Glossary — Applied Psychology for Everyday Life

Terms are listed alphabetically. Chapter of first significant use is noted in parentheses.

A

Acculturation — The process of psychological and cultural change that occurs when individuals from one cultural background come into sustained contact with a different cultural context. Berry's model identifies four strategies: integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalization. (Ch. 38)

Acculturative stress — The elevated psychological distress experienced during the process of adapting to a new cultural environment. Associated with identity confusion, discrimination, language barriers, and loss of social support. (Ch. 38)

ACE score — Adverse Childhood Experiences score; a measure of early traumatic experiences (abuse, neglect, household dysfunction) with dose-response relationship to adult health and psychological outcomes. (Ch. 19)

Active vs. passive social media use — The distinction between active use (messaging, commenting, creating content) and passive use (scrolling, viewing others' content). Passive use is more consistently associated with negative wellbeing outcomes, primarily through upward social comparison. (Ch. 39)

Agentic state — Milgram's concept describing the psychological shift from autonomous agency to an instrument of authority; associated with reduced personal moral responsibility for outcomes. (Ch. 37)

Alexithymia — Difficulty identifying and describing one's own emotional states; associated with reduced interoceptive awareness and challenges in emotional regulation. (Ch. 6)

Allostatic load — The cumulative physiological cost of chronic stress exposure; represents the wear and tear on multiple biological systems from sustained activation of the stress response. (Ch. 12, 31)

Ambiguous loss — A loss that lacks clear definition or social acknowledgment — a living person who is psychologically absent, or an absent person who remains psychologically present. (Ch. 34, 39)

Amygdala — A bilateral almond-shaped brain structure in the temporal lobe that plays a central role in fear detection, emotional memory, and the initial threat appraisal process. (Ch. 2, 6)

Analytic cognition — A cognitive style characterized by attention to focal objects, formal categories, and rule-based reasoning; more characteristic of Western psychological contexts. (Ch. 38)

Anxious attachment — An attachment style characterized by hyperactivation of the attachment system; associated with preoccupation with relationships, fear of abandonment, and high emotional reactivity in close relationships. (Ch. 15)

Appraisal theory (of emotion) — The framework proposing that emotions are produced by evaluative judgments (appraisals) about events relative to one's goals, values, and coping resources. (Ch. 6)

Assimilation (acculturation) — The acculturation strategy in which cultural origins are relinquished in favor of full adoption of the dominant culture. (Ch. 38)

Attachment behavioral system — Bowlby's concept of the innate motivational system that keeps infants (and adults) in proximity to attachment figures under conditions of threat or distress. (Ch. 15)

Attention economy — The digital business model in which user attention is the commodity sold to advertisers; creates incentive structures that prioritize engagement maximization over user wellbeing. (Ch. 39)

Attribution bias / Fundamental Attribution Error — The tendency to overestimate dispositional (character) factors and underestimate situational factors when explaining others' behavior. (Ch. 4, 36)

Autonomy (SDT) — One of the three basic psychological needs in Self-Determination Theory; the experience of volitional initiation of behavior — acting from genuine choice rather than external pressure. (Ch. 7, 22)

Aversive racism — A contemporary form of racial prejudice characterized by simultaneously endorsing egalitarian values and harboring implicit negative associations; the prejudice surfaces in ambiguous situations rather than clear-cut ones. (Ch. 36)

Avoidant attachment — An attachment style characterized by deactivation of the attachment system; associated with emotional distance, discomfort with intimacy, and dismissal of vulnerability. (Ch. 15)

B

Basic psychological needs (SDT) — The three universal requirements for psychological wellbeing in Self-Determination Theory: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. (Ch. 7, 22)

Behavioral activation — A treatment approach for depression that focuses on increasing engagement in rewarding activities and reducing avoidance; based on the behavioral model of depression as a product of reduced positive reinforcement. (Ch. 32)

