosages, and advertised paid live streams; while ZZZ was taken down, the U.S.-hosted site Motherless remains public, drawing about 62 million visits in February and hosting 20,000+ videos tagged with phrases like “passed out” and “eyecheck.” Poston connects this to the Dominique Pelicot case and argues the network has migrated and grown, including related misogynistic trends on TikTok. She critiques the male-dominated focus on disputing the “62 million” figure as moral disengagement and “semantic derailment,” linking it to betrayal trauma, social invalidation, and women’s hypervigilance. Poston argues these reactions provide social permission that enables perpetrators and calls for sustained engagement and pressure so “shame must change sides.”

VOTE HERE UNTIL APRIL 30th!

00:00 Welcome to PsyberSpace
00:30 CNN Rape Academy Exposed
01:41 Motherless Still Online
02:43 Pelicot Case Parallels
03:46 The Numbers Distraction
05:22 Moral Disengagement Explained
06:49 Betrayal Trauma and Dismissal
08:44 Invalidation and Hypervigilance
10:23 Same System Continuum
12:19 Community Collusion and Cover
13:06 What Real Response Looks Like
13:49 Closing and Call to Action

The Ethics of Reality TV: Deception, Conflict, and What We Normalize

Host Leslie Poston examines the ethical and psychological costs of reality and reality-adjacent TV that relies on deception or engineered conflict, arguing the key issue is whether harm is built into a show’s format rather than whether it is scripted. Using Jury Duty as an example of compromised informed consent and Survivor as an example of formats that reward manipulation, humiliation, and betrayal, she asks what it does to participants and to audiences when cruelty is reframed as “gameplay.” She discusses contestant harms (disorientation, stress, surveillance, reputational damage through editing, and minimal compensation) and viewer effects (social learning, desensitization, parasocial attachment, and moral distancing). She contrasts Squid Game as an explicit critique of exploitation and argues profit, contracts, and aftercare do not equal ethical permission, calling for standards centered on consent, dignity, and psychological safety.

VOTE HERE UNTIL APRIL 30th!

00:00 Reality TV Ethics
01:47 Harm Built In
03:41 Deception and Consent
06:12 Survivor and Cruelty
08:18 Contestant Fallout
10:57 How Viewers Change
13:19 Culture and Squid Game
15:11 Profit Over People
16:21 Better Standards
18:00 Closing and Callouts

AI Slop and Your Brain: Attention, Fatigue, and the Erosion of Meaning

Host Leslie Poston explains how “AI slop” is industrial-scale synthetic content optimized for volume and fast reactions rather than accuracy or usefulness, ranging from keyword-stuffed articles and fake reviews to fabricated quotes, fake images, and targeted deepfake audio/video. She argues it exploits cognitive shortcuts like attentional capture and processing fluency, creating decision fatigue, weakening deliberate “system two” thinking, and making it harder to suppress irrelevant junk. Repetition fuels the illusory truth effect, increasing perceived accuracy even with fact-check labels and eroding a shared factual baseline. Platforms’ variable-ratio, slot-machine-like feeds reward engagement regardless of truth, selecting for reaction-triggering slop and crowding out careful human work, with documented economic harms to creators and a sense of hollowness or “existential vacuum” for audiences. Poston recommends protecting cognitive resources by spending less time in algorithmic feeds, curating sources, seeking deeper work, and notes a Wharton paper on “cognitive surrender,” plus her 2026 Women in Podcasting nomination.

VOTE HERE UNTIL APRIL 30th!

00:00 What AI Slop Looks Like
01:09 Industrial Scale Deception
03:04 Brain Shortcuts Exploited
04:52 Decision Fatigue Online
06:35 Illusory Truth Effect
09:14 Slot Machine Feeds
11:35 Emotional Meaning Drain
13:45 Creators and Authenticity
15:06 Verification Tax and Society
16:10 Protect Your Attention
17:53 Cognitive Surrender Study
18:22 Wrap Up and Support

Wharton Paper on Cognitive Surrender

Meta Verdicts, Kids’ Harm, and the Push for Age Verification

Host Leslie Poston reviews two jury verdicts finding Meta liable for harming children: a New Mexico case ordering $375 million in civil penalties for concealing knowledge about child sexual exploitation and mental health impacts, and a Los Angeles negligence case where Meta and YouTube were found liable and Kaylee was awarded $6 million for worsened anxiety and depression from compulsive use starting at ages 6 and 9. Poston cites internal Meta research (Project Myst) and communications likening effects to drugs and gambling, arguing the fine is negligible versus Meta’s $201B revenue. She critiques rapid policy pivots to age verification and digital ID laws, describing requirements like government ID uploads and biometrics via third parties as surveillance, easily bypassed with VPNs, and harmful to those needing anonymity. She notes Meta’s lobbying and covert funding for age-verification groups, and offers questions about beneficiaries, fit to harm, psychology of surveillance, non-technological causes, exposure, and real accountability.

00:00 Welcome and Overview
00:30 Jury Verdicts Against Meta
01:41 Evidence and Accountability Gap
03:00 Policy Pivot to Age Verification
04:11 Surveillance and Anonymity Risks
06:01 Why Our Brains Accept Bad Fixes
08:34 Meta Lobbying and Hidden Incentives
09:40 Five Questions to Ask
12:34 Closing Thoughts

Why “Give 100%” Is Corrosive: Sustainable Performance, Burnout, and Reserve Capacity

Host Leslie Poston examines the phrase “give 100%” in American work culture, tracing it to Protestant work-ethic theology and arguing it became a management tool that moralizes maximum output despite lacking empirical support. The episode contrasts this norm with research on sustainable performance, citing shorter-workweek trials. Poston explains how “100%” ignores unequal baselines via allostatic load, highlights commute and remote-work effects, and details autistic burnout and masking costs. Drawing on Christina Maslach’s burnout research and WHO recognition, the script argues burnout is organizational, not personal, and advocates structural changes and operating below maximum (e.g., “give 60%”).

