https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-wanjiru

John Wanjiru, Nairobi (2025)

22/09/2025

What of those who fall in love fast? The love at first sight type? They suffer from a condition called Emophilia.

Emophilia is the psychological tendency to develop romantic feelings quickly, easily, and frequently. Research shows that it carries both psychological and behavioural risks.

→ Individuals high in emophilia act impulsively and are prone to risky behaviours.

→ They are usually associated with negative behaviours e.g. promiscuity, deception or engaging in unprotected s*x.

→ They are often drawn to people with dark triad traits, especially narcissists, who appear charming, charismatic and confident.

→ Research show that emophilia have greater number of romantic relationships and a higher risk of unfaithfulness (Røed, Nærland, Strat, Pallesen, & Erevik, 2024).

💡 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒎𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒄 𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏:

→ The limbic system plays a central role in emotional bonding, attraction, and reward processing. This system may be overactive, and hypersensitive to Oxytocin (“love/lust hormone”) making them prone to quick emotional attachment.

→ They also struggle with top-down regulation (mediated by prefrontal cortex - a region behind your forehead) which helps to us pause, reflect, and evaluate long-term consequences of present actions.

📌 Mindfulness and emotional awareness can help them slow down, make healthier choices, and avoid compulsive behaviour patterns

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♻️ 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥 if you found it insightful
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20/09/2025

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴, 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘥—𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴...

Read the full article here ⤵️

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20/09/2025

Anxiety and excitement are like twins, separated at birth who grow up with different nurturing.

Alison Wood Brooks at Harvard investigated whether people who reinterpret pre-performance anxiety as excitement (instead of trying to calm down) would perform better under pressure (Brooks, 2014).

𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅:
→ Participants facing anxiety-provoking tasks e.g public speaking were randomly assigned to three groups.

→ Group 1 never said anything before singing (control group)

→ Group 2 said out loud (“I am anxious”) before continuing to sing.

→ Group 3 used a reappraisal strategy (said out loud: “I am excited”) before proceeding to sing.

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈:

→ Task performance was stronger in the “excitement” group. They outshined the other two groups.

💡 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕:

✅ Reinterpreting anxiety as excitement can improve outcomes under pressure. Both have the same physiological responses. They both entails sympathetic nervous system activation (in preparation for fight, flight and freeze responses).

✅ Attitude shapes how we perceive and respond to external events. Reframing one’s anxiety as excitement results to improved performance in life tasks.

P.S: Next time you feel anxious before a presentation or interview, tell yourself “I am excited” rather than trying to calm down.

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♻️ 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥 if you found it insightful
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19/09/2025

Research shows that individuals high in neuroticism tend to check their phones more frequently.

Researchers investigated whether the Big Five personality traits (Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness) predict how often and how long we use our phones (Beierle, Probst, Allemand, Zimmermann, Pryss, Neff, Schlee, Stieger, & Budimir, 2020).

𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅:
→ Participants: 526 individuals tracked their daily smartphone use with the Track Your Daily Routine (TYDR) app for an average of 48 days.

→ Measures: Two main indicators were studied: (1) how often participants woke up their phone screens per day, and (2) the duration of each smartphone session.

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔:
→ People with higher emotional instability (Neuroticism) tend to check their phones more often. This puts them at a higher risk for increased distress, as the social media is often flooded with contents that can trigger them.

→ Extraversion predicted more frequent phone checking. The more outgoing you are, the more often you’re likely to reach for your phone.

→ Individuals high on Conscientiousness spend less time per phone session, showing stronger self-control.

→ Female have longer smartphone durations than males.

💡 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕:

✅ Extraverted and neurotic individuals are more prone to compulsive phone checking.

✅ Conscientious individuals are better at self-regulating phone use.

✅ Digital well-being interventions should consider personality and s*x when addressing overuse.

P.S: Your personality is a hidden master often directing the frequency and duration of your smartphone use. Such awareness should prompt you to evaluate how you use your phone.

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♻️ 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥 if you found it insightful
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19/09/2025

Research has found a detrimental link between screen exposure and overweight or obese status.

Screen exposure in childhood and adolescent, particularly when excessive, is associated with risks for metabolic disorders.

💡Researchers have found that (Brodersen et al., 2023; Wachira et al., 2018):

→ Adolescents and children who used smartphones for more than 2 hours per day, on both weekdays and weekends for gaming were more than 2x likely to have an overweight or obese status.

→ Here in Kenya, 16% of school children have high screen time (ST) levels. Additionally, children classified as overweight or obese have higher ST compared to their peers.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒓: The same time period (2 hours) that was noted on children’s who are at risk for ADHD and ASD (Tamana et al., 2019; Lin, Wu, & Guo, 2025).

💡 These research findings reveal that:

✅ Excessive screen time in childhood not only increases the likelihood of metabolic disorders e.g. obesity, but also increases the risk for developmental and behavioural challenges, including ASD and hyperactivity.

✅ The risks are dose-dependent; meaning the more time children spend on screens, the higher the risks.

✅ Early interventions and balanced screen habits are essential to safeguard children’s physical health, mental health and social development.

P.S: This doesn’t mean screentime causes the above disorders. Its isn’t a causational relationship.

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Read the full articles here ⤵

17/09/2025

3 in 4 people admit feeling uncomfortable without their phones.

Research shows that excessive phone use has become a global challenge with significant implications for health, productivity, and social interaction.

Has it really reached to a point that we need pouches to control phone usage?

