Since narcissism is fueled by a greater need to be admired than to be liked, psychologists might use that fact as a therapeutic lever – stressing to patients that being known as a narcissist will actually cause them to lose the respect and social status they crave. Jeffrey Kluger Read Quote
The golden child may be the oldest one, unless it’s the youngest. It may be the toughest one, unless it’s the most sensitive. It’s not even necessary that Mom and Dad have the same favorite – and typically they don’t. Jeffrey Kluger Read Quote
Part-black generally means all-black in Americans’ minds. Just as part-Asian or part-Hispanic or part-anything-else usually puts individuals in those minority-groups’ camps. Jeffrey Kluger Read Quote
Marketers have long known that a name can make all the difference when you’re trying to move the merch. The kiwifruit was once the Chinese gooseberry, after all – at least until the produce peddlers wised up – and the Chilean sea bass was once the singularly unappetizing Patagonian toothfish. Jeffrey Kluger Read Quote
It’s not mere extremism that makes folks at the fringes so troubling; it’s extremism wedded to false beliefs. Humans have long been dupes, easily gulled by rumors and flat-out lies. Jeffrey Kluger Read Quote
A child gets vaccinated and soon after, autism symptoms emerge. The apparent cause-and-effect is understandable but erroneous – more a coincidence of the calendar and childhood developmental stages than anything else, as repeated and exhaustive studies have shown. Jeffrey Kluger Read Quote
Overspending is as certain a part of the holiday season as overeating. But pushing away from both the table and the cash register at least a little bit sooner can make the post-holiday hangover hurt a little bit less. Jeffrey Kluger Read Quote
Credit or debit cards, for starters, are nothing short of shoppers’ Novocain. Even in the age of digital purchases and virtual money, we still attach a special value to dirty paper with pictures of presidents on it. Handing some of that to a cashier simply hurts more than handing over a little sliver of plastic. Jeffrey Kluger Read Quote
Spending $1 for a brand new house would feel very, very good. Spending $1,000 for a ham sandwich would feel very, very bad. Spending $19,000 for a small family car would feel, well, more or less right. But as with physical pain, fiscal pain can depend on the individual, and everyone has a different threshold. Jeffrey Kluger Read Quote
Everybody loves to spend money at least some of the time – because everybody loves the stuff you can buy with it. The key to the pleasure level of any transaction is the balance between the pain of the payment and the reward of the purchased object. Jeffrey Kluger Read Quote