00:00 Why Give 100%
01:06 Protestant Work Ethic
03:18 No Evidence Just Inherited
04:20 The Math of Depletion
04:52 Four Day Week Proof
06:59 Reserve Beats Extraction
07:49 Unequal Starting Baselines
08:08 Allostatic Load Explained
10:25 Remote Work Stress Relief
11:42 Neurodivergent Hidden Costs
13:14 Masking and Autistic Burnout
15:39 Self Care Myth
16:15 Maslach Burnout Research
19:32 Why the Norm Persists
20:04 Sustainable Performance Science
21:38 A Question for Yourself
22:26 Evidence Based Changes
22:59 Give 60% Closing
23:11 Sign Off

Common Sense or Power Move? The One Question That Reveals the Difference

Host Leslie Poston argues that “common sense” is often used to end conversations and universalize one person’s perception rather than provide evidence. She explains this through naïve realism (people experience their perceptions as objective reality), embodied cognition (gut intuitions shaped by bodily and lived experience), and positionality (social location shapes what becomes perceptually salient). She cites the “WEIRD” problem in psychology showing many supposedly universal findings don’t generalize across cultures, and connects “common sense” to Gramsci’s hegemony, where dominant-group assumptions become normalized as natural and inevitable. Without endorsing relativism, she notes motivated reasoning can make conclusions feel obvious before scrutiny. She closes with a practical test for sussing out “common sense” claims.

00:00 Common Sense Setup
02:04 Obvious as Default
03:27 Naive Realism Lens
06:17 Embodied Intuition
08:28 Positional Blind Spots
10:04 WEIRD Not Universal
14:08 Common Sense as Power
17:16 Not Relativism
18:03 Motivated Reasoning
20:10 One Key Question
21:13 Practical Takeaways
23:56 Closing and Next Week

When AI Becomes a Confidant: Loneliness, Engagement Incentives, and the Risks of Chatbot “Support”

Host Leslie Poston examines why so many adults and teens are using LLM chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude as friends, therapy substitutes, or romantic stand-ins, linking it to eroding community, expensive and inaccessible mental health care, and tech incentives optimized for engagement. Citing Meta’s engagement-driven practices and data harms as an example of industry patterns, she argues similar incentives shape AI “support” tools with little clinical oversight. She discusses attachment theory, parasocial dynamics, and research showing dependency trajectories and correlations between higher daily AI use and greater loneliness and reduced real-world socialization, with chatbots tending to validate rumination rather than promote reappraisal. She highlights lethal failure cases involving suicide encouragement and prolonged affirmation during crises, notes harms also affect adults, critiques child-focused age-verification bills as privacy-eroding surveillance, and points to targeted interventions (e.g., NY’s AI companion requirements) and clinicians asking about AI use, emphasizing real community connection as the root solution.

00:00 AI as Confidant
01:28 Why People Turn to Bots
02:56 Engagement First Tech History
05:40 Psychology of AI Attachment
07:49 Dependence and Loneliness Data
10:29 When Affirmation Turns Deadly
12:47 Adults at Risk Too
15:36 Child Safety Bills and Age Checks
19:23 What Actually Helps
21:39 Closing and Call to Action

Forever War and the Stolen Future

Host Leslie Poston examines a hidden psychological cost of “forever wars”: they don’t just create fear and grief, they change how people relate to time—shrinking hope, planning, and the ability to believe in tomorrow. She explains how chronic threat and recurring escalation can trap individuals and whole societies in emergency mode, erode trust in institutions, and create a sense of democratic powerlessness, citing January 2026 U.S. polling from Quinnipiac showing over 85% of voters opposed military action against Iran. The episode also explores how constant media exposure, moral implication in state violence, and the normalization of instability shape adults and children alike. Poston closes by arguing that resilience isn’t enough without public conditions that restore agency—real ceasefires, accountability, and functioning community supports that make a future feel livable again.

00:00 Welcome and Setup
00:48 War Shrinks Tomorrow
02:11 Defining Forever War
03:19 Powerlessness and Consent
04:26 Future Orientation Explained
06:22 Foreshortened Future
08:17 Time Disorientation
09:57 Cascading Social Damage
13:14 Politics and Authoritarian Drift
14:16 Media Exposure and Implication
16:19 Children Inherit Instability
18:10 Expanding the Future Again
20:14 Closing and Call to Action

Losing Our Heroes: The Epstein Files, Elite Complicity, and the Psychology of Looking Away

Host Leslie Poston discusses the psychological impact of seeing the names of people you once admired or trusted in the Epstein files. Poston examines why revelations connected to the Epstein files can feel psychologically destabilizing, especially when they involve admired public figures and trusted institutions. Drawing on research in power and social perception, implicit cognition, moral disengagement, parasocial relationships, and betrayal trauma, the episode explores how people and systems can minimize harm, avoid accountability, and sustain “looking away,” and discusses grief, anger, and disillusionment as part of responding clearly to what the files document.

00:00 Welcome + Content Warning: Losing Our Heroes in the Epstein Revelations
00:50 What the Epstein Files Really Represent (Not a ‘Scandal’)
02:30 The Eugenics Ideology Behind the Network’s Power
03:34 Why It Went On for Decades: Power, Attention, and Elite Blindness
05:11 Implicit Cognition & ‘Motivated Not Knowing’ Among Ethical Public Figures
08:25 How Media & Religion Train Us to Soften Abuse (Moral Disengagement)
11:25 Parasocial Grief, Cognitive Dissonance, and Identity Shame
13:57 Betrayal Trauma: Survivors, Institutions, and Why Accountability Matters
16:02 Recovering After Disillusionment: Grief, Anger, and Clear-Eyed Demands
18:06 Closing

