17 - Scott Barry Kaufman: The Light Triad - A Psychology of Everyday Saints

Eric chats with Scott Barry Kaufman, cognitive scientist and humanistic psychologist renowned for a series of groundbreaking books such as Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined, Wired to Create, and, most recently, Transcend. Scott is founder and director of the Center for the Science of Human Potential and has taught various classes at universities such as Columbia, Yale, NYU, and the University of Pennsylvania. He hosts the #1 psychology podcast in the world, “The Psychology Podcast,” with over 20 million downloads. He has written for outlets such as The Atlantic, Scientific American, and Harvard Business Review. In this episode, Scott discusses his latest research on what he calls the “light triad.” While many researchers have been concerned with what is called the “dark triad,” encompassing features of everyday psychopaths, Scott and his co-authors have started to investigate what makes for an everyday saint. Eric and Scott discuss that we have more everyday saints among us than we think and that everyone is a mix of everyday saint and psychopath.If you found this episode interesting at all, consider leaving us a good rating! It just takes a second but will allow us to reach more people and make them excited about psychology.Links:Scott's article on the light triad in the Scientific AmericanScott's paper on the light triadScott's Twitter @sbkaufmanEric's websiteEric's Twitter @EricNeumannPsyPodcast Twitter @StanfordPsyPodLet us know what you thought of this episode, or of the podcast! :) [email protected]