Pop Psychology vs. Actual Psychology

The psychological terms and facts that you learn on social media can be very different when compared to actual psychological terms and facts. Let’s chat about the important differences, as well as the harm that comes from misusing (and misunderstanding) these concepts.

Before we start, I want to define what “pop psychology” actually is. Short for popular psychology, self-help books and social media posts have begun altering psychological concepts into more relatable, simplified ideas. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing- psychology should be accessible and easy to understand! However, pop psychology too often generalizes, oversimplifies, or misinterprets the actual principles that they are based on.

On the other hand, real psychology consists of evidence-based approaches to understanding and conceptualizing human behavior, diagnoses, and different mental processes. Misusing psychological concepts can invalidate and minimize the reality and severity of those terms.

Let’s use the term “gaslight/gaslighting” as an example. In pop psychology, gaslighting is used to describe when someone lies to you or tries to convince you that you’re wrong. In actual psychology, gaslighting is an elaborate strategy that abusers may use to manipulate you into questioning your reality, memory, or sanity. A disagreement over remembering how something happened, is not an accurate example of gaslighting. In the moment, it can be very difficult to realize you are actually being gaslit.

Here’s another example with the term “narcissist” or “narcissism.” Pop psychology has created a trend of calling anyone who is mean, rude, or self-centered a narcissist. In actuality, everyone has some narcissistic traits. Self-confidence in your appearance could be considered a mild narcissistic trait. Unfortunately, many people can be mean, rude, or down-right abusive without being a narcissist. Narcissistic personality disorder is a clinical diagnosis and does not necessarily equal abusive behavior.