Sustained Resistance: How Communities Keep Showing Up Under Repression

Host Leslie Poston closes PsyberSpace’s three-part series on American authoritarianism by focusing on the psychology of sustained resistance. Drawing on findings that real-world bystander intervention occurs in most incidents, she distinguishes one-time helping from long-term collective action and uses Minneapolis as an example of ongoing community response to state violence. She reviews research suggesting risk can increase commitment when paired with anger at repression and a belief that participation matters, and argues effective resistance relies on pre-existing collective efficacy built through repeated small acts of trust and mutual aid. She references Havel’s idea of “living in truth,” where refusing to perform compliance with obvious lies creates a growing space where propaganda fails. Poston also outlines factors that sustain activism under repression: emotional solidarity, alternative information/documentation sources as “epistemic infrastructure,” tactical flexibility, and the belief that others share one’s perception of reality. She also discusses the danger of pluralistic ignorance and discusses Erica Chenoweth’s research on civil resistance, including the higher historical success of nonviolent movements and cautions about overinterpreting the 3.5% threshold and changing success rates in the 2010s. Poston emphasizes diverse roles and tactics (street protest, documentation, legal support, sanctuary, labor action, and local noncooperation) and ends with practical guidance: build community relationships before crisis, maintain reality-testing against gaslighting, and choose an appropriate role to make dissent visible.

00:00 Welcome Back + What This Finale Covers
01:05 Beyond the Bystander Effect: What Sustained Resistance Requires
02:41 Risk, Anger, and Why Danger Can Fuel Commitment
03:47 Collective Efficacy: The Trust Built Before the Crisis
05:41 “Living in Truth”: Refusing to Perform the Lie
07:35 4 Keys to Staying Engaged Under Repression
10:17 Mass Participation, Nonviolence, and Diversity of Tactics
12:15 Practical Takeaways: Build Community, Protect Reality, Find Your Role
14:29 Series Wrap-Up + Final Thoughts and Next Episode Tease

The Power and Purpose of Obvious Lies in Authoritarian Regimes

In this episode of PsyberSpace®, host Leslie Poston explores why authoritarian regimes tell obvious lies that contradict available video evidence and their psychological impact on the public. The discussion digs into how such lies serve to dominate rather than persuade, sorting the population, degrading shared reality, and forcing individuals to either accept the lie, stay quiet, or openly reject it. The episode also touches on concepts like institutional gaslighting, epistemic violence, and moral injury, highlighting the social costs and potential resilience strategies against these tactics. The upcoming part three will focus on the psychology of resistance and collective action.

00:00 Introduction to Authoritarian Lies
00:36 The Psychology Behind Obvious Lies
01:44 Propaganda and Domination
02:25 Sorting the Population
03:08 Degrading Shared Reality
03:37 Forcing a Choice
04:22 Institutional Gaslighting
05:05 Epistemology of Ignorance
06:32 Racist Gaslighting
08:02 Moral Injury and Exhaustion
10:14 The Cost of Dissent
12:27 Social Connection as Resistance
14:22 The Power of Documentation
14:53 The Vulnerability of Obvious Lies
15:24 Looking Ahead: The Psychology of Resistance
15:46 Conclusion and Sign Off

Understanding American Authoritarianism Short Series Part 1 of 3: Expansion of State Violence

In the first part of a special three-episode series on PsyberSpace®, host Leslie Poston examines the psychology of authoritarianism with a focus on the expansion of state violence in the United States. Highlighting the significance of understanding how psychological patterns predict such outcomes, Leslie discusses recent events involving federal immigration agents and names the victims to humanize the statistics. She delves into various research by black scholars and others on moral exclusion, implicit bias, police violence, and the mechanisms behind systematic racism. The episode underscores the importance of recognizing and acting against the contraction of the moral circle and prepares the audience for the next episode on the psychology of manufactured reality.

00:00 Introduction to American Authoritarianism
01:11 Documenting State Violence
03:02 Moral Exclusion and Dehumanization
05:43 Intersectionality and Systemic Racism
06:37 Expanding Carceral State
11:21 Survivor Psychology and Clarity
13:13 Conclusion and Next Episode Preview

Research will be added to PsyberSpace later this week

The Illusion of Digital Safety: How Age Gates and Digital IDs Miss the Mark

In this episode of PsyberSpace, host Leslie Poston digs into the ineffectiveness and risks of age gates and digital ID verification systems aimed at protecting children online. Highlighting global legislative attempts and their unintended consequences, Poston argues that these measures often exacerbate digital risks while failing to address root causes such as inadequate parental capacity, literacy deficiencies, and systemic economic struggles. The episode challenges the moral panic around social media's impact on youth mental health, pointing out that true protection requires structural change rather than symbolic, ineffective solutions.

00:00 Introduction and Data Breach Experiment
01:09 Global Push for Age Gates and Digital ID Verification
02:24 Moral Panic and Media Influence
02:51 Scientific Evidence on Social Media and Youth Wellbeing
07:02 The Real Issues: Parenting Capacity and Literacy Crisis
09:35 The Illusion of Control: Age Gates and Surveillance
14:09 Effective Solutions and Structural Change
15:27 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

The Hidden Dangers of Debate: Why It Can Legitimize Bad Ideas

In this episode of PsyberSpace®, host Leslie Poston explores the unintended consequences of debate formats in media, arguing that they often function as tools to distribute and legitimize harmful ideas rather than dismantling them with facts. Poston discusses psychological principles such as social proof, the illusory truth effect, and the continued influence effect to explain why debates can amplify bad ideas. She advocates for alternative approaches such as weight of evidence framing, pre-bunking tactics, and audience-centered harm reduction to effectively combat misinformation and reduce harm.