Behavioral inhibition — A temperamental dimension characterized by withdrawal and caution in response to novel stimuli; identified by Kagan as an early predisposition associated with later anxiety. (Ch. 8)

Bicultural identity integration (BII) — The degree to which an individual with two cultural identities experiences them as compatible and integrated rather than in conflict; high BII associated with creativity, cognitive flexibility, and reduced identity conflict. (Ch. 38)

Bowen theory — Murray Bowen's family systems framework emphasizing differentiation of self, emotional cutoff, triangles, and multigenerational transmission processes. (Ch. 19)

Brain drain effect — Ward et al.'s (2017) finding that the mere presence of a smartphone on a desk — notifications off, face down — is associated with reduced working memory and fluid intelligence performance compared to phone absent from room. (Ch. 39)

Broaden-and-build theory — Fredrickson's theory that positive emotions broaden attentional scope and build lasting cognitive, social, and physical resources; contrasted with the narrowing effect of negative emotions. (Ch. 6)

Bystander effect — The social phenomenon in which the presence of other people reduces the likelihood of any individual providing help in an emergency; mechanized by diffusion of responsibility and pluralistic ignorance. (Ch. 37)

C

Central route processing (ELM) — The persuasion pathway involving careful evaluation of argument quality; associated with durable attitude change when motivation and ability to process are high. (Ch. 35)

Circadian rhythm — The approximately 24-hour biological clock governing sleep-wake cycles, hormone release, and other physiological processes; disrupted by evening blue light exposure. (Ch. 30)

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) — A psychotherapy approach focusing on the relationship between thoughts, emotions, and behaviors; targets maladaptive thought patterns and avoidance behaviors. (Ch. 32)

Cognitive bias — A systematic pattern of deviation from rational judgment in the processing of information; produced by the use of heuristics that are often efficient but sometimes produce errors. (Ch. 4)

Cognitive dissonance — The psychological discomfort produced by holding contradictory beliefs or by acting in ways inconsistent with one's beliefs; motivates attitude or behavior change to restore consistency. (Ch. 4, 35)

Cognitive reappraisal — An emotion regulation strategy that involves reinterpreting the meaning of an emotion-eliciting event to change its emotional impact; associated with better wellbeing outcomes than suppression. (Ch. 6, 13)

Collective efficacy — A group's shared belief in its capacity to take effective collective action; along with collective identity and perceived injustice, one of the conditions for collective action. (Ch. 37)

Competence (SDT) — One of the three basic psychological needs in Self-Determination Theory; the experience of effectiveness and mastery in valued activities. (Ch. 7, 22)

Conceptual metaphor — A fundamental cognitive structure in which abstract concepts are understood through more concrete domain experiences (e.g., time as money; argument as war). (Ch. 3)

Confirmation bias — The tendency to search for, interpret, and recall information in ways that confirm prior beliefs; one of the most robust and consequential cognitive biases. (Ch. 4)

Conformity — Behavior change in response to real or imagined group pressure; can be informational (seeking accurate information) or normative (seeking social approval). (Ch. 35, 37)

Contact Hypothesis — Allport's theory that intergroup contact reduces prejudice under certain optimal conditions (equal status, cooperative interaction, institutional support, personal acquaintance). (Ch. 36)

Continuing bonds — The contemporary grief model proposing that healthy grief involves maintaining an ongoing but transformed relationship with the deceased, not severing the bond. (Ch. 34)

CRF (corticotropin-releasing factor) — A hormone initiating the HPA axis stress response cascade; elevated in chronic stress states. (Ch. 12)

Cultural humility — The ongoing, self-critical practice of examining one's own cultural assumptions and approaching others' cultural contexts with curiosity rather than the assumption of existing competence; contrasted with cultural competency. (Ch. 38)

D

Dark triad — The cluster of subclinical personality traits comprising narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy; associated with manipulative interpersonal behavior. (Ch. 8)

