Breaking Down Psychology Misinformation

Exploring pop psychology and its permanence in social media

Photo byBruno GomieroonUnsplash

Psychology is a topic that peaks many people's interest. When I was 17 years old I found myself on Tumblr, obsessed with this psychology facts blog.

I religiously read this blog hoping to one day learn about these topics in a classroom. After I took my first week of psychology classes, I was hooked, but not for the reasons I thought.

Through the various topics covered, I noticed something odd: what was discussed in our topics for class, were vastly different than what I saw online.

Barely any of the information contained in "psych facts" that you'd see online were a topic of discussion. Which makes sense, cause this was college, and that was the internet.

Although psych facts are what led me to study psycology, I stayed for the love I felt for the field. But I couldn't shake all the misinformation online, that even had me fooled.

What is pop psychology?

Being chronically online like myself I have seen a plethora of "psych facts" floating through my feeds. While "psych facts" may have changed their form over the years, they still contain harmful misinformation.

Pop psychology theories are frequently distinguished by their focus on individual emotions, current cultural trends, and self-help methods. While pop psychology may be popularized in society, with the best intentions at times, it's still sensationalzied psychology.

Through my first class I learned that pop-psychology is what I had been consuming for all of this time.

Psychology and pop-psychology are two incredibly different things. But online, and on social media, that isn't always the case.

What does psychology misinformation look like?

Many creators online have spread misinformation such as:

"My therapist told me..."

"Psychology says..."

"According to psychology.."

Typically, any post you see online with these words are likely to be false.

The field of psychology is not comprised of facts that can be broadly generalized. Rather, psychology is a real science with valuable information.

In fact, one tiktoker has showed her disdain for psychology misinformation that's so easily spread throughout social media.

While these facts are fun to read, they aren't based in any reality. Just like any other field of science, there have to be studies that support these claims, or ideas that researchers have in the field.

Rather, the psych facts that we see floating all over social media are in fact pop psychology.

Pop Psychology is here to stay

The internet is a wide space, with many people online sharing their thoughts, feelings, and opionions. With that comes people wanting to understand other people.

Pop psychology will always have a place in society.

Even before the days of the internet, pop psychology, and other trends can circulate through society. Through word of mouth or through the TV shows of the past, psychological misinformation can be found.

What's important is understanding what is sensationalized media, versus real facts. Next time you are scrolling on your social media of choice, just remmeber to keep an eye out for the read flags of pop psychology.

Any outlandish claims that are broadly generalized, in the name of psychology, are typically going to be false.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading today! I would love to know your thoughts! Also, hit follow if you haven't already, see you all next week :)

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