00:00 Introduction to Debate Content
01:14 The Unseen Consequences of Debates
02:06 The Psychology Behind Debate Failures
04:13 False Balance in Media
05:44 The Illusory Truth Effect
07:43 Debate as Entertainment
09:38 Incentives and Bad Faith Tactics
14:13 Strategies for Harm Reduction
16:20 Practical Tips for Responding to Misinformation
18:30 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

The Erosion of Consent in the Digital Age

In this episode of PsyberSpace®, Leslie Poston discusses the systematic erosion of consent both online and offline, and its devastating psychological consequences. Key topics include non-consensual AI-generated sexual imagery, the mass theft of creative work to train AI systems, the exploitation of vulnerable individuals for social media content, and the influence of manosphere ideology on young men. Poston explores the dehumanization and objectification that results from these trends, the psychological theories behind them, and provides insights into moral disengagement and learned helplessness. The episode concludes with strategies for resisting these harmful practices and emphasizes the importance of maintaining and teaching respect for consent.

00:00 Introduction to the Erosion of Consent
01:15 Understanding Objectification and Its Harms
02:25 AI and Non-Consensual Imagery
05:20 Data Colonialism and Creative Theft
07:52 Exploitation for Social Media Clout
11:01 Manosphere Ideology and Consent
14:52 Surveillance and Privacy Violations
18:46 Psychological Consequences of Consent Erosion
23:08 Paths to Resistance and Hope
26:36 Conclusion and Call to Action

Research will be added to the PsyberSpace.com main website

PsyberSpace® on Navigating Therapy: Finding the Right Modality and Therapist for Your Mental Health

In this episode of PsyberSpace®, host Leslie Poston kicks off season three with an in-depth exploration of several of the many therapy modalities available to you. Leslie discusses that therapy isn't a one-size-fits-all solution, emphasizing the importance of finding the right match between therapeutic modalities, the therapist, and individual needs. The episode covers various therapeutic approaches including CBT, DBT, psychodynamic therapy, EMDR, somatic experiencing, and psychedelic-assisted therapy, highlighting their benefits, limitations, and suitable candidates. Additionally, Leslie highlights the importance of community-based healing and the ethical considerations surrounding therapy. The episode offers practical advice on finding, vetting, and (if needed) firing therapists, and underscores the need for personalized and culturally sensitive therapeutic practices.

00:00 Introduction to Season Three: Therapy Insights
01:47 Setting the Context: Western Psychology vs. Indigenous Knowledge
04:37 Exploring Therapeutic Modalities: CBT and Its Limitations
07:28 Diving into DBT: Emotional Regulation and Skills-Based Therapy
08:39 Unpacking Psychodynamic Therapy: Deep Self-Understanding
09:54 EMDR: Trauma-Focused Therapy
11:45 Body-Centered Therapies: Somatic Approaches
13:48 Psychedelic Assisted Therapy: Emerging Field and Ethical Considerations
17:23 Community-Based Healing: Beyond Individual Therapy
20:58 Finding the Right Therapist: Questions and Red Flags
26:20 Firing Your Therapist: When and How to Move On
28:50 Conclusion: Your Healing Journey

Visit the main web site at PsyberSpace.com for the research and to comment on each episode. Research may take 48 hours to upload to the site, as we work to help make real research accessible and to defeat AI slop and AI fake citations.

Navigating Family Estrangement During the Holidays

In this episode of PsyberSpace, host Leslie Poston explores the trending issue of family estrangement, especially relevant during the holiday season. With so many adults experiencing estrangement, Poston dives into the research findings from the Cornell Reconciliation Project and other studies. The episode discusses the perspectives and reasons behind estrangement both from adult children and the parents' viewpoints, highlighting cultural shifts and the need for emotional intelligence. The show also covers the misconceptions around 'Parental Alienation Syndrome,' the impact of estrangement during holidays, and potential pathways to reconciliation.

00:00 Introduction to Family Estrangement
01:11 The Prevalence of Estrangement
03:18 Understanding the Reasons for Estrangement
05:24 Parental Perspectives on Estrangement
06:59 The Controversy of Parental Alienation
08:39 Cultural Shifts and Emotional Health
10:32 Pathways to Reconciliation
12:56 The Emotional Impact of Holidays
14:02 Final Thoughts and Takeaways

The Impact of Engineered Doubt on Trust and Knowledge

In this episode of PsyberSpace™, hosted by Leslie Poston, the focus is on the concept of trust in a rapidly changing world. Leslie digs into how societal trust is being undermined by 'engineered doubt', the deliberate creation of uncertainty by powerful forces that aim to destabilize public confidence in research, expertise, and evidence. The episode discusses the emotional and psychological impacts of this phenomenon on both the general public and researchers, the role of political pressure and misinformation, and how AI technologies amplify the problem. Leslie emphasizes the importance of recognizing these tactics, maintaining awareness, and finding reliable sources to rebuild trust. The episode serves as a guide to understanding the complex dynamics of trust in an age of misinformation and political manipulation.

00:00 Introduction to PsyberSpace
00:28 The Erosion of Trust in Modern Society
02:18 Engineered Doubt: Creating Uncertainty
02:47 Political Pressure on Research
04:56 The Silence Within the Research Community
08:16 The Role of AI in Amplifying Doubt
08:52 Health Consequences of Engineered Doubt
09:24 The Psychological Impact of Trust Erosion
10:15 Researchers Under Siege
11:50 The Collective Impact of Engineered Doubt
13:15 Finding Anchors in a Sea of Doubt
14:20 Conclusion and Call to Action

Research list will be on the main PsyberSpace™ site tomorrow

Recognizing and Countering Thought Limiting Phrases

In this episode of PsyberSpace, host Leslie Poston discusses 'thought limiting phrases'—statements that superficially seem wise but actually discourage critical thinking. These phrases often shut down debate, simplify complex issues, and create false equivalencies, benefiting those who want to avoid scrutiny. Leslie explores examples in technology, privacy, workplace dynamics, politics, and more, highlighting their psychological appeal and social impact. The episode also provides strategies for recognizing and challenging these phrases to promote deeper inquiry and nuanced understanding.

