popular psychology
- noun
- /ˈpɑpjələr saɪˈkɑlədʒi/
:
psicología popular
- Books on popular psychology often explain complex mental health concepts in a simple way that anyone can understand.
Examples
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In popular psychology, self-help is all about solving personal problems without professional intervention.
Academic text (2009) -
Considering that this theory has become such a staple of popular psychology, it really is astounding that this was not discovered sooner.
Blog text (21) -
Nevertheless, we have hundreds or thousands of words about the mind in popular psychology, and one of those words is consciousness.
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Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven Lie" is not built on biblical theology but is based on popular psychology, which downplays sin.
Blog text (16) -
By throwing around meaningless terms from popular psychology such as "needs," "change," and "growth," she was clearly trying to deflect scrutiny away from the central question.
Fiction book (2000) -
Numerous popular psychology studies suggested that women were assuming an air of sexual experience to mask their virginal status, and that their bravado often served as a cover for insecurity and sexual frigidity (Sprague; Morse).
Academic text (2014) -
Many people turn to popular psychology for self-help tips that make personal growth accessible.
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Television shows about popular psychology frequently discuss mental wellness in an engaging and relatable manner.
How Scientific
- Specialized
286
4.3
- Specialized
3
4.0
- Specialized
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'popular' (widely accessible or aimed at the general public) with 'psychology' (the study of mind and behavior), yielding psychological ideas presented for a general audience. This noun-noun compositional pattern is widespread in English and similar across many languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituent words can reasonably infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Popular psychology comes from the idea of making psychology 'popular' by putting its ideas into books, TV shows and self-help so many people can understand them. That's why it now means psychology ideas explained in a simple way 'for everyone'.