Here’s what the data reveals: (RescueTime, 2019; ConsumerAffairs, 2025; Harmony Healthcare IT, 2024)

→ Average daily screen time is 4 hours and 37 minutes, much of which cuts into study, work, or rest time.

→ Individuals check their phone an average of 144 times per day.

→ 70% of mobile sessions last less than 2 minutes, showing that people are constantly distracted by quick phone checks rather than engaging in deep focus.

→ 3 in 4 people admit feeling uncomfortable without their phones, pointing to a dependence that borders on addiction. Is this the modern isolation anxiety?

→ Nearly half of teens (ages 13–27) worry that they spend too much time on their phones. Maybe, we should acknowledge the existence of “phonxiety disorder”

→ 1 in 2 admit they cannot go 24 hours without their phone
Health effects.

→ 69% report phone-related health issues such as eye strain, neck and shoulder pain, anxiety, insomnia, and headaches.

→ Fragmented attention

💡 Rationale for “Phone Pouches policies”

Pouches can lock phone access during critical periods (classrooms, theatres, workplaces). This can help to:

✅ Minimize distractions - allowing deep focus and full engagement.

✅ Reduce compulsive phone-checking habits that cause stress, anxiety and insomnia.

✅ Promote mindful social interactions with other humans. We are too connected on a glocal (global and local) level but equally isolated from meaningful social interactions.

P.S: Perhaps, this sounds outrageous in some setups but, in the schools where the policies have been implemented positive benefits have been documented.

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16/09/2025

Books offer a retreat into the realms of eternal greatness

My current reading list:

- Naked Ape by Desmond ✔️

- Denial of death by Earnest Becker ✔️

-Stages of Death by Elizabeth Kubler

These masterpieces explores the nature of human animal from an ethological pov.

They are raw and brutal

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15/09/2025

Screen exposure in early childhood, particularly when excessive, is associated with developmental risks that cannot be ignored.

💡Researchers have found that (Tamana et al., 2019; Lin, Wu, & Guo, 2025):

→ Children aged 3–5 years who spent more than 2 hours daily in front of screens were found to be 8 times more likely to develop hyperactive behaviours, than those who spent less than 30 minutes per day.

→ Children who experienced more than 14 hours of screen time per week had a significantly higher risk of developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

💡 These research findings reveal that:

✅ Excessive screen time in the first five years of life can increase the likelihood of developmental and behavioural challenges, including ASD and hyperactivity.

✅ The risks are dose-dependent; meaning the more time children spend on screens, the higher the risks.

✅ Early interventions and balanced screen habits are essential to safeguard children’s mental health and social development.

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Read the full articles ⤵️

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12/09/2025

Your body language communicates vulnerability or confidence.

💡Conducted in New York City, the study by Grayson & Stein (1981) explored whether attackers could spot “easy targets” based on non-verbal cues alone.

Here’s what happened:
→ Researchers filmed people casually walking down a New York street.

→ The footage was then shown to incarcerated offenders convicted of violent crimes.

→ The offenders were asked to identify which individuals they would choose as potential victims.

Findings were striking:
→ Vulnerable Targets: Individuals with small, hesitant gaits, crossed arms, or downcast heads were consistently selected. This type of body language communicated: fear, anxiety, low confidence, lack of intentionality.

→ Confident Targets (Not chosen as Victims): Those that walked steady, confident and intentional. Their body language displayed strength and confidence

💡 This research showed that:

✅ Body language silently communicates confidence or not confidence. How you present yourself in a meeting or interviews often plays a role in your success. As Jordan Peterson say: Walk straight your head held high. This signals confidence.

✅ Non-verbal cues matter no matter how subtle they are. Remember they preceded verbal articulation.

✅ Walking with confidence and awareness is a natural deterrent to victimization.

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11/09/2025

Did you know that children aged 3-5 years who spend over 2 hours per day in front of screens are 8 times more likely to develop hyperactive behaviours ?

Read the full article here ⤵

10/09/2025

Ever heard of rat paradise and "beautiful mice"? Get the full gist here.

John B. Calhoun, an American ethologist, sought to understand how population density affects behaviour.

In 1947, he began studying rats in a controlled experiment.

💡 This research became known as The Rat Utopia (or Mouse Utopia) Experiments.

Here’s what happened:'

→ He gave the rats unlimited food, water, and nesting materials, creating what he called a “rat utopia.”

→ With no natural checks, the population exploded. Very quickly, utopia turned into chaos.

→ Dominant males became hyper-aggressive and hypers*xual, attacking weaker males, females, and even juveniles.

→ Females stopped nurturing their young, leading to an infant mortality rate of up to 96%.

→ In later “mouse paradise” experiments, a peculiar group emerged: the “beautiful ones.”

These mice stopped competing for mates or territory, spent all their time grooming and eating, and lived in a detached, zombie-like state.

🤔Is this the same feat that happens to drug and alcohol addicts?

→ John described this collapse of social roles and individual identity as “behavioural sink” or “social autism.”

💡 This research study revealed that:

✅ Lack of purpose and a state of meaninglessness can lead to social collapse, even when material needs are met.

✅ Organized structure, identity, and meaningful routine are vital for the survival and thriving of any individual. Having a routine is a clear way to maintain mental health and sanity. Establish a stable routine and stick to it.

✅ Without space for individuality and meaningful responsibility, even with material abundance, societies may descend into dysfunction.

This might explain the rise in drug and alcohol addiction.
Source ⤵️
(Calhoun, J. B., 1962, 1973)

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John Wanjiru

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