| Myth | Reality |
| “Blowing off steam” or expressing anger is good for you. | Unleashing anger actually may make you more aggressive (Lilienfeld, Lynn, Ruscio, & Beyerstein, 2010). |
| Most older people live sad and solitary lives. | People actually become happier with age (Lilienfeld et al., 2010). |
| Once you’re married and have kids, your sex life goes down the tubes. | According to the Global Sex Survey (2005), people ages 35–44 are having more sex than any other age group. |
| Once you are born, your brain no longer generates new neurons. | Neurons in certain areas of the brain are replenished during adulthood (Eriksson et al., 1998). |
| Listening to Mozart and other classical music will make an infant smarter. | There is no solid evidence that infants who listen to Mozart are smarter than those who do not (Hirsh-Pasek, Golinkoff, & Eyer, 2003). |
| When people reach 40 years of age, they are bound to have a “midlife crisis.” | Evidence suggests that only a quarter of middle-aged people hit a breaking point and suffer from such a crisis (Almeida, 2009). |
| People with schizophrenia and other mental disorders are dangerous. | Only 3–5% of violent crimes are committed by people with serious mental disorders (Arkowitz & Lilienfeld, 2011). |
| Psychological research has debunked many pieces of commonsense wisdom, including the notion that “opposites attract.” Similarity turns out to a better predictor of romantic attraction, with studies suggesting that people are more drawn to those with cultural backgrounds, values, and interests resembling their own (Lott & Lott, 1965). |