00:00 Introduction: AI vs. Calculator
00:39 Welcome to PsyberSpace
00:48 Understanding Thought Limiting Phrases
02:13 Examples in Technology and Progress
03:42 Privacy and Surveillance Phrases
04:19 Workplace and Fatalism Phrases
05:06 Political and Personal Responsibility Phrases
06:34 Information Landscape Phrases
07:42 Cognitive Mechanisms Behind Thought Limiting Phrases
11:25 Deep Dive: AI is Just a Tool
16:25 Fighting Back Against Thought Limiting Phrases
19:47 Conclusion and Call to Action

Understanding Limerence: The Psychological and Neurological Perspectives

In this episode of PsyberSpace, host Leslie Poston digs into the phenomenon of limerence, a state of intense, often obsessive longing that is frequently mistaken for love. Leslie explores how limerence manifests and differs from love and lust, particularly in neurodivergent individuals and those with trauma. The discussion covers the impact of modern technology and social media in intensifying these feelings. Practical advice is offered for managing and overcoming limerence, emphasizing the importance of grounding oneself in reality and seeking support when needed.

00:00 Introduction to Limerence
00:42 Understanding Limerence
02:27 Limerence in Neurodivergent Individuals
07:22 The Role of Social Media
09:14 Parasocial Relationships and Limerence
10:52 The Emotional Impact of Limerence
12:53 Breaking the Limerent Loop
15:48 Factors Contributing to Limerence
16:57 Conclusion and Resources

Therapy Speak: Understanding Its Positive Impact and Identifying Its Misuse

In this episode of PsyberSpace, host Leslie Poston explores the mainstream adoption of 'therapy speak,' explaining its beneficial role in self-understanding and mental health awareness. The script discusses the expansion of psychological terminology into everyday conversations and its revolutionary impact on self-diagnosis, especially among marginalized communities. However, it also addresses the potential misuse of therapy language in relationships, politics, and workplaces to avoid accountability and manipulate others. Leslie outlines how to spot these manipulations and emphasizes the importance of using psychological awareness responsibly to facilitate growth and understanding.

00:00 Introduction to Therapy Speak
00:35 The Rise of Therapy Speak in Everyday Life
01:39 The Benefits of Self-Diagnosis
02:00 The Dark Side: Weaponizing Therapy Speak
02:29 Historical Context and Concept Creep
04:14 The Digital Revolution and Mental Health
07:24 Recognizing Weaponized Therapy Speak in Relationships
11:03 Therapy Speak in Politics
14:13 Therapy Speak in the Workplace
17:33 Framework for Identifying Weaponized Therapy Speak
19:14 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Resources:

Cloitre, M., Stolbach, B. C., Herman, J. L., van der Kolk, B., Pynoos, R., Wang, J., & Petkova, E. (2009). A developmental approach to complex PTSD: Childhood and adult cumulative trauma as predictors of symptom complexity. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 22(5), 399-408.
Haslam, N. (2016). Concept creep: Psychology's expanding concepts of harm and pathology. Psychological Inquiry, 27(1), 1-17. 
Haslam, N., McGrath, M. J., Viechtbauer, W., & Kuppens, P. (2020). Harm inflation: Making sense of concept creep. European Review of Social Psychology, 31(1), 254-286.
Haslam, N., Tse, J. S. Y., & De Deyne, S. (2021). Concept creep and psychiatrization. Frontiers in Sociology, 6, 806147. 
Hudon, A., Perry, K., Plate, A. S., Doucet, A., Ducharme, L., Djona, O., Testart Aguirre, C., Evoy, G., Stip, E., & Abdel-Baki, A. (2025). Navigating the maze of social media disinformation on psychiatric illness and charting paths to reliable information for mental health professionals: Observational study of TikTok videos. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 27, e64225. 
Kirkpatrick, C. E., & Lawrie, L. L. (2024). TikTok as a source of health information and misinformation for young women in the United States: Survey study. JMIR Infodemiology, 4, e54663. 
McGrath, Melanie & Haslam, Nick. (2020). Development and validation of the Harm Concept Breadth Scale: Assessing individual differences in harm inflation. PLOS ONE. 15. e0237732. 10.1371/journal.pone.0237732. 
McCashin, D., Coyle, D., & Murphy, C. M. (2023). Using TikTok for public and youth mental health: A systematic review and content analysis. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 26, 279-306.
Omidbakhsh Z, Mohammadi Z, Soltanabadi S. Childhood Maltreatment and Complex PTSD: A Systematic Literature Review. Trauma Violence Abuse. 2025 May 18:15248380251320985. doi: 10.1177/15248380251320985. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40383965.
Cai, D. (2023, June 26). Esther Perel Thinks All This amateur Therapy-Speak is Just Making Us Lonelier. Vanity Fair. Retrieved from https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2023/06/esther-perel-amateur-therapy-speak
Rameckers SA, van Emmerik AAP, Bachrach N, Lee CW, Morina N, Arntz A. The impact of childhood maltreatment on the severity of childhood-related posttraumatic stress disorder in adults. Child Abuse Negl. 2021 Oct;120:105208. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105208. Epub 2021 Jul 28. PMID: 34332332.
Spinazzola, J., Hodgdon, H., Liang, L. J., Ford, J. D., Layne, C. M., Pynoos, R., ... & Kisiel, C. (2014). Unseen wounds: The contribution of psychological maltreatment to child and adolescent mental health and risk outcomes. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 6(S1), S18-S28.
Turuba, R., Cormier, W., Zimmerman, R., Ow, N., Zenone, M., Quintana, Y., ... & Barbic, S. (2024). Exploring how youth use TikTok for mental health information in British Columbia: Semistructured interview study with youth. JMIR Infodemiology, 4, e53233.
Vylomova, E., Murphy, S., & Haslam, N. (2019). Evaluation of semantic change of harm-related concepts in psychology. In Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Computational Approaches to Historical Language Change (pp. 29-34). Association for Computational Linguistics.
Yeung, A., Ng, E., & Abi-Jaoude, E. (2022). TikTok and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A cross-sectional study of social media content quality. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 67(12), 899-906. 

