The new meeting place on campus, Impulse, will soon be officially opened. This will also be the kick-off for an extensive programme of debates, events and lectures to be hosted in the centre’s hip rooms. One of the first speakers, Irish psychologist Ian Robertson, is going to talk about the effects of power and success. What positive effects do they have on health? Do women and men respond differently to them? And why do people who are drunk on power do so much damage? Robertson will go beyond an account of laboratory experiments, hormones and brain scans to speculate on the psychological mechanisms behind well-known events. For example, Tony Blair’s series of resounding election victories went to his head and he spoiled his relationship with President Clinton. Another relevant example is the greed and remoteness from reality in international business banks, which plunged the world into an economic crisis. There will be plenty of interest for anyone interested in popular psychology. And others? It is worth coming for the excellent coffee served at Impulse. Unique on campus.
Drunk on power
What? Lecture on the psychology of successWho? Ian Robertson, professor of Psychology at Trinity College, DublinCost? FreeWhen? 6 September, 20.00 hoursWhere? Impulse, building no. 115 on campus