Default mode network (DMN) — A neural network active during rest and self-referential processing; associated with mind-wandering, autobiographical memory, and social cognition. (Ch. 2)

Deindividuation — The reduced sense of personal identity and accountability that occurs in groups or crowds; associated with increased impulsive and uninhibited behavior. (Ch. 37)

Deliberate practice — Ericsson's concept of highly structured, effortful practice specifically designed to improve performance; characterized by immediate feedback, working at the edge of current ability, and focused repetition. (Ch. 26)

Diffusion of responsibility — The reduction in individual felt responsibility for taking action when others are present; a primary mechanism of the bystander effect. (Ch. 37)

Dopaminergic system — Neural circuits involving dopamine transmission; central to reward processing, motivation, and the reinforcement of approach behavior; implicated in addiction and compulsive behavior. (Ch. 7, 33)

Dual-process theory — The framework distinguishing fast, automatic, heuristic processing (System 1) from slow, deliberate, analytical processing (System 2); associated with Kahneman's work. (Ch. 4)

E

Ego depletion — The theory that self-regulatory capacity functions like a limited resource that can be exhausted by use; replication record is mixed but the practical implications (environment design over willpower) remain supported. (Ch. 13)

Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) — Petty and Cacioppo's dual-process model of persuasion distinguishing the central route (argument quality evaluation) and peripheral route (heuristic cues); predicts differential durability of attitude change by route. (Ch. 35)

Emergent Norm Theory — Turner and Killian's crowd behavior theory proposing that crowd behavior is guided by norms that emerge from the novel situation rather than by the dissolution of individuality. (Ch. 37)

Emotion regulation — The processes by which individuals influence which emotions they have, when they have them, and how they experience and express them; includes antecedent-focused and response-focused strategies. (Ch. 6, 13)

Empathic accuracy — The ability to correctly infer another person's thoughts and feelings; related to but distinct from affective empathy (feeling what another feels). (Ch. 21)

Empathic concern — The other-oriented component of empathy associated with motivation to help; distinguished from personal distress (self-oriented discomfort at another's suffering). (Ch. 21)

Encoding (memory) — The first stage of memory formation; the conversion of sensory experience into a neural representation; influenced by attention, elaboration, and emotional significance. (Ch. 5)

Exposure (therapy) — The evidence-based treatment for anxiety disorders based on repeated confrontation with feared stimuli without the expected negative consequence; produces inhibitory learning that reduces fear responding. (Ch. 32)

Extrinsic motivation — Motivation driven by external factors — rewards, punishments, social approval, or obligation — rather than the inherent interest or value of the activity itself. (Ch. 7, 22)

F

Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) — The pervasive apprehension that others are having more rewarding experiences; associated with lower need satisfaction and higher social media use; tends to cycle back to further social media use and reinforced inadequacy. (Ch. 39)

Filter bubble — Pariser's concept of personalized information environments in which recommendation algorithms filter out contrary content, reinforcing existing beliefs. (Ch. 39)

Fixed mindset — Dweck's term for the implicit belief that abilities are fixed traits that cannot be substantially changed; associated with avoidance of challenge and threat response to failure. (Ch. 26)

Flow — Csikszentmihalyi's concept of the state of complete absorption in a challenging, skill-matched activity; characterized by loss of self-consciousness and intrinsic motivation. (Ch. 22)

Fonagy (mentalizing / reflective function) — Peter Fonagy's concept of the capacity to understand behavior in terms of underlying mental states; central to attachment security and effective clinical practice. (Ch. 21)

Foot-in-the-door technique — Commitment/consistency influence technique: beginning with a small request to establish compliance, then escalating to a larger target request. (Ch. 35)

G

Generativity vs. Stagnation — Erikson's Stage 7 psychosocial development task; the challenge of investing in the next generation vs. becoming absorbed in self-concern; Vaillant's research suggests generativity is the strongest predictor of late-life vitality. (Ch. 14)