Finding Reasonable Hope in the Entropy Age

In this final episode of the 'Entropy Age' series on PsyberSpace, host Leslie Poston explores strategies for maintaining hope and taking action amidst systemic chaos and decay. She discusses the psychological underpinnings of hope, the impact of systemic entropy on the nervous system, and the concept of tactical whimsy. Poston emphasizes the importance of building small, supportive rituals and finding your role in collective action. The episode offers insights into balancing self-care with social resistance, aiming to empower listeners to make meaningful changes even in turbulent times.

00:00 Introduction to the Entropy Age Series
00:28 Recap of Previous Episodes
01:12 Exploring Reasonable Hope
03:17 Understanding Self-Determination Theory
04:49 Impact of Systemic Entropy on the Body
07:20 The Role of Tactical Whimsy
09:26 When to Move Beyond Small-Scale Actions
13:06 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Resources:

Bandura, A. (2000). Exercise of human agency through collective efficacy. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9(3), 75–78.
Chenoweth, E., & Stephan, M. J. (2011). Why civil resistance works: The strategic logic of nonviolent conflict. Columbia University Press.
Collins, P. H. (2009). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2008). Self-determination theory: A macrotheory of human motivation, development, and health. Canadian Psychology, 49(3), 182–185.
Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56(3), 218–226.
Fredrickson, B. L. (2013). Positive emotions broaden and build. In P. Devine & A. Plant (Eds.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 47, pp. 1–53). Academic Press.
Haslam, S. A., Jetten, J., Postmes, T., & Haslam, C. (2009). Social identity, health and well-being: An emerging agenda for applied psychology. Applied Psychology, 58(1), 1–23.
Haslam, Catherine & Cruwys, Tegan & Haslam, S. & Jetten, Jolanda. (2015). Social Connectedness and Health. 10.1007/978-981-287-080-3_46-2. 
Jetten, J., Haslam, C., & Haslam, S. A. (Eds.). (2012). The social cure: Identity, health and well-being. Psychology Press.
McMillan Cottom, T. (2019). Thick: And other essays. New York, NY: The New Press.
Porges, S. W. (2007). The polyvagal perspective. Biological Psychology, 74(2), 116–143.
Sampson, R. J., Raudenbush, S. W., & Earls, F. (1997). Neighborhoods and violent crime: A multilevel study of collective efficacy. Science, 277(5328), 918–924.
Snyder, C. R. (2002). Hope theory: Rainbows in the mind. Psychological Inquiry, 13(4), 249–275.
Spade, D. (2020). Mutual aid: Building solidarity during this crisis (and the next). Verso.
Spencer, R. C. (2008). Engendering the Black freedom struggle: Revolutionary Black womanhood and the Black Panther Party in the Bay Area, California. Journal of Women’s History, 20(1), 90–113.
Ungar, M. (2011). The social ecology of resilience: Addressing contextual and cultural ambiguity of a nascent construct. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 81(1), 1–17.

Psychological Patterns of Power in the Entropy Age

Welcome back to PsyberSpace with Leslie Poston. In this fourth episode of a five-part series on living through the entropy age, we dig into the psychology of power in chaotic times. We explore how social dominance orientation, hoarding mindsets, and authoritarian tendencies allow some leaders to thrive amidst instability. We also discuss mechanisms of moral disengagement that turn harmful actions into perceived necessities, and the psychological costs of this behavior on society. This episode provides insights into how these patterns shape the behavior of power-holders and offer a lens to understand current socio-political dynamics. Join us next time as we conclude the series by exploring responses to entropy and how small forms of order and resistance persist.

00:00 Introduction to the Entropy Series
00:33 Recap of Previous Episodes
01:04 Exploring Power in Chaotic Conditions
02:06 Hoarding Power in Decaying Systems
05:17 Authoritarian Tendencies and Manufactured Order
08:40 Mechanisms of Moral Disengagement
11:46 The Psychological Costs of Power Hoarding
13:54 Conclusion and Looking Ahead

Resources:

Altemeyer, B. (1996). The authoritarian specter. Harvard University Press. 

Bandura, A. (1999). Moral disengagement in the perpetration of inhumanities. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 3(3), 193–209. 

Christl, M. E., Pham, K. T., Rosenthal, A., & DePrince, A. P. (2024). When institutions harm those who depend on them: A scoping review of institutional betrayal. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. Advance online publication. 

Piff, P. K., Kraus, M. W., Côté, S., Cheng, B. H., & Keltner, D. (2010). Having less, giving more: The influence of social class on prosocial behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99(5), 771–784. 

Piff, P. K., Stancato, D. M., Côté, S., Mendoza-Denton, R., & Keltner, D. (2012). Higher social class predicts increased unethical behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(11), 4086–4091. 

Pratto, F., Sidanius, J., Stallworth, L. M., & Malle, B. F. (1994). Social dominance orientation: A personality variable predicting social and political attitudes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67(4), 741–763. 

Sidanius, J., & Pratto, F. (1999). Social dominance: An intergroup theory of social hierarchy and oppression. Cambridge University Press. 

Smith, C. P., & Freyd, J. J. (2014). Institutional betrayal. American Psychologist, 69(6), 575–587. 

Stenner, K. (2005). The authoritarian dynamic. Cambridge University Press. 

Understanding Epistemic Entropy: Navigating Information Chaos in the Digital Age

In the third part of the PsyberSpace series on entropy, host Leslie Poston delves into 'epistemic entropy,' exploring how your sense of reality is impacted by chaotic information systems and media. The episode discusses the brain's role as a prediction machine, the strain caused by conflicting information, and the concept of epistemic injustice. Leslie also examines how digital platforms shape our thought processes and offers practical advice for maintaining clarity and agency in an environment overwhelmed by biased and manipulative information streams.

