All articles of

Demi Anagnostouli

Head of Contents

October 24, 2022

Cross-Cultural Tourism Studies: An Introduction

Tourism is an international phenomenon which affects the markets all around the world. Research on cross-cultural tourism looks at how psychological elements of personality, motivations and attitudes influence traveling preferences. Still, because the topic is very new, as fast, intercontinental and leisure traveling boomed in the last century, the research lacks a lot of evidence. So, This article doesn’t aim to dive into specific statistics about different nationalities’ preferences on traveling, but is rather an introduction to the field. Cross-cultural research in general, not only in tourism, is also by itself a very enlightening way to explore psychological and other themes as it adds diversity to the subjects. Enjoy!

Expression & Suppression in Close and Romantic Relationships

Expression and suppression are two constructs that are often thought as the two sides of the same coin, even though they are found to be quite distinct in research. This means that in relationships, even close and romantic ones, both play a role in relationship satisfaction and feelings of relatedness. Expression, in particular, is really important because otherwise guilt may appear. Sacrifice is also connected with expression and suppression and is found that when it comes naturally in relationships it can even boost life satisfaction!

February 14, 2022

Consensual Non-Monogamy

Liberating ourselves from the traditional structures of marriage altogether, and/or transforming those structures to include all of us -- gay, feminist, career-focused, baby crazy, monogamous, non-monogamous, skeptical, romantic, and everyone in between -- is the challenge facing this generation.

January 24, 2022

Writing and creativity: Is poetry therapeutic?

‘’We do not live to write, we write in order to continue living’’

November 19, 2021

Psychological effects of hormonal contraceptive methods: the pill and beyond

Hormonal contraception is available worldwide in many different forms. Fear of side effects and health concerns are among the main reasons for not using contraceptives or discontinuing their use. Although the safety and efficacy of contraceptives have been extensively examined, little is known about their impact on mental health and sexual functioning, and the evidence on the topic is controversial.

October 29, 2021

Sex Education in Schools: What about ‘’wet dreams’’ and more

Sexuality in humans is a topic that starts concerning individuals from their early adolescence. It starts with pure curiosity about reproduction and the human organism and young people usually turn to their peers, parents or their school to gain this information. Friends as teens feel safer to ask friends than their family or schools. However, imagine the misconceptions and unclarity created between groups that derive conclusions but have very little knowledge considering their life stage. That is why it is important for sex education to be a topic broadly discussed in classrooms and for teachers to feel comfortable and at ease to open discussions about it. Sex education is not part of the official curriculum at school in many countries and in others it tries to be. In this article we will explore a bit where sex education lies as a course in schools all over the world and in what ways it is taught. Sit comfortably, grab your coffee and let’s start.

October 10, 2021

Domestic Violence: from gender to the step forward

Domestic violence is a phenomenon that affects people from all around the world. A multi-country study by Elsberg and his colleagues aimed to examine and describe consequences of such violence on people’s mental health. They found that domestic violence can severely impair people’s lives by inducing suicidal thoughts and attempts. It also influences daily activities because victims tend to suffer from pain, memory loss, dizziness and have difficulties with walking. However, little is known about male victims and the consequences of violence by female perpetrators is viewed as less serious than the one from males.

September 24, 2021

Grief and Loss

Death sometimes can be a relief if the person is in a terminally ill situation after a major car crash or a stroke yet it is an unpopular opinion. People tend to have the need to keep people they love alive as animals do for their loved ones even when they are experiencing the worst illnesses. The truth is that it is unbearably difficult for someone to accept that they are not going to see the faces of the ones they care about anymore, and they are even shocked and startled when they hear of a loss of a friend or a family member they had never met in their lives. It is normal therefore for people to pass through a heavy psychological process, that of grief.

September 17, 2021

Polyamory

Polyamory is the act of being able to or desiring to be in a relationship with more than one person at once. The term “Polyamorous” describes both a relationship with more than two people, but also people who desire these types of relationships. Polyamorous relationships can be romantic, sexual or both. It can be used to describe an open relationship or it can be three or more people who are all in a relationship with each other. Polyamory is not a sexuality on its own, but it implies that polyamorous people can live their sexuality however they choose to.

June 11, 2021

Stockholm Syndrome

23rd of August 1973, Stockholm: Janne Olsson entered Kreditbanken, fired his gun and took a number of people as hostages. He asked for money and a car to help him escape. Chaos reigned in the bank, Olsson released most of the hostages but kept three women who he tied up and used as a cover to escape police gunfire, who he shot when they tried to enter the bank. Stockholm syndrome (hostage captor effect) is created between hostages and their captor and requires a positive bond to be created. Read more in the article.

May 24, 2021

Paraphilic Disorders: Truths and Challenges

Paraphilia comes from Greek ‘para’, meaning around or beside, and ‘philos’, meaning love. Paraphilias are sexual stimuli or acts that deviate from socially accepted sexual behaviour, but that may be necessary for someone to experience sexual arousal.

May 20, 2021

Why do we Travel? Exploring Travel Psychology

You are on the train travelling… A total stranger who sits close by approaches you and starts talking and without even realising it, she has narrated her whole life and has revealed some of her deepest secrets. The situation resembles a movie: the anonymity of the person and the fact that you may never see them again are the conditions that allowed the reveal of this person’s story. It is time to unravel the travelling experience.

April 18, 2021

The Human Orgasm: Re-thinking the basics

Many people who have experienced an orgasm say that it is the highest point of pleasure they have ever experienced. Yet when asked to describe it most of them can't seem to put it in words... so what is an orgasm? what is happening to our body and mind? How is research in this field? Maybe we should re-think the basics...

April 4, 2021

The Psychology of Group Polarization

Typing ‘’climate change’’ on Google, depending on the city you are in, you are going to see different results. In some cities the autocomplete will write ‘’is a hoax’’ and in other cities, ‘’is disrupting the planet’’ [8]. You don't realize that this is the case for your social media feed, different from your friends', for each based on preferences. How groups function, and if they become polarized, can be explained through different mechanisms and theories. Group polarization is extremely relevant today, but we still discard it most of the time. Read the article to find out more about it!

March 21, 2021

Through Intersectionality’s Lens

Consider an analogy to traffic in an intersection, coming and going in all four directions. Discrimination, like traffic through an intersection, may flow in one direction, and it may flow in another. If an accident happens in an intersection, it can be caused by cars traveling from any number of directions, and sometimes, from all of them. Similarly, if a Black woman is harmed because she is in the intersection, her injury could result from sex discrimination or race discrimination. [1,3]

March 4, 2021

Slum Tourism: The Cities of God

Nowadays, slum, ghetto, township, or favela tourism is offered by tourism professionals in more than 12 countries, from Jakarta to São Paulo, from Mumbai to Mexico City, from Cairo to Manila, from Nairobi to Buenos Aires. Have you ever visited these places? If yes, have you asked yourself why? How do slum residents perceive this?

February 21, 2021

Consent is Sexy

Sexual consent is a phrase that usually goes hand in hand with words like ‘’rape’’, ‘’sexual assault’’ and ‘’sexual violence’’. Its meaning is not, however, in any case limited to these concepts. So, while sexual consent is a term we use often in our everyday lives, do we truly know what we are referring to?