Genogram — A visual representation of family relationships across at least three generations; used in family systems assessment to identify patterns, triangles, and intergenerational transmission. (Ch. 19)

Goffman's dramaturgical analysis — The sociological framework (Erving Goffman) that understands social life as performance: front stage (public impression management) and backstage (private, unguarded self). (Ch. 9, 39)

Graduated commitment — The mechanism by which small incremental steps toward compliance make larger compliance more likely; relevant to escalation traps and Milgram's obedience research. (Ch. 35, 37)

Group polarization — The tendency for discussion among like-minded group members to shift average positions toward more extreme versions of the initial tendency; explained by social comparison and one-sided persuasive arguments. (Ch. 37)

Groupthink — Janis's term for the mode of thinking in highly cohesive groups where the desire for unanimity overrides realistic appraisal of alternatives; characterized by eight symptoms including illusion of invulnerability and self-censorship. (Ch. 37)

Growth mindset — Dweck's term for the implicit belief that abilities can be developed through dedication and learning; associated with approach to challenge, resilience after failure, and sustained motivation. (Ch. 26)

H

Habit loop — Duhigg's formulation of the habit structure: cue → routine → reward; and Clear's extension: cue → craving → response → reward. (Ch. 29)

Hedonic adaptation (hedonic treadmill) — The tendency to return to a relatively stable level of wellbeing following positive or negative life changes; explains why achievement produces temporary rather than sustained increases in happiness. (Ch. 22)

Hierarchy of needs — Maslow's motivational framework positing a pyramid of needs (physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, self-actualization) with lower needs having motivational priority. (Ch. 7)

Holistic cognition — A cognitive style characterized by attention to context, relationships, and the field as a whole; more characteristic of East Asian psychological contexts. (Ch. 38)

HPA axis — Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis; the neuroendocrine system governing the stress response through the sequential release of CRF, ACTH, and cortisol. (Ch. 12)

I–K

Identity foreclosure — Marcia's term for a premature identity commitment without exploration; often involves adopting parental or cultural values without genuine autonomous choice. (Ch. 9)

Identity moratorium — Marcia's term for the period of active exploration without commitment; associated with anxiety but also with the potential for genuine identity development. (Ch. 9)

Implementation intention — Gollwitzer's if/then planning format: "If [situational cue], then I will [behavior]"; highly effective at increasing the likelihood of following through on intentions. (Ch. 29)

Implicit Association Test (IAT) — Greenwald, McGhee, and Schwartz's (1998) computer-based measure of implicit associations; assesses automatic associations that may not be accessible to introspection. (Ch. 36)

Inoculation theory — McGuire's persuasion resistance framework: exposure to weakened arguments plus refutation builds immunity to subsequent stronger attacks on the belief; applied to misinformation resistance. (Ch. 35)

Integration (acculturation) — Berry's acculturation strategy in which both cultural heritage and new cultural context are maintained; generally associated with the best psychological outcomes. (Ch. 38)

Intersectionality — Crenshaw's (1989) framework for understanding how multiple social identities (race, gender, class, etc.) combine to produce qualitatively distinct experiences of privilege and discrimination rather than additive effects. (Ch. 36)

Intrinsic motivation — Motivation driven by the inherent interest, enjoyment, or value of an activity itself; associated with more sustained engagement, deeper learning, and greater wellbeing than extrinsic motivation. (Ch. 7, 22)

L–M

Latent inhibition — Reduced conditioning to a stimulus that has been repeatedly presented without consequence; disrupted in schizophrenia and heightened in high-creative individuals. (Ch. 27)

Learned helplessness — Seligman's concept of the belief that outcomes are uncontrollable, learned from exposure to uncontrollable adverse events; underlies certain forms of depression and motivational dysfunction. (Ch. 10, 32)

Locus of control — Rotter's dimension describing whether individuals attribute outcomes to their own actions (internal) or to external forces beyond their control (external). (Ch. 10)

