Another busy year lies behind us, and with 2017’s end comes the opportunity to look back and recap what happened. What better way to do this than to look at what you, Psychreg readers, found most interesting. Here’s the top ten list of most popular articles. Click the title to read the article in full.

Top 1: 10 Things You May Not Know About Midwives in Work-Related Psychological Distress (23,346 views) – Work-related psychological distress can be defined as a unique, discomforting, emotional state experienced by an individual in response to a specific work-related stressor or demand that results in harm, either temporary or permanent, to the person. But what do we really know about it? How does it affect midwifery care? Professional well-being? And personal welfare? Sally Pezaro addresses these questions. 

Top 2: Top 100 Universities in the World for Psychology 2017  (9,048 views) – On 8th  November 2017, Times Higher Education released the world’s top universities for psychology. Stanford University tops the list while the City, University of London clinched the 100th spot. The US dominates the psychology table, claiming almost half (47) of the top 100 places, and eight of the top 10 spots. The UK is the second most-represented nation, with 13 universities.

Top 3: List of Psychology Films (8,085 views) –  On April, Psychreg published a list of psychology films. It was intended for psychology lecturers for them to show to their students to better illustrate some psychological concepts. 

Top 4: Looking After Our Mental Health Through Exercise (6,468 views) – According to the NHS, the recommended amount of exercise is about 150 minutes every week. We all know that exercise is good for the body, but it also remains one of the best ways to improve mental health. It is a significant part of the treatment regimen for those who suffer from certain mental problems, such as anxiety, ADHD, and depression, but the best thing about it is that you don’t have to be a fitness fanatic to reap the benefits. No matter your fitness level or age, you can make a difference even with modest amounts of exercise. 

Top 5: Feeling Anxious or Depressed? Go to an Art Exhibition (3,556 views) – Professor Victoria Tischler’s research focuses on art and dementia, and an increasing number of studies demonstrate that looking at, discussing and making art leads to improvements in mood, attention and quality of communication. Art is now recommended in the training of healthcare professionals and even Hollywood stars like Jim Carrey are opening up about art improving their mental health. 

On April, Psychreg published a list of psychology films.

Top 6: Psychological Abuse: Hidden in Society (2,676 views) – Within every community, toxic people can be found hiding in families, couples, companies, and places of worship. Psychological abuse is all inclusive, happening all around the world and affecting all ages, genders, ethnicities and economic standing. Something that’s rarely spoken of in social circles, in the news and even in the medical field; why isn’t psychological abuse being talked about more if it’s so deeply rooted in our society?

Top 7: People With Creative Personalities Really Do See the World Differently (2,205 views) –What is it about a creative work such as a painting or piece of music that elicits our awe and admiration? Is it the thrill of being shown something new, something different, something the artist saw that we did not?

Top 8:  Free Practice Psychometric Tests (1,722 views) – Psychometric tests are part and parcel of a company’s recruitment process. One of the aims of these tests is to maximise both the individual and organisational performance by means of a highly valid and reliable psychological measure. Psychometric tests usually include reasoning tests, such as verbal, numerical and situational.

Top 9:  5 PhD Tips for PhD Parents (1,561 views) – There is no ‘Follow these rules and you will succeed’ in making a PhD work while raising little people. Although you may say this premise is true for anything in life, without doubt the territory of simultaneous PhD study and parenting is somewhat skewed towards ‘highly risky’.

Top 10: Why Our Connection With Nature Matters (1,319 views) – Nature is good for us. There’s plenty of evidence that exposure to nature is good for people’s health, well-being and happiness – with green spaces even promoting prosocial behaviours. Less is known about why nature is good for us. Simply put, nature is good for us because we are part of nature. We are human animals evolved to make sense of the natural world and this embeddedness in the natural world can often be forgotten and overlooked. 

Well done and massive thank you to the authors who shared their articles! Until next year! 

Dennis Relojo is the founder of Psychreg and is also the Editor-in-Chief of Psychreg Journal of Psychology. Aside from PJP, he sits on the editorial boards of peer-reviewed journals, and is a Commissioning Editor for the International Society of Critical Health Psychology. A Graduate Member of the British Psychological Society, Dennis holds a master’s degree in psychology from the University of Hertfordshire. His research interest lies in the intersection of psychology and blogging. You can connect with him through Twitter @DennisRelojo and his website.