Every day, you hear claims about how your mind works. It takes 21 days to form a habit. You have a love language. Power poses can change your hormones. Your attachment style shapes your relationships. Dopamine is your brain's pleasure chemical. Some of these ideas are supported by evidence. Some are partly true. Some were never backed by strong research at all. The problem is, they all sound convincing.

When Studies Become Stories examines 89 of the most widely shared ideas in popular psychology and gives each one a clear verdict: Has Evidence, Overstated, Oversimplified, or No Evidence. Covering relationships, memory, learning, personality, motivation, trauma, emotions, decision-making, and the brain, it explains what the studies actually found, where the popular version went wrong, and what a more accurate understanding looks like.

You will learn how to:

• recognize which psychology ideas are supported by evidence and which are not
• spot where research has been exaggerated, simplified, or misrepresented
• think more critically about self-help advice and viral psychology claims
• understand the difference between robust research and stories that simply travel well
• make better decisions using a more accurate picture of how the mind works.

If you have ever heard a psychology "fact" and wondered whether it was actually true, this book is for you. Clear, evidence-based, and jargon-free, When Studies Become Stories cuts through the noise around psychology and the stories we tell ourselves about how the mind works.