569. Do You Need Closure?

Freakonomics Radio

In a special episode of No Stupid Questions, Angela Duckworth and Mike Maughan talk about unfinished tasks, recurring arguments, and Irish goodbyes.

  • SOURCES:
    • Roy Baumeister, social psychologist and visiting scholar at Harvard University.
    • Daniel Gilbert, professor of psychology at Harvard University.
    • John Gottman, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Washington.
    • Kurt Lewin, 20th-century German-American psychologist.
    • E. J. Masicampo, professor of psychology at Wake Forest University.
    • Timothy Wilson, professor of psychology at the University of Virginia.
    • Bluma Zeigarnik, 20th-century Soviet psychologist.
  • RESOURCES:
    • "Life and Work of the Psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik," by M. Marco (Neurosciences and History, 2018).
    • "Why We Need Answers," by Maria Konnikova (The New Yorker, 2013).
    • "Consider It Done! Plan Making Can Eliminate the Cognitive Effects of Unfulfilled Goals," by E. J. Masicampo and Roy Baumeister (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2011).
    • The Science of Trust: Emotional Attunement for Couples, by John Gottman (2011).
    • "'Let Me Dream On!' Anticipatory Emotions and Preference for Timing in Lotteries," by Martin Kocher, Michal Krawczyk, and Frans van Winden (Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper, 2009).
    • "Explaining Away: A Model of Affective Adaptation," by Timothy Wilson and Daniel Gilbert (Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2008).
    • "On Finished and Unfinished Tasks," by Bluma Zeigarnik (A Source Book of Gestalt Psychology, 1938).
  • EXTRAS:
    • "Can We Disagree Better?" by No Stupid Questions (2023).
    • "Would You Be Happier if You Were More Creative?" by No Stupid Questions (2023).
    • "How Can You Be Kinder to Yourself?" by No Stupid Questions (2023).
    • "What’s Wrong With Holding a Grudge?" by No Stupid Questions (2022).
    • Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch,  by Eileen Spinelli (1991).

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