Do you ever get that sneaking suspicion that someone is lying to you even though you want to believe them? Maybe it's a co-worker who tries to assure you she wasn't the one who furtively stole the stapler. Maybe it's a friend who calls you at the last minute to say they've come down with a stomach bug and cannot attend your birthday party.  The simplest way to tell if someone is lying to you is to assess whether their words match their actions. For example, I was once involved with a woman who professed her love for me day and night.  I'd met her online and was always eager to meet up in person, but she never seemed to share in that enthusiasm. Everytime I proposed going to the mall or movies together, she came up with a new excuse for why she couldn't go. After much cajoling, she agreed to meet face-to-face. I was smitten and always looked forward to our next encounter, but the feeling didn't seem mutual.  In the end, I saw her two or three times, and then ...

Chances are there's someone in your midst who carries an ego bigger than the state of Texas. They're heavily preoccupied with looking good in front of others. They can't bear to lose, whether a promotion to a colleague or a game of chess to a friend. They have an unquenchable thirst to come out on top, no matter the cost. Why is it that some people have such oversized egos?  The answer lies in something known as the egocentric bias . First coined in 1980 by Anthony Greenwald, a psychologist at Ohio State University, egocentric bias is the tendency to depend too heavily on one's own perspective and/or have a higher opinion of oneself than reality. It stems from the psychological need to satisfy one's ego, which research suggests can be advantageous for memory consolidation. As it turns out, ideas, beliefs, and experiences are more easily recalled when they match one's own, inducing an egocentric perspective. The effects of egocentric bias can vary based...

We all know at least one person -- and it could be ourselves -- who just loves yapping on and on about his or her life. Whether it's talking about a child, neighbor, or the next cruise he or she intends to book, some people chatter incessantly about anything and everything going on in their lives. I actually have a couple of co-workers who do this. Now, opinion on these talkative folks seems to be rather divided. On the one hand, some people find them to be interesting in the sense that they always seem to have a new story to tell. Then there are the ones who regard these people as self-centered, considering they rarely stop to ask others about their lives. Personally, I find myself in the latter group. I'm not saying there's anything inherenly wrong with bloviating about your life. I just think it's only courteous to come up for air every once in a while and consider whether anyone else would like to add something to the conversation. Do people who blather on abo...