Long-term orientation — Hofstede's cultural dimension contrasting societies that value future rewards, persistence, and adaptation (long-term) with societies that value past and present, tradition, and quick results (short-term). (Ch. 38)

Marginalization (acculturation) — Berry's acculturation strategy in which neither cultural heritage nor new cultural context is maintained; associated with the worst psychological outcomes including alienation and identity confusion. (Ch. 38)

Melatonin — A hormone produced by the pineal gland that regulates sleep onset and circadian rhythms; suppressed by blue light exposure from screens, particularly in the evening. (Ch. 30)

Mentalizing — The capacity to understand behavior (one's own and others') in terms of underlying mental states (thoughts, feelings, desires, beliefs); central to secure attachment and effective social functioning. (Ch. 15, 21)

Mere exposure effect — The tendency to develop more positive attitudes toward stimuli through repeated exposure without any conscious evaluation; exploited in advertising and social influence. (Ch. 35)

Minimal Group Paradigm — Tajfel's experimental demonstration that trivial, arbitrary categorization is sufficient to produce in-group favoritism and out-group discrimination. (Ch. 36)

Minority influence — The ability of a numerical minority to shift majority opinion through behavioral style (consistency, confidence, willingness to maintain position over time); documented by Moscovici. (Ch. 35)

Motivated reasoning — The tendency to evaluate arguments and evidence in ways that support a desired conclusion; distinct from the filter bubble (which involves external algorithmic filtering) as an internal cognitive process. (Ch. 4, 39)

N–O

Narrative identity — McAdams's framework understanding personal identity as an internalized and evolving life story; includes contamination and redemption narrative sequences. (Ch. 9)

Neuroplasticity — The brain's capacity to change in structure and function in response to experience; the biological basis for learning, recovery from injury, and psychological change. (Ch. 2)

Normative social influence — Conformity motivated by the desire for social approval and fear of rejection; distinct from informational social influence (conformity because others are believed to have accurate information). (Ch. 35, 37)

Obedience — Compliance with a direct instruction from an authority figure; Milgram's research documented 65% full compliance with instructions to deliver potentially lethal shocks to another person. (Ch. 37)

Operant conditioning — Skinner's learning framework in which behavior is shaped by its consequences (reinforcement and punishment); the schedules of reinforcement (fixed vs. variable, ratio vs. interval) produce characteristic behavioral patterns. (Ch. 29, 33, 39)

Out-group homogeneity effect — The tendency to perceive members of out-groups as more similar to each other than members of one's in-group; reduces individuation and increases stereotyping accuracy problems. (Ch. 36)

P–R

Peripheral route processing (ELM) — The persuasion pathway involving heuristic cues (source attractiveness, social proof, authority signals) rather than argument quality; produces less durable attitude change. (Ch. 35)

Pluralistic ignorance — A social phenomenon in which all group members privately doubt a group norm while publicly conforming, each assuming the others genuinely endorse it. (Ch. 37)

Power distance — Hofstede's cultural dimension describing the extent to which less powerful members of institutions accept and expect unequal power distribution; associated with different authority, deference, and feedback communication patterns. (Ch. 38)

Pre-suasion — Cialdini's concept of using attention management before the message to increase receptivity; directing attention toward concepts associated with the desired response. (Ch. 35)

Proactive interference — The impairment of new memory learning by prior memories; explains why expertise in one domain can initially impede learning in a related domain. (Ch. 5)

Prospect theory — Kahneman and Tversky's decision framework showing that losses are weighted more heavily than equivalent gains; predicts risk aversion in gain frames and risk seeking in loss frames. (Ch. 24)

Psychological safety — Edmondson's concept of a shared team belief that interpersonal risk-taking — speaking up, asking questions, admitting errors — is safe from punishment or embarrassment; the single strongest predictor of team learning and performance (Google's Project Aristotle). (Ch. 25, 37)

