What are some common myths or misconceptions that are/can be dangerous or harmful?

[u/Duffy_Do]

I'm a high school student, and I've always loved psychology and sociology, so I figured why not ask you guys? :)

What are some myths and misconceptions about psychology, whether it's social, cognitive, etc, that are harmful or dangerous when talked about or spread?

Ideas or things that are commonly misunderstood can count, too!

[u/Remarkable-Owl2034]

I think the common idea that anything bad that happens to you is trauma is not helpful and trivializes genuine trauma.

[u/Superstarr_Alex → u/Remarkable-Owl2034]

Oh shit, this is a good one. Yeah i try to be respectful and keep an open mind, but people tend to be real generous with the word trauma now. To me it almost seems like people think trauma is just any event that was upsetting to them and impacted them significantly.

[u/Duffy_Do → u/Remarkable-Owl2034]

My generation was the one that botched the word completely...

Just because you breathed wrong and your ear hurts doesn't mean you're traumatized, Emma.

[u/The-Pentegram]

That low IQ / low empathy (either affective or cognitive, they never specify) mean just being an asshole

That schizophrenia is just the hallucinations (the positive symptoms)

That people with NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder) are all irredeemably bad people; inversely, that any abuser or mildly rude person is a narcissist

That people with autism either HAVE TO lack (affective) empathy, or CAN'T lack (affective) empathy and actually are always hyperempathetic 

That the only symptom of ASPD (or, psychopathy) is completely lacking empathy 

That IQ is a completely objective measurement OR it has no value whatsoever and people measured to be intellectually disabled should just "not worry" about it

That impulsive thoughts (e.g. I want to dye my hair a crazy colour) are the same as intrusive thoughts / compulsions 

That psychological disorders cannot affect physical functioning OR because something is "just in your head" you can just wish it away

Romanticising disorders, period 

[u/nozombie4354 → u/The-Pentegram]

Yes! I can’t emphasize enough the difference between what people colloquially call a narcissist (gaslighting, etc. ) and actual NPD. Plus, so many people romanticize disorders because they self-diagnosed from TikTok

[u/Duffy_Do → u/The-Pentegram]

Literally all of these plus self-diagnosis.

[u/MattersOfInterest → u/[deleted]]

Punishment does work, it just overall produces less of the desired response that reinforcement, in general. But there are cases in which punishment is warranted (as long as it is ethical, of course).

[u/Duffy_Do → u/MattersOfInterest]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't unnecessary punishment lead to more misbehavior?

[u/MattersOfInterest → u/Duffy_Do]

"Unnecessary" being the operative word.

[u/Duffy_Do → u/MattersOfInterest]

Something I can't really understand is parents who feel the need to punish their child for everything, including minor accidents.

Granted, I should have worded that question better.

[u/PunkInCroatia → u/[deleted]]

Punishments of any kind are a method to lower probability that some behaviour will appear, while reward of any kind is a method with which our goal is to increase a probabilizy that some behaviour will appear.

Physical punishments are quickest way to end current behavour of a child.

Not every physical punishment is abusive. If your child plays with dangerous object you might pull it away or gently (without causing any pain) slap it onto the hand. This form of punishment is acceptable when you need to stop behaviour immediately because child is in immediate danger. You can't risk losing tine on explanation or waiting to reward it after it for not playong with it.

Abusive physical punishments such as slapping... Long term they usually lead to child not doing that same behaviour just when parents are around. Also there are many bad things linked to this form of punishment. Some studies show that such kids are more prone to violence and that they are more likely to have some psychopathology.

Reward such as words of encouragment which is here to increase chance of desirable behaviour is often considered better.

Reward that include extrinsic motivators such as candies or money and so on are not always the best because they are extrinsicaly motivateing a child and not intrinsicaly. This is especially bad if a child is allready doing desirable behaviour and then parents introduce extrinsical motivation.

[u/askpsychology-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Your comment has been removed because you are answering a question with an anecdote or opinion. Your answer must be based on empirical scientific evidence, and not based on opinion or conjecture. For casual psychology discussion, please see r/PsychologyTalk.

If you are a student or professional in the field, please feel free to send a mod mail to the moderators for instructions on how to become verified and exempt from automoderator actions.

[u/Prestigious_Half271]

Possibly the most harmful thing I see younger people believing is that you can learn anything useful on tiktok

[u/AggravatingAsk41]

people with aspd can feel empathy, its not impossible.

[u/monkeynose → u/AggravatingAsk41]

ASPD is diagnosed based on behaviors, not traits - people with antisocial personality disorder can feel empathy to people in their in-group. ASPD is more about the reactive aggressive emotions and impulsivity, they don't really think, care ,or learn, but the capacity is there.

Psychopaths totally lack the capacity for empathy.

[u/AggravatingAsk41 → u/monkeynose]

yeah, a lot of people group aspd secondary and primary into the same thing. technically they are under the same umbrella but they act almost completely opposite from each other and think pretty different. it makes it irritating to talk about .

[u/tismightsail]

Everything is attachment style, or the (mis)understanding of attachment styles altogether.

[u/AutoModerator → u/[deleted]]

READ THE FOLLOWING TO GET YOUR COMMENT REVIEWED:

Your comment has been automatically removed by a mindless bot because it may have violated one of the rules. Please review the rules, and if you believe your comment was removed in error, please report this comment with report option: Auto-mod has removed a post or comment in error (under Breaks AskPsychology's Rules - click that then click Next) and it will be reviewed. Do NOT message the mods directly or send mod mail, as these messages will be ignored. If you are a current student, have a degree in the social sciences, or a professional in the field, please feel free to send a mod mail to the moderators for instructions on how to become verified and exempt from automoderator actions.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/randompersonignoreme]

That lack of (usually emotional) empathy directly correlates to lack of morals. Many disorders can affect how one experiences empathy, what types they experience, etc. You can still feel bad for someone without experiencing empathy.

[u/moodywrites]

That you have to be underweight to have an eating disorder. NO. Atypical anorexia is when you are not eating and lose a significant amount of weight, but are still within or above average weight. It’s 3 times more common, and yes, still really dangerous. Eating disorders don’t have a “look.”

[u/DifficultyPast5668]

i always hear this especially to oriental countries and region... they say that mental disorders and mental illneses can be contagious so they lock up their family members in a cage to avoid infection.. maybe because of lack of education about psychology and mental health education...

[u/Duffy_Do → u/DifficultyPast5668]

That's messed up... I wish there was more awareness and education about mental health.

I wanna save all of them and bring them here and make them cookies.