Sublime

I still have an irresistible urge to defend myself and assign blame when something in a relationship goes wrong.

There is, they suggested, a limit on the number of people we can feel sympathy for, and this seems to set a limit on other groupings where close psychological interaction is required.

One study tracked more than six thousand young adults in the US at the beginning of their careers over the course of two decades, and found that those who believed that life’s outcomes are due to their own efforts as opposed to external factors became more successful in their careers and went on to attain higher earnings.25

you may need to challenge ideas about yourself that you and others have come to take for granted.

If you are repeatedly deceived and exploited, you will cease to trust everyone you meet, and confine yourself to the handful of people that you trust most.

Many researchers talk in terms of upward and downward comparisons.

The phenomenon is usually discussed under the term “ego depletion”: “We use the term ego depletion to refer to a temporary reduction in the self’s capacity or willingness to engage in volitional action (including controlling the environment, controlling the self, making choices, and initiating action) caused by prior exercise of volition.” (Baumeis

high versus low frequencies of social support and those that measured how well integrated you were into your social network and your local community.

As we begin to create our story of who we are, for example, we also start to compare ourselves to others, and to social ideals of who we should be.