Realistic Group Conflict Theory — Sherif's theory that intergroup hostility emerges from competition over scarce resources; superordinate goals (shared objectives requiring intergroup cooperation) reduce conflict. (Ch. 36)

Reciprocity (influence) — Cialdini's principle describing the human tendency to feel obligated to return favors; one of the most powerful and universal influence mechanisms. (Ch. 35)

Reflective function — Fonagy's term for the capacity to understand one's own and others' behavior in terms of underlying mental states; the mechanism through which secure attachment produces psychological resilience. (Ch. 15, 21)

Refractory period (emotional) — The period during which an emotion is actively influencing attention, perception, and behavior, making alternative emotional responses difficult to access; reducing the duration and intensity of refractory periods is a core emotion regulation goal. (Ch. 6)

Reinforcement schedule — The pattern in which consequences follow behavior; variable-ratio schedules (reward after unpredictable number of responses) produce the highest and most persistent response rates. (Ch. 29, 33, 39)

Relatedness (SDT) — One of the three basic psychological needs in Self-Determination Theory; the experience of genuine mutual care and belonging with others. (Ch. 7, 22)

Resilience — The ability to adapt well in the face of significant stress, adversity, or trauma; associated with social support, self-efficacy, realistic optimism, and meaning-making. (Ch. 12)

Retroactive interference — The impairment of earlier memories by later learning; relevant to the fragility of autobiographical memory. (Ch. 5)

S–T

Scarcity (influence) — Cialdini's principle describing the increase in perceived value when supply is limited or opportunity is declining; exploited in pricing strategies, limited-time offers, and competitive framing. (Ch. 35)

Self-Categorization Theory — Turner's extension of Social Identity Theory proposing that the level of identity salience (personal, group, human) shifts with contextual factors rather than being fixed. (Ch. 36)

Self-compassion — Neff's three-component construct: self-kindness (treating oneself with care rather than harsh criticism), common humanity (recognizing that suffering is a shared human condition), and mindfulness (balanced awareness without over-identification). (Ch. 10)

Self-concept clarity — The extent to which self-beliefs are clearly and consistently defined; associated with psychological wellbeing and emotional stability. (Ch. 9)

Self-construal — Markus and Kitayama's framework distinguishing independent self-construal (bounded, autonomous self) from interdependent self-construal (relational, contextual self); has broad implications for cognition, motivation, and emotion. (Ch. 38)

Self-determination theory (SDT) — Deci and Ryan's motivational framework proposing that autonomy, competence, and relatedness are universal psychological needs whose satisfaction predicts wellbeing. (Ch. 7, 22)

Self-efficacy — Bandura's concept of the belief in one's capacity to execute the behaviors required to produce specific outcomes; domain-specific and empirically distinct from general self-esteem. (Ch. 10)

Self-regulation — The capacity to govern attention, emotion, and behavior in the service of goals; includes cognitive, emotional, and motivational dimensions. (Ch. 13)

Separation (acculturation) — Berry's acculturation strategy in which cultural heritage is maintained and the new cultural context is rejected; can preserve identity but increases social isolation in the new context. (Ch. 38)

Sleep pressure — The homeostatic drive for sleep that builds during waking hours (adenosine accumulation); one of the two primary regulators of the sleep-wake cycle alongside the circadian rhythm. (Ch. 30)

Social baseline theory — James Coan's framework proposing that the human brain and nervous system evolved to operate in a fundamentally social context; social connection functions as a biological resource that reduces the metabolic cost of threat regulation. (Ch. 21)

Social comparison theory — Festinger's (1954) framework proposing that people evaluate their opinions and abilities through comparison with others, particularly similar others; upward comparison (comparing with superior others) can produce either motivation or inadequacy depending on the perceived gap. (Ch. 10, 39)

Social facilitation — Zajonc's finding that the presence of others enhances performance of well-learned dominant responses while impairing performance of novel or complex tasks; mediated by arousal and evaluative apprehension. (Ch. 37)

