It's hard to believe a new year is upon us. It feels like it was yesterday we were ringing in 2014! We've all had our share of happy moments and challenges this year. My now-wife and I got married in March and saw snow for the first time on our honeymoon to Washington D.C. We also closed on a condo just a couple of days ago, but not before enduring 11 frustrating months that saw two other deals fall through and produced plenty of tears and headaches. Thankfully, after closing, the tears coming down my wife's face were those of joy. We all have something to be thankful for and great moments to look forward to in 2015. Among the highlights of my year was the launch of this blog. Not only has it allowed me to write about topics about which I'm passionate in the realm of psychology, but it's given me the opportunity to meet a host of smart, caring people. I launched the blog toward the end of summer and in that short span of time it has already garnered close ...

Research suggests that many married men and women -- and even unmarried ones in serious relationships -- admit to flirting with other people. Now, flirting could mean anything from exchanging glances and smiles to complimenting what someone else is wearing. As we know, you don't even have to talk to someone to engage in flirting. So why is it that so many people who are married or in serious relationships do this? My theory is as follows: As much as we may love our partners, human beings get a tremendous high from being fancied by other people -- especially ones we find physically attractive. Let's face it: Even if we find our partner to be the most attractive person in the world, we can't help but feel physically attracted to others. While some people can keep the attraction they feel to themselves, others resort to the only way they can subtly convey it without full-blown cheating: flirting. I think people do this because sometimes they want to feel desired by s...

In a word, no. There's a fine line to be drawn between assertiveness/self-confidence, qualities which women find attractive, and all-out bossiness, which can send them running for the hills. If a woman has to choose between a needy guy and a bossy one, who do you think will prevail? Well, both guys would be out of luck. Women don't want a pushover any more than they desire a guy who tells them what to do all the time. If they had it their way, they'd opt for something in the middle. For example, choosing something on the menu for her every time you both go to a restaurant is a big no no. She is not 5 years old and will react unfavorably to not being allowed to pick an item freely. However, when it comes to choosing a restaurant -- or anywhere else to go for that matter -- women like a man with a plan. It's a turn off to constantly be asking her, "Where should we eat tonight?" "What do you wish to do this weekend?" Women value a man who ca...

Society puts immense pressure on us to fit in to groups and hew to their norms. But doing so can feel like abandoning our individuality and compromising our beliefs and principles. What's worse, studies have found that when a person is cajoled into doing something they truly wish not to do -- whether it's smoking, taking drugs, or losing his virginity -- it can have serious ramifications. In fact, researchers found that people who grudgingly engaged in said behaviors were later found to be at a greater risk of suffering from substance abuse, alcoholism, and other problems. As if that weren't enough, it can detrimentally affect our self-worth and self-esteem, leading to feelings of anger and resentment. Peer pressure is alive and well, it seems. It's imperative that parents be well informed about their kids' social circles at school. After all, peers exert considerable influence on a child's life. But the pressure to do something against one's will isn'...

If you're like me and practically everyone else out there, you have at least one convenience friendship. I've given the name "convenience friendships" to those in which one or both people are in them for their own convenience. Now, some friendships don't start off as convenience friendships, but time, distance, and shifting priorities water them down to the point that both individuals may no longer identify with each other. We all have that "friend" who calls when she wants a favor, but seems to vanish into thin air when she herself is needed. Some people like keeping certain friendships alive for the sole purpose of getting a ride or loan when the situation calls for it. It's these kinds of people we must steer clear from! Why be in a friendship with someone who manipulates you for their personal gain? Even if you were once great friends, it's not worth it to keep the person around on hopes she will morph back to the person she was bef...

Everyone assumes that women take breakups a lot harder than men do. Images of women breaking out the tissue box and pigging out on ice cream come to mind. Meanwhile, we picture men going about their regular business, going out for drinks with the guys or puttering on the golf course. Research, however, tells a whole different story. Findings reveal that men are more adversely affected by breakups than women are. In fact, following breakups, men are more likely to suffer from negative health outcomes, including smoking and drinking problems. Why is this so? Women, as it turns out, generally have a much wider social network on which to lean on following a breakup, thus putting them in a better position to reach out to others for support. What's more, the stereotype about men being more prone to keeping their feelings bottled up generslly holds true. It's harder for men to cope because in situations that call for emotional support from other people, they normally loo...

My wife and I went to a family get together at her parents' house last night, where one of her brothers and two of her sisters-in-law got completely wasted. Her family knows full well that neither my wife nor I drink. It's not as if I've never tried. I've tasted a slew of drinks and have found all of them, with exception to the fruity daiquiri, to be almost intolerable. I simply lack the taste buds for alcohol. As for my wife, she likes only a couple of drinks, but for the most part refrains from drinking as well. As you can expect, this doesn't exactly sit well with them. For years now, they've made every attempt to get us to take a few sips at every gathering. The pressure to drink last night was more palpable than usual, ostensibly in light of the fact that my wife and I are now married and I am "part of the family." I fret at the pressure society puts on people to conform to what everyone else in the group does. When it comes to drinking, I t...

We've  all heard the maxim "misery loves company," but what's the reasoning behind it?  Why is being miserable not as bad when we know someone else is in the same boat? For starters, no one wants to stand out for the wrong reasons. In a room full of happy people, being the only one in the dumps can be utterly unpleasant. The fact that someone else shares your misery makes it seem, well, not so horrible after all. For example, let's say you and two of your colleagues are slated to present your department's new product launch to corporate this morning. You've been driving for 10 minutes when all of the sudden, traffic begins slowing to crawl. You then discover there's been a major accident, and it could be at least another hour before you get to the office. Unfortunately, the meeting starts in 20 minutes, so it's likely you'll miss a good chunk of the meeting. Now, suppose that Jesse, one of the two guys scheduled to make the presentation w...

Judging from what my female friends have told me -- and based on the guys I have seen them and other women on the street go out with -- I can say with confidence that women are generally less hung up on looks than their male counterparts. We've all seen the blonde bombshell alongside the balding older guy with a beer belly. Why is it usually not the other way around -- a super attractive guy with a not-so-physically-appealing woman? Maybe it's that, on some subconscious level, men are pickier as far as what genes they want transferred to their offspring. If the girl is, say, overweight, he might figure that increases the odds of his kid having weight problems. Men also seem far more interested in specific regions of the opposite gender's anatomy, not to mention size (big breasts, round butt, etc.) I don't think this way myself. In fact, my wife is somewhat overweight, which doesn't bother me because I have always had a preference for women with more meat on th...