pop psych

noun

1. psychological or pseudopsychological counseling, interpretations, concepts, terminology, etc., often simplistic or superficial, popularized by certain personalities, magazine articles, television shows, advice columns, or the like, that influence the general public.

Other Words From

• pop-psych adjective
• pop psychologist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of pop psych¹

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

How a concept created and coined by Carl Jung became the latest pop psych buzzword for self-discovery on social media.

From Los Angeles Times

How a concept created and coined by Carl Jung became the latest pop psych buzzword for self-discovery on social media.

From Los Angeles Times

“Good scientists treat the truth as provisional. They know that science is dynamic and the scientific method is going to lead them to new truths or a refinement of truth, but readers want the one true thing, and in pop psych that means the one true thing that will change their lives.”

From Salon

I feel as if we go through this every few years: a condition, vaguely defined, emerges as the focus of a million quizzes and pop psych columns that encourage us to diagnose those who displease us.

From The Guardian

Something about Close seems to invite this sort of pop-­psych exegesis.

From New York Times