Social Identity Theory (SIT) — Tajfel and Turner's framework proposing that group membership is a source of self-concept and self-esteem; motivates in-group favoritism and positive social differentiation. (Ch. 36)

Social loafing — The reduction in individual effort when working in a group compared to working alone; mediated by diffusion of accountability and evaluation apprehension reduction. (Ch. 37)

Social proof — Cialdini's principle: when uncertain, people look to others' behavior as information about the correct action; one of the most powerful and universally applicable influence mechanisms. (Ch. 35)

Socialized mind — Kegan's developmental stage in which identity and values are determined primarily by one's social contexts (family, culture, peer group) rather than self-generated. (Ch. 14)

Stereotype threat — Steele and Aronson's (1995) concept of the threat of confirming a negative stereotype about one's group; produces cognitive resource depletion through the effort of managing the threat, reducing performance in the stereotyped domain. (Ch. 36)

Stress inoculation — Meichenbaum's approach to building resilience through graduated exposure to manageable stressors combined with coping skill development. (Ch. 12)

Structural functionalism (of family) — Minuchin's approach examining family structure (subsystems, boundaries, hierarchies, triangles) as the organizing framework for understanding family dysfunction and therapeutic intervention. (Ch. 19)

T–Z

Temperament — Biologically based individual differences in emotional reactivity and self-regulation that are present from infancy; identified by Thomas and Chess (difficult/easy/slow-to-warm), Kagan (behavioral inhibition), and others. (Ch. 8)

Theory of Mind — The capacity to attribute mental states (beliefs, desires, intentions) to others and understand that their mental states differ from one's own; develops across childhood and is impaired in certain clinical conditions. (Ch. 21)

Tight vs. loose cultures — Gelfand's (2011) cultural dimension describing the strength of social norms and the degree to which deviance is tolerated; tight cultures have strong norms, low tolerance for deviance; loose cultures have weak norms, high tolerance. (Ch. 38)

Trauma — Overwhelming experience that exceeds coping capacity, produces characteristic physiological and psychological sequelae, and can disrupt memory, identity, and relational functioning. (Ch. 19, 34)

Triangulation — Bowen family systems concept: the tendency for a third party to be drawn into a two-person system under stress to reduce anxiety; often functions to maintain dysfunction. (Ch. 19)

Uncertainty avoidance — Hofstede's cultural dimension describing the extent to which a society feels threatened by uncertainty and ambiguity; associated with preference for rules, structure, and certainty. (Ch. 38)

Upward social comparison — Comparison with a superior other; in the context of curated social media environments, tends to produce inadequacy rather than motivation due to the global comparison pool and perceived plausibility gap. (Ch. 10, 39)

Variable-ratio reinforcement — A reinforcement schedule in which rewards are delivered after an unpredictable number of responses; produces the highest and most persistent behavioral response rates of any schedule. (Ch. 29, 33, 39)

Values — Enduring beliefs about what is important; function as evaluative standards for behavior, attitudes, and goals; distinguished from goals (what you want to achieve) and interests (what you enjoy). (Ch. 11)

WEIRD — Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic; Henrich, Hein, and Norenzayan's (2010) acronym for the unrepresentative population on which most psychological research has been conducted. (Ch. 38)

WOOP — Gabriele Oettingen's evidence-based goal visualization and implementation strategy: Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan; combines positive future visualization with critical obstacle identification. (Ch. 22)

Working memory — The cognitive system that temporarily holds and manipulates information for use in complex cognitive tasks; limited in capacity; vulnerable to division of attention. (Ch. 5, 39)

Working model (attachment) — Bowlby's concept of the internal representation of self, others, and relationships developed through early attachment experiences; guides expectations and behaviors in subsequent relationships. (Ch. 15)

This glossary covers the primary terms introduced and used across the 40 chapters. For deeper definitions, consult the chapter of first use and the further reading sections associated with each chapter.