00:00 Introduction to PsyberSpace
00:28 Recap of Previous Episodes
00:59 Understanding Epistemic Entropy
02:29 The Brain as a Prediction Machine
04:19 Information Overload and Pattern Anxiety
05:25 Epistemic Injustice and Power Dynamics
08:39 The Extended Mind and Digital Tools
10:54 Coping Strategies for Epistemic Entropy
13:34 Conclusion and Next Episode Preview

Resources:

Barrett, L. F. (2017). How emotions are made: The secret life of the brain. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 

Barrett, L. F. (2017). The theory of constructed emotion: An active inference account of interoception and categorization. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 12(1), 1–23. 

Barrett, L. F. (2025). The theory of constructed emotion: More than a feeling. Current Opinion in Psychology, 53, 101817. 

Clark, A., & Chalmers, D. J. (1998). The extended mind. Analysis, 58(1), 7–19. 

Dotson, K. (2014). Conceptualizing epistemic oppression. Social Epistemology, 28(2), 115–138. 

Fricker, M. (2007). Epistemic injustice: Power and the ethics of knowing. Oxford University Press. 

Friston, K. (2010). The free-energy principle: A unified brain theory? Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 11(2), 127–138. 

Friston, K. (2009). The free-energy principle: A rough guide to the brain? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 13(7), 293–301. 

Clark, A. (2015). Radical predictive processing. The Southern Journal of Philosophy, 53(S1), 3–27. 

McEwen, B. S., & Morrison, J. H. (2013). The brain on stress: Vulnerability and plasticity of the prefrontal cortex over the life course. Neuron, 79(1), 16–29. 

Oulasvirta, A., Rattenbury, T., Ma, L., & Raita, E. (2012). Habits make smartphone use more pervasive. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 16(1), 105–114. 

Tufekci, Z. (2015). Algorithmic harms beyond Facebook and Google: Emergent challenges of computational agency. Colorado Technology Law Journal, 13, 203–218. 

Bakshy, E., Messing, S., & Adamic, L. A. (2015). Exposure to ideologically diverse news and opinion on Facebook. Science, 348(6239), 1130–1132. 

Lewandowsky, S., Ecker, U. K. H., & Cook, J. (2017). Beyond misinformation: Understanding and coping with the “post-truth” era. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 6(4), 353–369. 

Starbird, K. (2017). Examining the alternative media ecosystem through the production of alternative narratives of mass shooting events on Twitter. Proceedings of the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media, 11(1), 230–239. 

Navigating System Decay: Understanding Institutional Betrayal and Capitalist Realism

In this episode of PsyberSpace, host Leslie Poston digs into the concept of the 'Entropy Age' and its impact on mental health. The discussion covers how the decay of institutions like governments, healthcare, education, and information systems affects people's mental models and trust. Key topics include collective trauma, institutional betrayal, and capitalist realism. The episode explains how layered systems' failures and short-term survival thinking contribute to psychological stress, influencing individuals' perceptions of stability and future possibilities.

00:00 Introduction to the Entropy Age Series
00:51 Understanding Institutional and Economic Decay
02:15 Nested Systems and Digital Worlds
03:42 The Impact of System Decay on Daily Life
07:28 Collective Trauma and Institutional Betrayal
10:36 Capitalist Realism and Its Psychological Effects
12:37 Temporal Discounting and Short-Term Thinking
13:59 Recognizing Patterns and Moving Forward
15:44 Conclusion and Next Episode Preview

Resources:

Navarro, J. & Tudge, J.R.H. (2022) Technologizing Bronfenbrenner: Neo-Ecological Theory. Current Psychology. 21:1-17
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard University Press.
Fisher, M. (2009). Capitalist realism: Is there no alternative? Zero Books.
Ribeiro, W. S., Bauer, A., Andrade, M. C. R., York-Smith, M., Pan, P. M., et al. (2017). Income inequality and mental illness-related morbidity and resilience: A systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Psychiatry, 4(7), 554–562.
Hirschberger, G. (2018). Collective trauma and the social construction of meaning. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1441.
Irvine, A., & Rose, N. (2024). How does precarious employment affect mental health? A scoping review and thematic synthesis of qualitative evidence from Western economies. Work, Employment and Society, 38(2), 418–441.
Rakesh, D., Shiba, K., Lamont, M., Lund, C., Pickett, K. E., VanderWeele, T. J., & Patel, V. (2025). Economic inequality and mental health: Causality, mechanisms, and interventions. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 21, 353–377.
Rakesh, D., et al. (2025). Macroeconomic income inequality, brain structure and function, and mental health. Nature Mental Health. Advance online publication.
Li, M., Leidner, B., Hirschberger, G., & Park, J. (2023). From threat to challenge: Understanding the impact of historical collective trauma on contemporary intergroup conflict. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 18(1), 190–209.
Patel, V., Burns, J. K., Dhingra, M., Tarver, L., Kohrt, B. A., & Lund, C. (2018). Income inequality and depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis of the association and a scoping review of mechanisms. World Psychiatry, 17(1), 76–89.
Smith, C. P., & Freyd, J. J. (2013). Dangerous safe havens: Institutional betrayal exacerbates sexual trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 26(1), 119–124.
Rönnblad, T., Grönholm, E., Jonsson, J., Koranyi, I., Orellana, C., Kreshpaj, B., Chen, L., Stockfelt, L., & Bodin, T. (2019). Precarious employment and mental health: A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 45(5), 429–443.
Smith, C. P., & Freyd, J. J. (2014). Institutional betrayal. American Psychologist, 69(6), 575–587.

Emotional Entropy: Coping with Psychological Strain in the Entropy Age

Host Leslie Poston of PsyberSpace introduces a five-episode series on the 'entropy age,' focusing on the psychological impact of living in an unstable world marked by late-stage capitalism, technological upheaval, and rising authoritarianism. This episode explores the concept of 'emotional entropy,' comparing it to physical entropy to describe the fraying of our inner lives. Key topics include existential anxiety, mortality, freedom, isolation, meaning, ontological insecurity, and anticipatory grief. Poston aims to validate the feelings of uncertainty and confusion that many experience, framing them as rational responses to current conditions rather than personal failures.

