What’s Driving Public Bad Behavior?

It’s becoming impossible to ignore the epidemic of public incivility. Tirades in supermarkets, performers pelted with projectiles, drunken movie goers brawling, tantrums on airplanes, and of course, the Oscar slap seen around the world! This can’t all just be coincidence. Social media constantly churns out evidence of this growing trend which begs the question: Which came first, the incivility or the smartphone cameras capturing it all? Really, no really?

Jason and Peter sought out an expert in human behavior to help discover the underlying reasons for our growing inability to get along. And Dr. Ryan Sultan an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University graciously agreed to help us understand society’s current decline in decency.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• What is “Main Character Syndrome” and is it real?
• Performers who’ve spectacularly called out disrespectful audience members.
• How COVID affected people’s temperament and children’s ability to mature and develop.
• How our reality has been impacted by smart phones, social media, and curated feeds.
• Anger, happiness and the algorithms that feed us.
• The restorative power of interpersonal relationships - can they be replicated online?
• Airplane tantrums, toxic Yelp reviews, prolific road rage, are there common threads instigating these behaviors?
• Is the “Karen phenomenon” new or are we just catching it on camera more?
• Broadway memories – How Jason dealt with onstage outbursts.
• Google-heim: Stemming the tide of incivility using the 4 Agreements.

***

FOLLOW DR. SULTAN

He is the director of Integrative Psych, as well as being director of Sultan Lab at Columbia University.

Instagram @rsultanmd

X @DrRyanSultan

***

FOLLOW REALLY NO REALLY:

www.reallynoreally.com

Instagram

YouTube

TikTok

Facebook

Threads

X

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.