1
Front Matter
5 chapters2
Part One: How Psychology Goes Viral
6 chapters- Part One: How Psychology Goes Viral — Chapters 1–5
- Chapter 1: The Psychology of Pop Psychology — Why We're Drawn to Simple Stories About the Mind
- Chapter 2: The Telephone Game — How Research Findings Mutate on Their Way to Your Feed
- Chapter 3: The Replication Crisis — When Psychology's Foundations Cracked
- Chapter 4: How to Evaluate a Psychology Claim — The Fact-Checker's Toolkit
- Chapter 5: The Wellness Industrial Complex — Who Profits from Pop Psychology
3
Part Two: Personality and Identity
6 chapters- Part Two: Personality and Identity — Chapters 6–10
- Chapter 6: Introvert vs. Extrovert — The Most Popular Personality Binary (and Why It's a Spectrum, Not a Switch)
- Chapter 7: Myers-Briggs, Enneagram, and the Personality Test Industry — What Actually Measures Personality?
- Chapter 8: The Narcissism Epidemic — Why Everyone on TikTok Is a Narcissist (and Why That's a Problem)
- Chapter 9: Attachment Styles — The TikTok Theory That Explains All Your Relationships (Does It?)
- Chapter 10: Are You a Psychopath? Sociopath? Empath? — The Diagnostic Label as Social Media Identity
4
Part Three: The Brain and Cognition
6 chapters- Part Three: The Brain and Cognition — Chapters 11–15
- Chapter 11: We Only Use 10% of Our Brains — The Most Persistent Neuromyth
- Chapter 12: Learning Styles — The Myth That Won't Die
- Chapter 13: Dopamine Detox, Dopamine Fasting, and the Misunderstanding of Neurotransmitters
- Chapter 14: Multitasking, Flow States, and the Attention Economy
- Chapter 15: Cognitive Biases — Are You Really as Irrational as Kahneman Said?
5
Part Four: Mental Health and Therapy
7 chapters- Part Four: Mental Health and Therapy — Chapters 16–21
- Chapter 16: The Depression Epidemic — Are We Really More Depressed Than Ever?
- Chapter 17: The Chemical Imbalance Theory — Did Your Doctor Lie to You?
- Chapter 18: Does Therapy Actually Work? — The Honest, Complicated Answer
- Chapter 19: Trauma — When Everything Becomes "Traumatic"
- Chapter 20: Self-Care, Boundaries, and the Therapeutic Language of Everyday Life
- Chapter 21: Social Media and Mental Health — The Debate That's Less Settled Than You Think
6
Part Five: Relationships and Attraction
5 chapters- Part Five: Relationships and Attraction — Chapters 22–25
- Chapter 22: Love Languages — A Beautiful Idea with Almost No Scientific Support
- Chapter 23: The Science of Attraction — What Actually Predicts Who You'll Like
- Chapter 24: Gaslighting, Love Bombing, and the Pathologization of Relationship Conflict
- Chapter 25: Can You Actually Change Your Partner? — Relationships, Growth, and Acceptance
7
Part Six: Performance and Self-Improvement
6 chapters- Part Six: Performance and Self-Improvement — Chapters 26–30
- Chapter 26: Growth Mindset — The Most Oversold Finding in Education
- Chapter 27: Grit, Willpower, and the 10,000-Hour Rule — The Science of Getting Good at Things
- Chapter 28: Habits — The 21-Day Myth, Atomic Habits, and What Actually Changes Behavior
- Chapter 29: Manifesting, the Law of Attraction, and Positive Thinking — Where Self-Help Meets Magical Thinking
- Chapter 30: Morning Routines, Cold Showers, and the Optimization Cult
8
Part Seven: Parenting and Development
4 chapters- Part Seven: Parenting and Development — Chapters 31–33
- Chapter 31: Helicopter Parents, Free-Range Kids, and What Parenting Styles Actually Matter
- Chapter 32: Screen Time for Kids — The Panic, the Evidence, and the Honest Answer
- Chapter 33: The Gifted Child Industrial Complex — IQ, Multiple Intelligences, and Raising Exceptional Kids
9
Part Eight: The Dark Side
4 chapters10
Part Nine: Becoming a Better Consumer of Psychology
5 chapters- Part Nine: Becoming a Better Consumer of Psychology — Chapters 37–40
- Chapter 37: The Survivor's Guide to Self-Help Books — How to Find the Good Ones
- Chapter 38: Following Therapists on Social Media — When It Helps and When It Hurts
- Chapter 39: What Psychology Actually Knows (and Admits It Doesn't) — The Honest State of the Science
- Chapter 40: Your Psychology, Fact-Checked — Living with Nuance in a Viral World
11
Appendices
10 chapters- Glossary
- Answers to Selected Exercises
- Bibliography
- Appendix A: The Evidence Evaluation Framework
- Appendix B: Key Studies Reference
- Appendix C: Claim Verdict Reference
- Appendix D: The Replication Crisis Timeline
- Appendix E: Research Methods Primer
- Appendix F: Frequently Asked Questions
- Appendix G: Resource Directory
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