00:00 Introduction to the Entropy Age
01:01 Signs of a Fraying Future
02:04 Emotional Entropy Explained
04:50 Existential Psychology and Modern Life
07:12 Coping Mechanisms and Responses
08:56 Ontological Insecurity and Anticipatory Grief
11:56 Validating Emotional Reactions
13:43 Conclusion and Next Steps

Resources:

Becker, E. (1973). The denial of death. Free Press.
Greenberg, J., Pyszczynski, T., & Solomon, S. (1986). The causes and consequences of a need for self-esteem: A terror management theory. In R. F. Baumeister (Ed.), Public self and private self (pp. 189–212). Springer.
Laing, R. D. (1960). The divided self: An existential study in sanity and madness. Penguin Books.
Pyszczynski, T., Solomon, S., & Greenberg, J. (2015). Thirty years of terror management theory: From genesis to revelation. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 52, 1–70.
Rando, T. A. (2000). Clinical dimensions of anticipatory mourning: Theory and practice in working with the dying, their loved ones, and their caregivers. Research Press.
Campos, R., & Martins, J. C. (2024). Ontological insecurity and urgency as a political value: Discourses of youth climate activists in Portugal. Globalizations. Advance online publication
Yalom, I. D. (1980). Existential psychotherapy. Basic Books.
Yalom, I. D. (2008). Staring at the sun: Overcoming the terror of death. Jossey-Bass.
Lindemann, E. (1944). Symptomatology and management of acute grief. American Journal of Psychiatry, 101(2), 141–148.
Lifton, R. J. (2019). Losing reality: On cults, cultism, and the mindset of political and religious zealotry. The New Press.
von Wirth, T. (2025). Ontological (in)security and sustainability transitions: A theoretical perspective and future research prospects. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 57, 101042.
Kübler-Ross, E., & Kessler, D. (2005). On grief and grieving: Finding the meaning of grief through the five stages of loss. Scribner.
Solomon, S., Greenberg, J., & Pyszczynski, T. (2004). The cultural animal: Twenty years of terror management theory and research. In J. Greenberg, S. L. Koole, & T. Pyszczynski (Eds.), Handbook of experimental existential psychology (pp. 13–34). Guilford Press.
Hobfoll, S. E. (1989). Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress. American Psychologist, 44(3), 513–524.
Bonanno, G. A. (2004). Loss, trauma, and human resilience: Have we underestimated the human capacity to thrive after extremely aversive events? American Psychologist, 59(1), 20–28.
Baumeister, R. F. (1991). Meanings of life. Guilford Press.

The Brain's Reality: How Our Perception Shapes Our World

In this episode of PsyberSpace, host Leslie Poston explores how our brains create different realities through predictive processing. The discussion includes concepts like the McGurk effect, the role of attention, and the impact of body states on perception. Poston explains how memory is a reconstruction influenced by current priors and how culture and language shape our prediction engines. The episode also addresses the implications for clinical settings, media influence, and the rise of DeepFakes. With practical tips for improving our prediction accuracy and updating our beliefs, this episode challenges the notion of objective perception and highlights the ethical stakes of our constructed realities.

00:00 Introduction: Living in Different Realities
00:20 The McGurk Effect: Seeing is Believing
03:47 Predictive Processing: How Brains Build Reality
09:10 Attention and Perception: The Invisible Gorilla
12:48 Interoception: Your Body Votes on Reality
16:33 Memory: Reconstructing the Past
19:46 Cultural Influence: Preloaded Predictions
23:28 Neurodiversity: Different Prediction Parameters
27:52 Manipulated Realities: Algorithms and DeepFakes
32:59 Collective Reality: Synchronizing Priors
37:12 Practical Steps: Flexibility and Accuracy
40:08 Ethical Implications: Life or Death Stakes
44:21 Conclusion: Stay Curious

McGurk Effect (video via BBC)
Green Needle Brainstorm Effect (video)

Resources

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Fletcher, P. C., & Frith, C. D. (2009). Perceiving is believing: A Bayesian approach to explaining the positive symptoms of schizophrenia. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10(1), 48-58. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2536
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Allostatic Interoceptive Overload Across Psychiatric and ...

Unmasking the Bystander Effect: Courage in the Face of Threats

In this episode of PsyberSpace, host Leslie Poston revisits the classic psychology concept of the bystander effect, challenging the common narrative of human apathy in groups. Starting with the infamous case of Kitty Genovese, Leslie digs into how exaggerations shaped public perception and spurred psychological research. The episode highlights recent studies showing that people often do intervene in emergencies, especially under clear and urgent threats, and how community ties and moral identity play pivotal roles in fostering collective courage. It emphasizes the power of individual actions to inspire group responses, debunking the myth of inevitable passivity and urging listeners to prepare and engage in acts of resistance against authoritarian harm.

00:00 Introduction to the Bystander Effect
00:31 The Kitty Genovese Case: Myth vs. Reality
01:55 Reevaluating the Bystander Effect
03:35 Classic Experiments on Group Behavior
05:01 Modern Research and Real-World Evidence
07:49 Community Bonds and Collective Efficacy
16:15 Digital Age: Online Bystander Effect and Resistance
17:33 Historical and Contemporary Examples of Resistance
22:08 Practical Steps for Personal and Community Action
24:25 Conclusion: The Power of Collective Courage

Resources:

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Ai, Y., Ismail, R., & Chong, S. T. (2024). A study of the bystander effect in different helping situations. Social Psychology and Society, 15(1), 127–136.
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Monroe, K. R. (2008). Cracking the code of genocide: The moral psychology of rescuers, bystanders, and Nazis during the Holocaust. Political Psychology, 29(5), 699–736.
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