Knowledge

Psychology Explained

Evergreen context on psychology, distilled into calm, readable pulses.

A surprising number of everyday decisions run on mental shortcuts most people have never had named for them — narrative bias, loss aversion, the planning fallacy. Briflio's Psychology hub explains the mechanisms behind how people actually think and choose, drawn from research rather than pop-science shorthand, so you can recognize these patterns in your own reasoning and in the news you read.

Psychology

The Pentagon is using polygraphs to hunt leakers, but the tests are more theater than fact

A CIA veteran explains that a polygraph campaign is not likely to eliminate leaks, but it may divert investigative energy from essential security priorities.

Psychology

Psychology Explained

The Pentagon is using polygraphs to hunt leakers, but the tests are more theater than fact

What we remember when we remember 9/11

Grieving lost body function: What psychology teaches us about our chronic illness journeys

Why Spacing Study Sessions Beats Cramming

Change Blindness Shows How Little of a Scene We Store

Confirmation Bias Makes Supporting Evidence Feel Stronger

Why Crowds Can Sometimes Reduce the Chance Anyone Helps

Placebos Can Change Symptoms Without Fixing the Cause

Compared to driving, flying is extraordinarily safe – but why doesn’t it feel that way?

Whether you’re an introvert or extravert may decide how you should use AI

Integrating Cree worldview with western psychology: Q&A with a psychotherapist

Why do we trust chatbots and how can we use them more wisely? A psychologist explains

Why it’s so hard to apologise sincerely in a foreign language

Stockholm syndrome isn’t a diagnosis – so why do we still treat it as one?

The real reasons you procrastinate – and how to stop, according to science

Knowing someone who attempted suicide raises young people’s own risk – new study

What Luigi Mangione’s celebrity says about Gen Z

What’s the difference between psychotherapy and psychoanalysis?

Why are we so obsessed with true crime? Hint: It’s not just morbid curiosity

They’re content creators with thousands of adoring fans – so why do they feel so terrible?

Why do some people feel life is so unfair? Understanding this may help explain conspiracy beliefs

The psychology of overconfidence: why excessive self-belief is often a successful strategy in life

What is emotional regulation? A child psychologist explains

Why Gen Z turns everything – even murder – into a joke

Billions are spent on child mental health services without knowing if they work in the long term

Good things take time – but new research suggests mindfulness can make the wait easier

How your conscious and unconscious mind interact

Getting outside despite your 9-to-5 job can improve your mental health – here’s how to spend time in nature during and around working hours

Students are anxious – and it’s no surprise, since we are teaching them to be that way

You have more ways to connect than ever, but deep friendship feels hard to find – here’s how to build better connections

Flocking together – how a birding hobby may boost your mental health and build community

Does using a reusable cup make you less likely to protest climate change? We tracked 2,800 Australians to find out

Dating apps like Tinder affect relationships and the economics of desire

When a teenager makes the ‘stupid choice’, their brain is working exactly as designed

New climate film triggers debate – here’s how to make those conversations constructive

Maslow's hierarchy of needs

How fatigue shapes World Cup interceptions

A lack of pies for a pack of lies – what spoonerisms reveal about how the brain produces speech

What World Cup football can teach us about managing fatigue in extreme conditions

Personal goals motivated footballer Anthony Gordon to learn Spanish – a recipe for success

New research challenges the idea that memories of childhood maltreatment can’t be trusted

Having a bad hair day? Don’t worry. My research will help you understand the problem

Civility requires the willingness to engage – a dispute with a neighbor revealed how much motivation matters

Cognitive dissonance

Beyond car seats and childproof pill bottles: A child psychologist explains how to empower kids to make safer choices

Is my brain wired to never see a ghost? A psychologist on three factors that make a paranormal experience more likely

What Pennsylvania’s AI chatbot lawsuit teaches us about the psychology behind medical trust

Everyone experiences loss and grief – but that doesn’t make it any easier to talk with kids about it

Childhood experiences of LGBTQ+ stigma can harm romantic relationships decades later – psychologists explain how to reconnect with yourself and your partner

Everyone wants to think they’re open-minded – here’s why most people aren’t

Flow (psychology)

How Messi, Mbappe and Haaland use their brains (as well as feet) to gain a psychological edge at the World Cup

AI saves time – so why does it make us feel guilty?

Theory of mind

Why does our mind wander? New study taps into the tricks of staying on task

Confirmation bias

What’s overlooked in student mental health in South Africa: social connection and sexual wellbeing

Meditation and speaking in tongues: the surprising similarities between two spiritual practices

Kids learn to bully from adults’ threats, manipulation and criticism – a child psychologist explains how parents can model better tactics

Why researchers may be getting mental health inequalities wrong

Making a big, life-changing decision? 7 steps to consider

Psychopathy: some experts now say it doesn’t exist – here’s why we may be looking at it all wrong

Operant conditioning

Eroding a virtue: AI trains people to expect instant answers – and that’s bad news for patience

If you’re feeling down, maybe don’t pet your cat, new study suggests

Why are we so obsessed with charismatic leaders?

Does the body really ‘keep the score’ after trauma? How the debunked idea of ‘repressed memories’ is making a comeback

What makes the ideal digital icon? A psychologist explains

What does being ‘trauma-informed’ actually mean?

What’s the difference between intrusive thoughts and suicidal thoughts?

What we still get wrong about how people from non-Western backgrounds recover from trauma

What is trauma? The more we talk about it, the more it means

Talking about trauma doesn’t always help. Brain scans show one reason why