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Psychology
Why You Think Others Are Rude But You’re Just Having a Bad Day
At Delhi Public School’s cafeteria, seventeen-year-old Priya was carrying her lunch tray when a classmate named Vikram accidentally bumped into her, spilling her food across the floor. Vikram kept walking…
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Psychology
Why Generic Personality Tests Feel Like They Know You Personally: The Barnum Effect
At Mumbai’s Wilson College, psychology professor Dr. Mehra conducted an experiment with her Class 10 students. She told them she’d developed a new personality assessment based on their recent questionnaires…
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Psychology
Why Everyone Thinks Most People Agree With Them (Even When They Don’t)
During a social studies class at Delhi’s Modern School, the teacher asked seventeen-year-old Priya and her classmates to participate in an anonymous survey about teenage habits and opinions. One question…
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Psychology
Why You’re Passionate But Others Are Just Doing It for the Money
At Mumbai’s Cathedral School, the student council launched a community service initiative requiring all Class 10 students to complete twenty hours of volunteer work. Seventeen-year-old Kavya chose to teach underprivileged…
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Psychology
Why Everyone in Your Group Project Thinks They Did Most of the Work
When the Class 10 science fair at Delhi Public School announced results, three friends—Rohan, Priya, and Aditya—celebrated their project winning first prize. They’d worked together for two months building a…
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Psychology
Why We Blame Victims More When Their Suffering Hits Close to Home
When news broke that a student from a neighboring school was injured in a road accident, seventeen-year-old Priya and her classmates at Delhi’s Modern School gathered to discuss it. The…
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Psychology
Why We Believe Doctors About Cars and Engineers About Medicine: The Authority Bias
Seventeen-year-old Priya was watching television with her family when a health supplement advertisement appeared. A famous Bollywood actor—known for action films, not medical knowledge—stood in a white coat explaining how…
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Psychology
Why You’re Late Because of Traffic But Others Are Late Because They’re Irresponsible
Seventeen-year-old Kavya arrived fifteen minutes late to her study group meeting at Delhi’s India Gate park. As she rushed to join her friends, she explained breathlessly: “I’m so sorry! The…
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Psychology
Why We Think Someone Else’s Success Means Our Failure: The Zero-Sum Bias
During the annual science fair at Mumbai’s Cathedral School, two best friends—seventeen-year-old Rohan and Aditya—both submitted exceptional projects. Rohan created an innovative water purification system using local materials. Aditya designed…
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Psychology
The “Zero” Trap: Why Our Brains Pick Small Wins Over Big Safety
As a journalist with over ten years of experience covering human behavior, I have sat across from CEOs, scientists, and everyday people, all trying to make sense of a messy…
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Psychology
Why Your Daily Commute Feels Shorter Than a New Route of the Same Distance
Seventeen-year-old Priya had been commuting to her coaching classes in Delhi for six months using the same route every day—from her home in Vasant Kunj through familiar roads, past landmarks…
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Psychology
Why Adding ₹10 to ₹20 Feels Huge But Adding ₹10 to ₹1,000 Feels Tiny: The Weber-Fechner Law
Seventeen-year-old Rohan was shopping for a new phone case and a new laptop. At the electronics store, he found a phone case he liked for ₹500. Then he saw the…
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Psychology
Why You Eat the Whole Bag of Chips Even When You’re Full: Understanding Unit Bias
During a psychology experiment at Delhi University, researchers invited students to a “movie evaluation study.” Each participant received free popcorn to enjoy during the film. The catch? Different students received…
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Psychology
Why School Committees Spend Hours Debating Cafeteria Menus But Rush Through Budget Decisions
The school management committee of Delhi’s Greenfield Academy was meeting to make three important decisions: approving a ₹50 lakh technology upgrade for the computer labs, reviewing a new academic curriculum…
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Psychology
Why Everyone Thinks Advertising Works on Others But Not on Them: The Third-Person Effect
During a media literacy class at Mumbai’s Cathedral School, the teacher showed seventeen-year-old Priya and her classmates a series of advertisements—sleek smartphone commercials, trendy clothing ads, junk food promotions with…
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