When I was a post-grad student, I used to hate it when people asked me what I did, because when I responded, "psychology," I’d get the same response over and over: "Uh oh, better watch out for this one analysing me" or "Can you guess what I’m thinking?" After a while, I amended my answer to "cognitive science" or "research" just to avoid such annoying exchanges. That’s the problem with popular or "pop" psychology: Through it, people think they know what psychology is all about (e.g., consider the Dunning-Kruger effect in context); however, it’s only once you take a good few classes in psychology (depending on which ones) that you understand that it’s nothing at all like what the larger population might think. Pop psychology often takes established concepts from psychology and either simplifies them to the point that they’re no longer recognisable in the context of their actual meaning—or just full-on bastardises them. Following are a handful of terms that have gained recognition—or infamy, depending on how you look at it—over the past few years in the realm of pop-psychology.

Are you a narcissist? Take this quiz to find out! or, 9 Tell-tale Signs that You’re Dating a Narcissist—links to such quizzes and articles are not uncommon. It seems that pop culture wants you to believe that everyone is a narcissist; consistent with pop psychology’s fixation with narcissism, they probably are. Think about how lifeguards protect their bodies as their primary focus when off saving someone else’s life. Does their potential sacrifice of the person they try to save make them a narcissist? No! If their well-being is not ensured, then no one gets saved. Self-preservation is important—and that includes looking after one’s own self-interests! If a parent doesn’t look after their own........

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